Canada is an independent federative state. It is one of the most developed countries. Canada consists of ten provinces and two territories. It is situated on the North American continent. In size Canada is the second in the world after Russia. Its area is almost 10 million km2.
The capital of Canada is Ottawa, which is situated on the bank of the Ottawa River. It is famous for its beautiful parks. It is also known as the city of bridges.Canada is very rich in forest, minerals and fur-bearing animals. It holds the first place in the world in the amount of forests. It is rich in the following natural resources: non-ferrous metals, uranium, oil, natural gas, coal. Canadian industries produce cars, airliners, locomotives, sea vessels, snow-removal machines, and agricultural equipment. The most developed industries are timber, mining, chemical, meat and milk and food industries. Canada grows wheat, barley, flax, potatoes, vegetables and fruit. Fishing is also one of the prosperous industries.
Official languages of Canada are English and French. Nearly 60 per cent of the population speaks English and 27 per cent speaks French. The rest speaks other languages, such as Eskimo, Indian, German, Ukrainian and Italian. Canada is a founding member of the United Nations. It has been active in a number of major UN agencies.