| |  | Location: | Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean, north of the conterminous US | | Time: | | | Climate: | Varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north | | Weather: | Intellicast Weather - Halifax
Halifax Weather | | Population: | 31,281,092 (July 2000 est.) | | Currency: | 1 Canadian dollar (Can$)=100 cents
Exchange rates and converter | | A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. | | People | | Population: | 30,337,334 (July 1997 est.) | | Population growth rate: | 1.13% (1997 est.) | | Birth rate: | 12.4 births/1,000 population (1997 est.) | | Death rate: | 7.23 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.) | | Sex ratio: | total population:0.98 male(s)/female (1997 est.) | | Infant mortality rate: | 5.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.) | | Total fertility rate: | 1.66 children born/woman (1997 est.) | | Life expectancy at birth: | total population:78.96 years
male :75.61 years
female:82.48 years (1997 est.) | | Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population:97% (1986 est.)
male:NA%
female:NA% | | Religions: | Roman Catholic 45%, United Church 12%, Anglican 8%, other 35% (1991) | | Nationality: | noun: Canadian(s)
adjective:Canadian | | Languages: | English (official), French (official) |
| Government | | Country name: | conventional long form :none
conventional short form:Canada
| | Data code: | CA | | Government type: | confederation with parliamentary democracy | | National capital: | Ottawa | | Independence: | 1 July 1867 (from UK) | | National holiday: | Canada Day, 1 July (1867) | | Legal system: | based on English common law, except in Quebec, where civil law system based on French law prevails; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | | Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal | | Judicial branch: | Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the prime minister through the governor general | | Flag description: | three vertical bands of red (hoist side), white (double width, square), and red with a red maple leaf centered in the white band |
| Economy | | GDP: | purchasing power parity - $721 billion (1996 est.) | | GDP - real growth rate: | 1.4% (1996 est.) | | GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $25,000 (1996 est.) | | GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture :3%
industry:31%
services:66% (1996) | | Inflation rate - consumer price index: | 1.4% (1996) | | Labor force: | total: 15.1 million (1996)
by occupation:services 74%, manufacturing 15%, agriculture 3%, construction 5%, other 3% (1994) | | Unemployment rate: | 9.7% (December 1996) | | Budget: | revenues: $94.3 billion
expenditures:$115.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.7 billion (FY95/96 est.) | | Industries: | processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, transportation equipment, chemicals, fish products, petroleum and natural gas | | Industrial production growth rate: | 1.3% (1996) | | Agriculture - products: | wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits, vegetables; dairy products; forest products; commercial fisheries provide annual catch of 1.5 million metric tons, of which 75% is exported | | Exports: | total value:$195.4 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities:newsprint, wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, machinery, natural gas, aluminum, motor vehicles and parts; telecommunications equipment
partners :US, Japan, UK, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, China | | Imports: | total value:$169.5 billion (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
commodities:crude oil, chemicals, motor vehicles and parts, durable consumer goods, electronic computers; telecommunications equipment and parts
partners:US, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea | | Debt - external: | $253 billion (1996) | | Energy Information: | Country Analysis Briefs - Canada | | Communications | | Telephones: | 15.3 million (1990) | | Telephone system: | domestic:domestic satellite system with about 300 earth stations
international:5 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations-5 Intelsat (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) and 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean Region) | | Radio broadcast stations: | AM 900, FM 29, shortwave 0 | | Radios: | NA | | Televisions: | 11.53 million (1983 est.) |
| Transportation | | Railways: | total: 70,176 km; note - there are two major transcontinental freight railway systems: Canadian National (privatized November 1995) and Canadian Pacific Railway; passenger service provided by government-operated firm VIA, which has no trackage of its own | | Highways: | total: 1.021 million km | | Waterways: | 3,000 km, including Saint Lawrence Seaway | | Pipelines: | crude and refined oil 23,564 km; natural gas 74,980 km | | Merchant marine: | total:57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 638,267 GRT/902,923 DWT
ships by type:bulk 10, cargo 9, chemical tanker 4, oil tanker 16, passenger 2, passenger-cargo 1, railcar carrier 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 7, short-sea passenger 5, specialized tanker 1 | | Ports and harbors: | Becancour (Quebec), Churchill, Halifax, Montreal, New Westminister, Prince Rupert, Quebec, Saint John (New Brunswick), Saint John's (Newfoundland), Seven Islands, Sydney, Three Rivers, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Windsor |
| Transnational Issues | | Disputes - international: | maritime boundary disputes with the US (Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Machias Seal Island); Saint Pierre and Miquelon is focus of maritime boundary dispute between Canada and France; in 1992 an arbitration panel awarded the islands an exclusive economic zone area of 12,348 sq km to settle the dispute | | Illicit drugs: | illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market; use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors; growing role as a transit point for heroin and cocaine entering the US market | - Most details quoted from CIA World Factbook
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