Provinces and Territories

Provinces and Territories

The geography of Canada describes the geographic features of Canada, the world's second largest country in total area.

Situated in northern North America (constituting 41% of the continent's area), Canada spans a vast, diverse territory between the North Pacific Ocean to the west and the North Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Arctic Ocean to the north (hence the country's motto "From sea to sea"), with the United States to the south (contiguous United States) and northwest (Alaska). Greenland is to the northeast; off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas collectivity of France. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude to the North Pole; however, this claim is contested.[1] While the magnetic North Pole lies within the Canadian Arctic territorial claim as of 2011, recent measurements indicate it is moving towards Siberia.[2]

Covering 9,984,670 km2 or 3,855,100 sq mi (land: 9,093,507 km2 or 3,511,023 sq mi; freshwater: 891,163 km2 or 344,080 sq mi), Canada is slightly less than three-fifths as large as Russia and slightly smaller than Europe. In total area, Canada is slightly larger than both the U.S. and China; however, Canada ranks fourth in land area (i.e. total area minus the area of lakes and rivers)—China is 9,326,410 km2 (3,600,950 sq mi) and the U.S. is 9,161,923 km2 (3,537,438 sq mi)[3]

The population of Canada, some 35,749,600 as of April 2015, is concentrated in the south in proximity to its border with the contiguous U.S.; with a population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.1/sq mi), it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. The northernmost settlement in Canada—and in the world—is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert (just north of Alert, Nunavut) on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island at 82°30′N 62°19′W, just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole.


Learn more about Canada’s provinces and territories, including services to help you settle and resources for Francophone immigrants.
Map of Canada

    Alberta (AB)
    British Columbia (BC)
    Manitoba (MB)
    New Brunswick (NB)
    Newfoundland and Labrador (NL)
    Northwest Territories (NT)
    Nova Scotia (NS)
    Nunavut (NU)
    Ontario (ON)
    Prince Edward Island (PE)
    Quebec (QC)
    Saskatchewan (SK)
    Yukon (YT)

1)Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Similarly, the Far North (when contrasted to the North) may refer to the Canadian Arctic: the portion of Canada north of the Arctic Circle and lies east of Alaska and west of Greenland. For some purposes, Northern Canada may also include Northern Quebec and Northern Labrador.

These reckonings somewhat depend on the arbitrary concept of nordicity, a measure of so-called "northernness" that other Arctic territories share. Canada is the northernmost country in the Americas (excluding the neighbouring Danish Arctic territory of Greenland which extends slightly further north) and roughly 80% of its 35 million inhabitants are concentrated along its southern border with the United States. Combined with the fact that nearly all of the country experiences severely cold winters (except the maritime-influenced climate found in areas like coastal British Columbia and Vancouver Island) along with short and relatively cool summers, Canada is popularly said to not have a South. Due to the southerly concentration of its population along the border and the heavily intertwined economies and cultures between Canada and the United States, many view the U.S. to be Canada's "South". Southern Canada is therefore considered to be a region only when it is contrasted against or viewed from the North

2)Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces) is generally considered[by whom?] to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:

    New Brunswick

    Newfoundland and Labrador

    Nova Scotia

    Ontario

    Prince Edward Island

    Quebec

Ontario and Quebec define Central Canada, while the other provinces constitute Atlantic Canada. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island are also known as the Maritime Provinces.

3)Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and more commonly known as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.[3] British Columbia is culturally, economically, geographically, and politically distinct from the other parts of Western Canada and is often referred to as the "west coast" or "Pacific Canada", while Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are grouped together as the Prairie Provinces and most commonly known as "The Prairies"

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