Canada's Regions

Canada is the second-biggest country in the world, covering 10 million square kilometres.

Three oceans border Canada: the Pacific on the west, the Atlantic on the east and the Arctic on the north.

There are five regions in Canada: the West Coast, the Prairie Provinces, Central Canada, the Atlantic Provinces and the Northern Territories.

Ottawa, on the Ottawa River, is Canada's capital. Queen Victoria chose it in 1857.

Canada is made up of ten provinces and three territories, and each one has a capital city.

The four Atlantic provinces and their capitals: Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John's), Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown), Nova Scotia (Halifax) and New Brunswick (Fredericton).

Winters in the Atlantic region are cool, and summers are cool and humid, because of the Atlantic Ocean.

No part of North America is further east than Newfoundland and Labrador. The province also has its own time zone.

Newfoundland and Labrador was the British Empire's oldest colony. It is known for its fisheries, fishing villages on the coast and its own culture.

Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) is Canada's smallest province. It is known for beaches, red soil and farming, especially potatoes.

P.E.I. is the birthplace of Confederation. The Confederation Bridge links it to the mainland.

Nova Scotia is known for the highest tides in the world, in the Bay of Fundy. Shipbuilding, fishing and shipping are part of its identity.

Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, is Canada's largest port on the east coast. The port has deep water and no ice, and Halifax is home to Canada's largest naval base.

New Brunswick was founded by the United Empire Loyalists. It sits in the Appalachian Range and has the St. John River system.

New Brunswick is the only province that is officially bilingual (English and French).

Central Canada has two provinces and capitals: Quebec (Québec City) and Ontario (Toronto).

Central Canada is the area of southern Quebec and Ontario near the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. It is Canada's heartland for industry and manufacturing.

Quebec's large supply of fresh water makes it Canada's biggest producer of hydro-electricity.

Toronto is Canada's largest city and its main financial centre.

Five Great Lakes lie between Ontario and the U.S.: Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan (in the U.S.) and Superior. Lake Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake.

The three Prairie Provinces and their capitals: Manitoba (Winnipeg), Saskatchewan (Regina) and Alberta (Edmonton).

The Prairies are rich in energy resources and have some of the most fertile farmland on earth.

Manitoba's economy rests on farming, mining and producing hydro-electric power.

Saskatchewan was once called the "breadbasket of the world" and the "wheat province". It grows more grains and oilseeds than any other province.

Regina, Saskatchewan's capital, is where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has its training academy.

Alberta and Lake Louise were named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.

No province produces more oil and gas than Alberta. Its northern oil sands are being developed as a major source of energy.

The West Coast region is the province of British Columbia. Its capital is Victoria.

British Columbia is known for its mountains and as Canada's gateway to the Pacific. The Port of Vancouver is the country's largest and busiest port.

About half of what B.C. produces comes from forestry, such as lumber, newsprint and pulp and paper. It is Canada's most valuable forestry industry.

Victoria, the capital of B.C., is a centre for tourism and the headquarters of the navy's Pacific fleet.

The three territories and their capitals: Nunavut (Iqaluit), Northwest Territories (Yellowknife) and Yukon (Whitehorse).

Together the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon cover one-third of Canada's land.

The North is called the "Land of the Midnight Sun" because daylight can last up to 24 hours in midsummer.

Much of the North is tundra, a huge rocky Arctic plain. It is too cold for trees there, and the soil is always frozen.

Thousands of miners went to the Yukon in the Gold Rush of the 1890s.

Mount Logan, in the Yukon, is Canada's highest mountain.

Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, is known as the "diamond capital of North America".

Nunavut means "our land" in Inuktitut. It was created in 1999 from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories.

The Canadian Rangers, part of the Canadian Forces Reserves, play a key role in Canada's remote and harsh North.