Canada
is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from
the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square
kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total
area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching 8,891 kilometres
(5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its
three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of
years. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later
settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts,
France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of
three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as
a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and
territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening
autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster 1931 and culminated in
the Canada Act 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the Parliament of
the United Kingdom.
Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster
tradition. The country's head of government is the prime minister—who holds office by
virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons—and is
appointed by the governor general, representing the monarch, who serves as head of state.
The country is a Commonwealth realm and is officially bilingual at the federal level. It ranks
among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil
liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. It is one of the world's most
ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from
many other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has
had a significant impact on its economy and culture.
A highly developed country, Canada has the 24th highest nominal per-capita income
globally and the sixteenth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Its advanced
economy is the ninth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural
resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada is part of several major
international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United
Nations, NATO, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO),
the Commonwealth of Nations, the Arctic Council, the Organisation internationale de la
Francophonie, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the Organization of
American States.
