CANADA

In 1535-1536 Jacques Cartier sailed to Canada. He sailed up the St Lawrence river and claimed land near it for France. The Huron Indian word for village, 'kanata', which the French pronounced 'Canada', eventually became the name for the land north of the St Lawrence River. Later Cartier explored the river as far as where Quebec now stands and onwards to the site of present-day Montreal city. He attempted to found a colony at Montreal but failed.

The first successful French settlement in Canada was made in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635) at Quebec. Champlain was the son of a naval captain, and he devoted his life to creating a French empire in Canada. He called it 'New France' and Quebec became its capital. In 1593 he explored the St Lawrence as far as the Lachine rapids. Returning to France, he persuaded the King, Henry IV (1553-1610) to fund an expedition to colonize along the St Lawrence. He set sail with 28 followers and founded a trading station in July 1608. He made 11 journeys of exploration into Canada, travelling beyond the St Lawrence River to the Great Lakes as far as Lake Huron. He became governor of Quebec and made it a base for exploring the Canadian interior. He later died there. French lands in North America grew hugely in the later half of the 17th century.

Frenchman Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle (1643-1687), arrived in Canada in 1666 and made a fortune as a fur trader and farmer in Montreal. Native North Americans taught him how to survive in the wilderness; these skills helped him to explore the length of the Mississippi river.

Unlike the English, who arrived in North America intending to settle permanently, the French came for wild animal furs and to convert native Americans to Christianity. The natives exchanged animal pelts for European guns, beads, and rum. Later explorers, thinking they were in uncharted territory, would often find French-Canadian fur trappers already trading there. However, French colonization lagged behind the English.

During the 17th century there was a huge demand for wild animal furs and skins throughout Europe. Beaver skins fetched particularly high prices because beaver-skin hats were then in fashion. Native Americans were skilled hunters and trappers. They readily exchanged animal pelts for European goods such as guns, beads or whisky.

Many parts of North America were already well populated before the Europeans arrived there. Customs and ways of life differed greatly from place to place. Both the French and English took detailed accounts of the Native North Americans they encountered.

French and British colonists had been fighting in North America for many years. First came King William's War (1689-1697), then Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) and finally King George's War (1744-1748). Sometimes fighting was sparked off by local disputes, but mostly these wars mirrored quarrels between rival European powers. Both sides had a long-term aim: they wanted to control the American and Canadian lands.

In 1754, fighting broke out again in what was called the French and Indian War. (After 1756, this became part of the wider European conflict known as the Seven Years War. By the end Britain had won most of France's lands.) French colonists moved on to land in the Ohio Valley, which the British claimed as theirs. The French built a chain of forts along the border, and refused to leave. The fighting soon spread to Canadian territory.

Though there was no conclusive victory, the French won important battles in 1755 (Fort Duquesne) and 1756 (Fort Oswego). The British were also successful, capturing Acadia in 1755, Quebec in 1759 and Montreal in 1760. During the siege of Quebec in 1759, British troops led by General Wolfe were camped east of Quebec. Wolfe planned a surprise night-time landing upstream of Quebec at the foot of steep cliffs. At 1 am on 13 September, he and his men began their adventure. They reached the landing place at 4 am, scrambled up the cliffs, which were as high as 53 m, and by dawn were moving towards the Plains of Abraham. They soon defeated Montcalm's astonished men, who were gathered in the fields just outside the city. The British and French generals, James Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm, both died during the battle. When the British captured Acadia they forced all the inhabitants of the French territory to leave. By 1763 Acadia had become officially British. Peace terms agreed in 1763 gave Britain many former French colonies.

The Europeans were helped by Native North American troops who fought in all the wars, hoping in return to receive support in their own disputes with colonists who were stealing their land. One such native was Joseph Brant. Born a Mohawk (1742-1807) called Thayendanega, he fought on the British side in the French and Indian War when he was 13 years old. He became friends with an English official and so received an English name and education. Later he went to London and was received at court.

In 1791 the British Constitutional Act split the territory held by Quebec into the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. Upper Canada was English speaking and Lower Canada French speaking.

In the early 19th century, the United States of America was growing. The government hoped to free all North American states from colonial rule, peacefully if possible, but otherwise through war. They almost succeeded. Only Canada in the north and Mexico in the south remained separate. The border with Canada was the site of many battles, as American settlers moved westwards and northwards into land still under British colonial rule.

Settlers and Canadians both fought against Native North Americans, whom they accused of helping the other side. Americans also claimed that British traders were selling arms to the North American Indians, to help them keep newcomers out of their lands. The War of 1812 (which, in fact, lasted until 1815) was fought to settle quarrels between Britain and the United States of America, particularly the question of the Canadian border. In 1812 American troops tried to invade Upper Canada.

For the North American Indians it offered the chance to fight against Americans who were stealing their land. The great Shawnee leader, Tecumseh (c. 1768-1813) became an officer in the British army. Born in the Ohio Valley, he tried to agree a peaceful settlement of Native North American lands with the Americans. After Tecumseh, and other tribes, lost to the Americans at the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, he fought for Britain in the War of 1812 and died in battle in 1813.

