Canada

Important facts and figures:

 * Inhabitants: 3.4 million[[image:canada_flag.gif width="149" height="100" align="right" link="http://playblackknight.com/ESW/Images/black-knight-badminton-squash-quebec-flag.png"]]
 * Ethnic groups: British isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Aboriginal 2%, Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26%
 * Largest cities: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary
 * Capital: Ottawa
 * Languages: English 60%, French 23%

Nearly 90% of Canadians live within 200 km of the border with the USA. The Canada-US border is 9000 km long, so the relationship with the powerful neighbor is important. Canada and the US have a free trade agreement, which makes trade in these two countries much easier. The country also has endless forests and mountains with a great wildlife like moose, beavers and grizzly bears.

Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. The population is split up into two parts; English speaking Canadians, and French speaking Canadians. The main area for the French speaking population is Quebec. Even though there is no law for it, Canadians see the area of Quebec and the French speaking population as it's own state.

Canada is looking to discover and exploit mineral, oil and gas riches beneath the Artic. Canada is also worried that parts of Canada is being exploited by the US, like the oil in Alaska near the Canadian border. Environmentalists are afraid that this, and global warming, is destroying much of the resources Canada is after.

=Why English is spoken here = Canadian English came from centuries of immigration from Britain and the US. The first big wave of English speakers that immigrated was Americans that tried to flee from the American Revolution. Later many people from Ireland, Scotland and England immigrated and settled in Canada. =Social Issues = Canada does not have a lot of social issues, but one of the biggest issues is immigration. Canada suffers from large numbers of undocumented and illegal immigrants. Another big problem is that Quebec and other French speaking cities have laws that say you have to speak French in these cities to protect the French language.

[[image:black-knight-badminton-squash-quebec-flag.png width="153" height="115"]]
Flag of Quebec

**__Sources__** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15pt;">Book <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15pt;">Picture 1(Canadian flag): [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15pt;">Picture 2(Quebec flag): <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 15pt;"> []

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