1. Please make sure you have a pen or pencil and your notebook
Canada
Please make sure you have a pen or pencil and your notebook

2. Where? Northern and Western Hemisphere
Part of the North American Continent
Directly above the US!
Size: Slightly larger than the US and 2nd-largest country in the world!

4. Geography of Canada
Mountain ranges in the far West and far East of the country
Appalachian (East)
Rockies (West)
Lots of lakes and rivers throughout the country
Great Lakes
Hudson Bay
Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake
Forests in the middle of the country
Natural Resources: Canada is rich in coal, minerals, natural gas, timber, and oil

5. Climate of Canada
Along the US-Canada border, temperatures are more moderate: mid-latitude climates
Most of the country is in the high-latitudes
Subarctic
Tundra
This is why most people in Canada live along the US border
This is why Native peoples had to wear animal skins, live in igloos (further north), and find other ways to adapt to survive…or migrate south

6. A Short History…
First settled by Native people, just like America; around 200,000 groups lived in Canada when Europeans arrived in the 1400s
Vikings (from Scandinavia) arrived in Canada around 1000 AD but didn’t settle permanently
English and French began to explore, settle, and fight for control of Canada from the 1400s-1800s
1867: Canada became a self-governing country within the British empire
1931: Canada became fully independent, but Britain still had some power over changing the Constitution
1982: Canada became fully independent from Britain

9. Population Shifts
The British government encouraged people to immigrate (move to) Canada, so from , one million people from Great Britain moved there
French-speaking people in Quebec became a minority and they felt very nationalistic (fiercely patriotic); this feeling became like a tradition in many families
Gold was found in the western areas, which brought many immigrants from overseas and America
Canada was a safe-haven for escaping slaves
Native populations were pushed off their lands… the Canadian government eventually formally apologized, started to pay the Inuits back (in 1999), and set aside a large portion of land to give back

10. Economy Canada has a Socialist economy
High taxes to provide…
Free health care and other public services
Some people sneak over the border to take advantage of this
Canada has free trade with the US through NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement
means that they won’t have barriers for companies in each country selling and buying things from each other
Helps the economies of both countries!
Some feel it’s hurt Canadian culture because it’s become more “Americanized” with more American things coming in

11. Government
Federal Government: power divided between the national government and local governments
Democracy
Executive Branch: Governor-General, Prime Minister, and cabinet
British Monarch (Queen) is still symbolically the head of state
Judicial Branch: Supreme Court with 9 judges
Legislative Branch: Parliament
House of Commons
Senate

12. People, Culture, and Religion
90% of the population of Canada lives very near the US-Canada border
Main cities: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Quebec, and Edmonton
Two official languages: French and English
Christians make up the biggest religious group, but nearly every religion in the world is practiced in Canada
Good education and health care systems…and strict gun control laws… all lead to a high life expectancy
Canadian culture is known for a love of hockey and other fun things, but it’s really a lot like America

13. Justin Bieber

14. Avril Lavigne

15. Pamela Anderson

16. Keanu Reeves

17. Celine Dion

18. Jim Carrey

19. Top 10 Canadian Myths
We live in igloos.  We live in houses, and they are very well built houses.  
Canadians do not have the same technology as Americans. Canadians have access to the same technology as Americans and the rest of the civilized world.  
There is snow everywhere all year long.  Anyone who has spent a summer in Vancouver, Toronto, or Montreal will strongly disagree with this.  
We don't get the same movies Americans do.  We get the same movies, on the same day, and our censorship is less severe.  Furthermore, the Paramount theater in Montreal is the most attended and most lucrative movie theater in North-America.  
Canada does not have a film industry.  We have a thriving film industry, and many of the syndicated US TV shows, not to mention major studio motion pictures are filmed here.  Canada is renowned to have some of the best production crews in the world.  
Canadians all say "eh" and "aboot".  Sure, some of us do, but Canada is a big country with many different people who speak many different languages with different dialects.  
Everyone in Quebec speaks French.  Although a large percentage of the Province's population is Francophone, there is also a large number of Anglophones and Allophones.  
Canadians have fewer guns than Americans.  Canadians have just as many, if not more; we just have fewer murders. If you want stats and figures, see Michael Moore's excellent documentary, Bowling for Columbine.  
Canada's national sport is Hockey.  Not completely true. While Hockey is very popular, and considered our national pastime, our national sport is Lacrosse*.  Oh, and we invented Baseball too. *In 1994, the Federal Government introduced Bill C-212 that officially made Hockey Canada’s National Winter Sport and Lacrosse Canada’s National Summer Sport.  
Canadians policemen are all Mounties dressed in red uniforms.  Our cops are the same as American cops.  The Mounties usually only dress up in red for special occasions.

20. Top 10 Canadian Inventions
  AM radio Invented by : Guglielmo Marconi  
IMAX projector and system Invented by : Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor and Robert Kerr  
Telephone Invented by : Alexander Graham Bell  
Television Invented by : Reginald A. Fessenden  
Zipper Invented by : Gideon Sundback  
Music Synthesizer Invented by: Hugh LeCaine  
Electron microscope Invented by : Eli Franklin Burton, Cecil Hall, James Hillier, and Albert Prebus  
Trivial Pursuit Invented by : Chris Haney and Scott Abbott  
Basketball Invented by : James Naismith  
Canadarm Invented by : Spar Aerospace Ltd