At first the British had success on land, but the American navy defeated them both at sea and on the Great Lakes. American troops, including those of a future president, Andrew Jackson, also fought well. After two years both sides were ready to sign a peace treaty restoring all conquered territories. But the news took so long to reach the battlefield that neither side knew the war was over. Jackson's victory at New Orleans in January 1815 took place after the peace treaty was signed in December 1814.

Opposition to British rule in Canada grew during the 1830s. In 1837 French reformists led by Louis Papineau rebelled against British Rule in Lower Canada (Quebec); the revolt spread to Upper Canada where it was led by Mackenzie. Louis Joseph Papineau (1786-1871) was a French-Canadian politician. He led the French-speaking Canadians' demands for reform. When rebellions broke out, he fled to the USA. He returned to Canada in 1847 and continued to campaign for independence. William Lyon Mackenzie (1795-1861) was a member of Canada's Reform Party. He wanted Canada to have more freedom from British rule and more democracy. When he was defeated in the revolt, he escaped to the USA.

The rebels wanted self-government, and although they had some support, the most influential people in the colonies did not agree with them. The rebels were soon defeated by British troops.

The British government sent Lord Durham to Canada to investigate the causes of the rebellions. His report said that Upper and Lower Canada should be united, and should have control over their own affairs. In 1840 Canada's two provinces were united by the Act of Union. Many Canadians felt that these reforms did not go far enough, partly because they were afraid that the United States might invade if Canada looked weak.

In 1867 the British North America Act was passed and a British governor-general was appointed. The Act united four Canadian provinces in a dominion: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario (formerly Upper Canada) and Quebec (Lower Canada). The French Canadians of Quebec were promised equality. French and English became official languages. The Red River rebellion in 1870 was an attempt by settlers to resist British rule. Winnipeg, a centre of the fur trade, was still a small town in 1870 when Manitoba became part of the Dominion, and it became the province's capital. British Columbia and Prince Edward Island joined the dominion during the 1870s. Saskatchewan and Alberta joined in 1905. Newfoundland was the last to join, in 1949.

The huge lands to the west, which belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company, later became part of Canada too. The North-West Territories joined the dominion in 1870, followed by Yukon Territory in 1898. Completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 linked Canada's east and west coasts.

The last of the big gold rushes took place in Alaska and Canada towards the end of the 19th century. In 1864 Billy Barker struck gold in Williams Creek, British Columbia. In 1896, gold was discovered at Bonanza Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River in the Yukon Territory, in the far northwest of Canada. Prospectors in the Klondike region extracted over 22 million dollars' worth of gold in the year 1900.

In 1873 a semi-military police force was formed to maintain law and order in northwest Canada, where traders clashed with Native Americans. Nicknamed 'mounties', they travelled thousands of miles on horseback, in the heat and dust of summer and the cruel blizzards of winter. Young British men joined the mounties, looking for a life of daring adventure.

The relationship between Britain and parts of its empire had started to change by the beginning of the 20th century. Some countries were given a form of independence as British dominions. They looked after their own internal affairs, but their defence and foreign policy were still mainly controlled by Britain. Although Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa had become independent by 1914, they all joined the other empire and commonwealth countries in sending troops and equipment to help Britain in both World Wars. Also, following the economic conference at Ottawa in 1932, the dominions received better terms for trading with Britain than countries outside the Commonwealth were offered. The independent countries had their own flags and emblems. The country finally gained independence from Britain in 1931.

By 1976 French-Canadians were campaigning for an independent Quebec state. Jacques Cartier has a square in Montreal named after him. Today, Canada is a bilingual country and two-thirds of the people in Montreal still speak French.

FACTS AND FIGURES

SIZE AND SCOPE

Canada is the second largest country in the world. It stretches across six time zones. Across the centre of the country lie the prairies, a flat plain used for growing wheat and grazing cattle. Most Canadians live around the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence River. The country is 9,976,140 sq km large, and the population is 27,400,000, with a density of 3 per sq km. Much of the country is virtually uninhabited. The population consumes 3% of the world's total fuel consumption. and as such is one of the world's major energy consumers.

The Trans-Canada Highway connects St John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, BC. It is the longest road in North America, measuring 7,821 km. Canada is so vast that it takes 3 days and 3 nights to travel by train from Toronto to Vancouver - a distance of 4,467 km. Because of the long distances, Canada is one of the world's top car-owning countries, with 11,900,000 cars registered in all.

The largest lakes, except for Lake Michigan (USA), lie partly or completely in Canada. Lake Superior measures 82,103 sq km; Lake Huron, 59,570 sq km; the Great Bear Lake, 31,328 sq km; and the Great Slave Lake, 28,570 sq km. Dinosaur Provincial Park, on the banks of the Red Deer River in Alberta, is one of the greatest sites for dinosaur remains in the world. The Albertosaurus is one of the large dinosaurs that once roamed around this area. More than half the land in Canada is covered by forest. 0.5% of the land is urban, compared with 59% forest. 1% of the land consists of grassland, 2% is wetland, and 5% is used for agricultural purposes. 5.5% of the land is barren and 27% is tundra. The Rocky Mountains tower to more than 3000 metres in the west, and the far north, including the huge Baffin Island, is a frozen treeless wilderness.

