Geography

Located in the northern portion of North America Canada has a total area of 9,984,670 sq.km making it the second largest country in the world.

Canada's southern territories run alongside the entire northern boundary of the continental United States. From there Canada stretches north to the Arctic Ocean, east to the Atlantic Ocean, and west to the Pacific Ocean, giving Canada the longest coastline in the world!

Although Canada is the second largest country in the world it’s population is rather small for its size with only 34 million people, in contrast to 145 million in Russia, the largest country in the world.

 Canada's majestic landscape is quite diverse - fjords and channels along the Pacific coast, snow and ice in the Arctic and northern Rocky Mountains, Boreal forests throughout most of the country, flat prairies in the southwest, and the Canadian Shield running through Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador.

A large portion of Canada is still wilderness. There are more lakes in Canada than anywhere else in the world (561). Almost 9% of Canada's landmass is covered with freshwater.

The most densely populated areas of Canada are located in the St. Lawrence plain (the provinces of Ontario and Quebec) close to the Great Lakes. Toronto is the largest city in Canada with a population of 4.3 million.

Canada is divided into six distinct regions, each with its own unique climate and landscape. Canada's geographical regions are defined as follows:

• The Atlantic Provinces
• The Canadian Shield
• The Great Lakes
• The Prairies
• The Cordillera
• The Arctic North