Canada

Canada [1] is the second largest country by area in the world (after Russia) and the largest in North America. Its only land border is with the United States, and remains the longest land border in the world. The US border is situated at Canada's Southern edge, the 49th parallel (or 49 degrees N latitude) as well as a shorter one with Alaska in the Northwest. Canada is also a major tourist destination, and is one of the world's wealthiest countries. The country is renowned worldwide for its vast, untouched landscape and its unique culture.

Regions
Visiting Canada all in one trip is an ambitious endeavour. When speaking of specific destinations within Canada, it is better to consider its distinct regions.

Atlantic Provinces - maritime culture, small fishing villages, rich folk traditions
Quebec - French-speaking province, stylish and romantic Montreal, festival culture, lush farmland, quaint villages
Ontario - multicultural and vibrant Toronto, the Niagara wine region, the immense Boreal and Taiga forests, Ottawa - the capital, the Great Lakes coastal areas, small rural towns.
Prairies - vast open and flat spaces, rocky mountains, forests, sleepy farm towns, Calgary stampede, and the West Edmonton Mall, RCMP Academy, RCMP Heritage Centre, Winnipeg Folk Music Festival
British Columbia - cosmopolitan Vancouver city, the rocky mountains, ancient temperate rainforest, pristine wilderness, skiing and hiking opportunities abound
The North - subarctic and arctic wilderness, mountains, glaciers and lakes
Geopolitically, Canada is divided into 10 provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador) and 3 territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

Cities
There are many cities in Canada (urban populations in brackets). Here is a small selection; others are listed under their regions.

Toronto (5.1 million, 2006) - Canada's largest city, main commercial centre
Montreal (3.6 million, 2006) - Quebec's largest city and only majority French-speaking metropolitan area, cultural centre; home of the 1967 universal exposition and of the 1976 Summer Olympics
Vancouver (2.1 million, 2006) - beautiful and busy west coast city; third largest city in Canada; home of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Ottawa (1.1 million, 2006) - fourth largest city in Canada; national capital, high tech centre, tourist centre
Calgary (1.0 million, 2006) - fifth largest city and quickly growing; oil, cowboys, development; home of the Calgary Stampede, the 1988 Winter Olympics
Edmonton (1.0 million, 2006) - sixth largest city; capital of Alberta; northernmost metropolitan area in North America with a population greater than one million; home of the West Edmonton Mall - the world's largest entertainment and shopping centre.
Quebec City (715,000 2006) - capital of Quebec, tourist centre, oldest city in North America
Winnipeg (695,000, 2006) - capital of Manitoba, Transportation hub of Canada and Gateway to the West. Canada's midwestern Chicago.
Halifax (373,000, 2006) - capital of Nova Scotia, major port city

Understand
Canada is a land of vast distances and rich natural beauty. Economically and technologically, it resembles its neighbour to the South, the United States, and shares with it the longest undefended border in the world. Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 by an act of British parliament, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Though a medium sized country by its population, Canada has earned respect on the international stage for its strong diplomatic skills. Internally, the country has displayed success in negotiating compromises amongst a culturally and linguistically varied population, a difficult task considering that language, culture, cuisine and even history vary significantly over the country. In contrast to the United States' image as a melting pot, Canada prefers to consider itself a mosaic of cultures and people. The information below will get you started, but be sure to check the specifics for given regions and cities. It has socialized medicine, too.

Time zones
The Canadian Sir Sandford Fleming first proposed time zones for the entire world in 1876, and Canada is covered coast to coast with multiple zones.

Yukon and most of British Columbia are within Pacific Standard Time
Northwest Territories, Alberta, parts of eastern British Columbia and part of western Nunavut are within Mountain Standard Time
Saskatchewan, unlike the rest of Canada, does not participate in Daylight Savings Time and remains on Central Standard Time year-round: in the winter, it is in the same time zone as Manitoba; in the summer, it is in the same time zone as Alberta
Manitoba and Ontario west of Thunder Bay, as well as central Nunavut are within Central Standard Time
Ontario from Thunder Bay east, most of Quebec and eastern Nunavut are within Eastern Standard Time
Most of Labrador, north-eastern Quebec and all of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia are within Atlantic Standard Time
The island of Newfoundland has its own time zone, Newfoundland Standard Time; the south-eastern corner of Labrador is also within this time zone, which is only a half-hour different to Atlantic Standard Time

Eat
English Canadians may be mystified if you ask where you can get Canadian food. Although you will find some regional specialties, especially at the Eastern and Western edges of the country, in English Canada there isn't much food known as "Canadian" except for nanaimo bars (chocolate-topped no-bake squares with custard or vanilla butter filling and crumb base), buttertarts (tarts made with butter, sugar and eggs), beaver tails (fried dough topped with icing sugar), fiddleheads (curled heads of young ferns), and a few other examples. They are an important, if somewhat humble, part of the Canadian culinary landscape. In other respects, English Canadian cuisine is very similar to that of the northern United States. Canadians may be unaware that they even have national dishes, especially in the more urbanized areas, such as Toronto, and if you ask for a beaver tail or fiddlehead, you may receive nothing but a strange look or a polite giggle. That being said, there is a rising trend among Canadian chefs and restauranteurs to offer locally-produced ingredients, and most major cities have bistros which specialize in local cuisine. This can even include game meat dishes such as caribou, venison, moose, grouse or wild turkey prepared in a variety of European styles.

French-Canadian cuisine is distinctive and includes such specialties as tourti?re (meat pie), cipaille (meat and vegetable pie), cretons (mince of pork drippings), rago?t de pattes (pigs' feet stew), plorine (pork pie), oreilles de Christ (fried larding bacon), poutine (French fries with cheese and gravy), croquignoles (home-made doughnuts cooked in shortening), tarte ? la farlouche (pie made of raisins, flour and molasses), tarte au sucre (sugar pie), and numerous cheeses and maple syrup products. Staples include baked beans, peas and ham. French-Canadian cuisine also incorporates elements of the cuisines of English-speaking North America, and, unsurprisingly, France.

One peculiar tradition that you may notice in nearly every small town is the Chinese-Canadian restaurant. A lot of the reason for this is the role Chinese immigration played historically in the early settlement of Canada, particularly in the building of the railroad. These establishments sell the usual Chinese cuisine marketed towards North American Fast Food customers. In Toronto and Vancouver, two large centres of Chinese immigration, one can find authentic Chinese cuisine that rivals that of Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Montreal is well known for its Central and Eastern European Jewish specialties, including local varieties of bagels and smoked meat. In the prairie provinces you can find great Ukrainian food, such as perogies, due to large amounts of Ukrainian immigrants.

If you are more adventurous, in the larger cities especially, you will find a great variety of ethnic tastes from all over Europe, Asia and elsewhere. You can find just about any taste and style of food in Canada, from a 20oz. T-Bone with all the trimmings to Japanese sushi (indeed, much of the salmon used in sushi in Japan comes from Canada). Consult local travel brochures upon arrival. They can be found at almost any hotel and are free at any provincial or municipal tourist information centre.

Americans will find many of their types of cuisine and brands with subtle differences, and many products unique to Canada, such as brands of chocolate bars.