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Canada: Winterlude - Travel Kids in North America

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Kids learn about the Geography of Canada. The history, capital, flag, climate, terrain, people, economy, and population.

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OFFICIAL NAME: Canada

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Federal parliamentary state

CAPITAL: Ottawa

POPULATION: 35,881,659

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: English, French

MONEY: Canadian dollar

AREA: 3,849,674 square miles (9,970,610 square kilometers)

MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES: Rockies, Coast, Laurentian

MAJOR RIVERS: St. Lawrence, Mackenzie

Canada is a vast and rugged land. From north to south it spans more than half the Northern Hemisphere. From east to west it stretches almost 4,700 miles (7,560 kilometers) across six time zones. It is the second largest country in the world, but it has only one-half of one percent of the world's population.

Canada features black-blue lakes, numerous rivers, majestic western mountains, rolling central plains, and forested eastern valleys. The Canadian Shield, a hilly region of lakes and swamps, stretches across northern Canada and has some of the oldest rocks on Earth.

Canada's far north lies in the frozen grip of the Arctic, where ice, snow, and glaciers dominate the landscape. Few trees grow here, and farming is not practical. Native Canadians, called First Nations people, live in this region by hunting and fishing.
Map created by National Geographic Maps

PEOPLE & CULTURE

In some ways Canada is many nations in one. Descendents of British and French immigrants make up about half the population. They were followed by other European and Asian immigrants. First Nations peoples make up about four percent of the population.

Inuit people live mostly in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Many Native Canadians live on their traditional lands, but many others have moved to cities across Canada. First Nations artwork is widely recognized and is seen as a symbol of Canadian culture.

Canada's remote north and extensive forests are home to wildlife, from bears, wolves, beavers, deer, mountain lions, and bighorn sheep to smaller animals like raccoons, otters, and rabbits. The country's lakes and rivers, which contain about 20 percent of all fresh water on Earth, are full of fish such as trout and salmon.

Canada's prairies in the south are home to bison and pronghorn antelope. Farther north are Canada's sprawling evergreen forests, which have lots of wildlife, including moose and black bears. Even farther north is the cold, bare tundra, where herds of caribou and musk ox live.

Canadians work hard to protect the native wildlife. Canada has 41 national parks and three marine conservation areas. Nevertheless, species like wolves, lynx, and Atlantic fish have been overhunted and overfished.

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

The British monarch is the head of state of Canada. The monarch is represented by a governor-general, who has very limited powers. Laws are made by Canada's elected federal government, which includes a parliament and a prime minister.

Britain's Quebec Act of 1774 granted Quebec its own legal and religious rights. Despite this concession, many Quebec citizens have long sought independence. In votes held in 1980 and 1995, Quebec decided to stay in Canada. But the second vote was very close, and the debate is still alive.

Canada has provided fish, furs, and other natural resources to the world since the 1500s. Today, it is a world leader in agricultural production, telecommunications, and energy technologies. The vast majority of Canada's exports go to the United States.

The first people to come to Canada arrived between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago across a land bridge that joined Asia and North America. Around A.D. 1000, the Viking explorer Leif Eriksson reached Newfoundland, Canada. He tried to establish a settlement, but it didn't last.

In the 16th century, French and British settlers arrived. Land disputes between farmers and fur traders led to four wars between 1689 and 1763. The final war, called the French and Indian War, left the British in control of Canada, but French influence remains strong even today.

In 1867, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick combined to form a dominion with its own government, parliament, and prime minister. Manitoba joined soon after. In 1931, Canada became an independent nation.

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Canada Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

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OFFICIAL NAME: Canada FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Federal parliamentary state CAPITAL: Ottawa POPULATION: 35,881,659 OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: English, French MONEY: Canadian dollar AREA: 3,849,674 square miles (9,970,610 square kilometers) MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES: Rockies, Coast, Laurentian MAJOR RIVERS: St. Lawrence, Mackenzie Canada is a vast and rugged land.

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Official Name: Canada
Form of Government: Federal parliamentary state
Capital: Ottawa
Population: 36,307,820
Official Language: English, French
Money: Canadian dollar
Area: 9,970,610 square kilometres
Major Mountain Ranges: Rockies, Coast, Laurentian
Major Rivers: St. Lawrence, Mackenzie

Canada is one seriously huge place! Measuring 4,600km from north to south, the country spans more than half the Northern Hemisphere. And at a whopping 5,500km from east to west, it stretches across six time zones! A vast, rugged land, Canada is the second largest country in the world (being the largest) but only 0.5% of the world's population live there.

