Canada

CANADA

Canada is a country located in the North American continent. It's the 2nd largest country in the world— with Russia being the largest one. Canada borders the USA on the South and this border is the longest border between two states in the world.

The capital city of Canada is Ottawa, located in the East. The biggest city is Toronto. Canada consists of 10 provinces and 3 territories (such as Ontario and Yukon). Canadians have two official languages —English and French (especially in the province of Quebec). Despite the amount of space, Canada has only about 38 million residents. The majority of people live near the border with the USA—mainly because of the cold climate in the North. The country stretches over 6 time zones.

Canada is famous for its nature—it counts about 2 million lakes (such as Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake), beautiful mountains (Rocky Mountains), and waterfalls. There also live many typical animals—such as reindeer, grizzly bear or a beaver—which is also their national animal. We can also see the Northern Lights there or maple tree forests—one of the symbols of Canada is a maple leaf, which we can also see in the centre of the flag.

The official head of Canada is the British monarch—now King Charles III—but it's rather symbolic, so they also have their own prime minister and parliament.

About the typical sports for Canadians—they are one of the best ice-hockey players in the world. In Canada we can see many ice rinks or just people playing ice-hockey on frozen lakes. A typical sport for summer is lacrosse, which is not very famous in the Czech Republic.

Interesting facts about Canada:

• 1) It's quite expensive to live there, but the healthcare there is almost free—the state finances it from taxes.

• 2) Canadians have colourful money—the one-dollar coin is called "Loonie" because there is a bird called "loon" on it. (But my Canadian friend told me that she has never heard anyone calling the coins this way—just "dollars" etc.).

• 3) Canada owns the biggest hockey arena in the world—we can find it in Montreal, and the capacity there is for 21 000 people.

• 4) And finally—they sell milk in plastic bags!

• 5) School starts there at 9 o'clock. A Canadian exchange student was surprised by the fact how many hobbies people have in Czechia—in Canada they end school late in the afternoon and they do not have much space for other hobbies—and if so, usually at school.

1

The Flag

• Red colour: Represents the sacrifice during the World Wars.

• White colour: Surrounded by two red bars representing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

• Maple Leaf: Located in the centre as the national symbol.

2