Some places in Canada are freezing cold for months on end. A family can flood their garden and use it as an ice hockey rink. Temperatures range from a high of 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) to a low of -63 degrees Celsius, or -81.4 degrees Fahrenheit, these being the country's highest and lowest recorded temperature. The average summer temperature in Ottawa is 19.2 degrees Celsius or 66.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The average winter temperature in Ottawa is -11 degrees Celsius, or -12 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Canadian National (CN) Tower in Toronto is the tallest free-standing structure in the world at 555m (1,821 ft) high. It was built as a TV transmitter and was completed in 1975. The SkyDome in Toronto is the world's first stadium with a moving roof. Seating is on four levels and can hold 50,000 people. The field is covered with 106 rolls of Astroturf, joined together with 12.8 km of zippers.

The Quebec bridge, a cantilever bridge built in 1917, is among the world record holders for the longest main span. It is 549 metres long. The Ambassador suspension bridge, between Canada and the USA, was built in 1929 and is 565 metres long.

Canada boasts one of the world's tallest dams, the Mica in British Columbia, which was built in 1973. It is 244 metres high.

GOVERNMENT

The government is a federal democracy, with the British sovereign as constitutional monarch. The currency is the Canadian dollar.

Canada has the second highest living standards in the world, according to figures published by the United Nations in 1993. This is because it has among the highest figures of GNP per person.

The Mounties - the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - nowadays travel in motor vehicles. Horses, and the traditional wide-brimmed hats and scarlet tunics, are used only on ceremonial occasions.

POPULATION

The official languages are still English and French. The largest religion is Roman Catholicism, being practised by 46.5% of the population, while 41.2% are Protestant. 12.3% of the population practises other religions. 21% of the population is aged under 15 years, having the lowest percentage of people this age in the whole of North and Central America.

People from many countries have settled in Canada. The largest ethnic groups, after the British and French, are Italian and German. 66.3% of the population speaks English; 23.2% French. The next most popular language is Italian, spoken by 5.9% of Canada's people, then German, spoken by 1.1%. Chinese is spoken by 0.4% of the population, and 3.1% of the nation speaks various other languages.

Most Canadians live in the far south, especially around Vancouver in the west and the eastern urban area near the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence Seaway which includes Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.

In the 19th century, Native Americans in Canada and the United States were driven into restricted areas or reservations. Since the 1960s, they have campaigned to establish their land rights and increase their civil rights. The traditional image of the Native American, with headdress and bow and arrow, is based on the Plains Indian tribes such as the Sioux, Cheyenne and Crow.

Large areas of Canada and Greenland are still inhabited by the original settlers of these lands. They are called the Inuit, which means 'people'. Inuit build temporary snowhouses (correctly called illuviga) when they go hunting. Igloo is their word for any other kind of house.

The main food source for the Inuit is the animals they hunt. Hunting is vital to their survival and produces food and clothing. Inuit hunt caribou, seal, walrus, and fish. The hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) lives in the seas around the polar ice cap. The caribou (Rangifer tarandus) has broad hooves to walk in snow. The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) has long tusks which it uses to haul itself up onto the ice. The polar bear (Thalarctos maritimus) feeds on seals which it catches through holes in the ice. The Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) has fur that changes from brown to pure white in winter.

Some words we use, such as kayak and anorak, are taken from the Inuit language.

Inuit art includes fine carvings in ivory and bone. Kenojuak is a famous Inuit painter.

The Nunavut Agreement was reached in 1992 and is the largest land claim in Canadian history. Its terms include: The Inuit receive title to 350,000 sq km of land in 1999. They also have 36,257 sq km of underground mineral rights. The Inuit are granted $1.15 billion by Canada in compensation to be paid over 14 years (this sum based on value with interest by end of 14-year period).

INDUSTRY

Today, British Columbia produces 25% of the timber sold in North America. It also supplies the world with chopsticks. Canada produces 75% of the world's maple syrup. Each March, sap is collected from sugar maple trees and boiled down into syrup. A maple leaf is the symbol of Canada. Canada is the world's largest exporter of forest products. These include timber for building as well as wood pulp for paper. 9,508,754 tonnes went to the United States in 1992, and 4,877,883 tonnes of wood went to Europe. Asia imported 1,728,895 tonnes, South America 657,159 tonnes, and Central America 211,608 tonnes.

Wheat and other grains are grown on the prairies in the south of the interior. On Thanksgiving Day, families sit down to a special meal in celebration of the harvest. Canada is the third largest producer of oats.

Canadians are the fourth highest spenders on videotapes, spending 1.2 billion US dollars per year.

SPORTS

Canada were the Olympic ice hockey champions in 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1948, and 1952.

Canada has one of the Grand Prix circuits, the Gilles Villeneuve. It measures 4.43 km and takes 69 laps.