Canada has a varied landscape, with majestic mountains, rolling plains, forested valleys, and beautiful blue rivers and lakes. The Canadian Shield, a hilly region of lakes and swamps, stretches across northern Canada and has some of the oldest rocks on Earth.

In Canada's far north lies the frozen . Here, ice, snow and dominate the landscape. Brrrrrr! Despite the cold, harsh climate, Native Canadians, called First Nations people, live in this region, where they hunt and fish for food.

Canada's remote north and extensive forests are home to lots of wonderful wildlife, from bears, wolves, deer, mountain lions, beavers and bighorn sheep, to smaller animals such as raccoons, otters and rabbits. The country's lakes and rivers - which contain about 20 percent of all fresh water on Earth - are full of fish such as trout and salmon.

Canada's prairies (open grasslands) in the south are home to American buffalo and pronghorn antelope. And in the sprawling evergreen forests of northern Canada, moose and black bears are amongst the amazing animals that can be found. Even farther north, herds of reindeer and musk ox roam the cold, bare tundra.

Canadians work hard to protect their native wildlife, and the country has 41 national parks and three marine conservation areas. Nevertheless, species like wolves, lynx and Atlantic fish have faced threats from overhunting and overfishing.

The first people to come to Canada arrived between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago across a land bridge that joined Asia and North America. Around A.D. 1000, the explorer Leif Eriksson reached Newfoundland, Canada. He tried to establish a settlement, but it didn't last long.

In the 16th century, French and British settlers arrived. Land disputes between farmers and fur traders led to four wars between 1689 and 1763. The final war, called the French and Indian War, left the British in control of Canada, but French influence continued and remains strong even today.

In 1867, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick combined to form a dominion with its own government, parliament and prime minister - and Manitoba joined soon after. In 1931, Canada became an independent nation.

Following numerous territorial changes over the years, today Canada is made up of ten provinces and three territories.

In some ways Canada is many nations in one. Descendants of British and French immigrants make up about half the population. They were followed by other European and Asian immigrants. First Nations peoples make up about four percent of the population.

Inuit people live mostly in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Many Native Canadians live on their traditional lands, but many others have moved to cities across Canada. First Nations artwork is widely recognised and is seen as a symbol of Canadian culture.

The British monarch is the head of state of Canada. The monarch is represented by a governor-general, who has very limited powers. Laws are made by Canada's elected federal government, which includes a parliament and a prime minister.

Britain's Quebec Act of 1774 granted Quebec its own legal and religious rights. Despite this concession, many Quebec citizens have long sought independence. In votes held in 1980 and 1995, Quebec decided to stay in Canada. But the second vote was very close, and the debate is still alive.

Canada has provided fish, furs and other natural resources to the world since the 1500s. Today, it is a world leader in agricultural production, telecommunications and energy technologies. The vast majority of Canada's exports go to the United States.

Image credits

Map of Canada: National Geographic Maps. Picture of Telus World of Science in Vancouver, Canada: Dan Breckwoldt, Dreamstime. Picture of building in Victoria, British Columbia: Chrishowey, Dreamstime. All other pitcures: Getty Images UK.

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Facts about Canada: Learn about the Canadian provinces and Canada's history, people, nature, economy and geography, including a map of Canada.

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Interesting Canada Facts

Here are some interesting Canada Facts for Kids which were choosen and reseached by kids especially for kids.

Population: 40 million people (2023)

Capital: Ottawa 1.4 million inhabitants

Name: Canada, originally from Iroquois name 'kanata' which means settlement or village

Government: Federal parliamentary democracy under constitutional monarchy

Official Languages: English, French

Religion: mainly Christians (Roman Catholics and Protestants)

Currency: 1 Canadian Dollar (CAD) = 100 Canadian cents

National Anthem: O Canada!

National Colours: Red and white

National Symbols: Maple leaf, red and white flag, maple tree (national tree), beaver (national animal)

History: Canada's biggest bay, Hudson Bay, was discovered in 1610. Since the 16th century, both French and English kings have ruled over the country. Canada gained independence from Britain in 1867. Today, Queen Elizabeth II of England is still the head of state and the Queen of Canada.

Government: The prime minister is Justin Trudeau.

National Day: 1 July is Canada Day

Canada Facts for Kids|
Canada Geography

Where is Canada? Canada is a large country in the northern hemisphere. The country belongs to the North American continent. Canada borders the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Arctic Ocean in the North.

Canada shares a land border with the United States of America in the south and in the northwest. There it borders Alaska which is the largest state of the USA.

Did you know that Canada and the USA share the longest international border in the world? The Canada - USA border is 8,891 km/ 5,525 miles long. The longest part of the border is shared with the US-state of Alaska and this stretch is more than 2,475 km/ 1,538 miles long.

Canada Facts for Kids
Canada Geo Superlatives

Canada is known for its many lakes. There are about three million lakes in Canada, according to the WorldFactBook Canada houses more lakes than all countries in the world combined!

Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia. The capital city of Canada is Ottawa.

Canada is among the ten most sparsely populated countries in the world. More than half of the population live in the Canadian provinces Ontario and Quebec. About 90% of the people in Canada live within 160 km/ 100 miles of the US-Canada border. Close to the border there are also the main urban areas such as Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.

Toronto is the largest city in Canada housing about seven million people.

Canada's longest river system is the McKenzie River in the country's Northwest Territories. The river is 4,241 km/ 2,635 miles long and the McKenzie River is the largest river flowing from North America into the Arctic.

The largest lake that is entirely in Canada is Great Bear Lake. Lake Superior, the largest lake in North America, is shared with the United States of America.

The highest mountain in Canada is Mount Logan with 5,959 m/ 9,551 ft. Mount Logan is located in Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territory at the border with Alaska. This mountain is also the second highest peak of the North American continent - after Mount Denali. Kluane National Park is known for its extremes and not only is home to Canada's highest peak and the largest ice fields in Canada but also to the most grizzly species in North America.

Canada shares the largest waterfalls of the world by water volume. These are the Niagara Falls on the border to the USA.

Canada is home to 17 UNESCO world heritage sites. These include amongst others the fascinating Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta where once 35 species of dinosaurs lived, the historic district of Old Québec, the Rocky Mountains national park and the sacred site of Writing-on-Stone/ Áísínai'pi, where the indigenous Blackfoot people left their rock art, engravings and spirit messages on the sandstone walls.

Canada Facts for Kids:
Canada is great for families!

Canada is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. There are many attractions for Canada visitors and kids will love to explore the amazing nature and learn about the Canadian wildlife.

There are 48 national parks and national reserves in Canada, the largest of these is Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta. Banff National Park which is Canada's most popular park is also the oldest national park of the country and exists since 1885.

Canada family trips can include great day hikes or canoe trips in the national parks. In winter, families can enjoy skiing, snowboarding and other winter fun activities such as tobogganing in the mountains.

Among the most popular ski resorts are Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta and Whistler in British Columbia. But these resorts can also be enjoyed in summer! For example, you can walk over the Cloudraker Skybridge on Whistler Peak in summer. This suspension bridge makes for an awe-inspiring adventure!

Canada's big cities also have lots to offer to families travelling with kids with fascinating museums and wonderful city parks that invite to great outdoor activities such as cycling, climbing, sledging or iceskating.

Canada Facts for Kids
Canada Attractions

Here are our favorite Canada attractions for kids:

Vancouver: The main city in the western parts of the country is great for outdoor sports as well as indoor explorations. Here you can find many attractions for children which include the Maritime Museum and the Science Museum as well as the fantastic Grouse Mountain Skyride or doing the cliff walk and crossing the Capilano River over the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Niagara Falls: One of Canada's biggest tourist attractions, they were formed in the last Ice Age. The Niagara Falls are the largest waterfalls in Canada by volume of water.

Quebec City: The Old Town was founded already in 1608. You must see the Frontenac castle buildings from the 18th and 19th century and in winter have fun on the ice slide!

Toronto: The CN Tower and the Roger's Center are great attractions in this city at the shores of Lake Ontario. The CN Tower is actually the tallest freestanding structure in the western hemisphere, while Roger's Center is a huge stadium and spots the world's first retractable roof.

Banff National Park: For amazing wildlife spotting, but make sure to watch your belongings, as bears tend to chew up everything they find laying around, such as stray hiking boots;-) We had our experiences...

Canada Facts for Kids | Canada Economy

Canada is the third largest oil reserve holder after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. The province of Alberta leads in the production of oil and natural gas in Canada.

Canada is the leader in uranium mining. And uranium is used in nuclear power plants for producing electricity. The world's largest uranium mine is located near Cigar Lake in Saskatchewan.

The province of Saskatchewan is also the main agricultural province in Canada. Here farmers grow 45% of Canada's grains such as wheat, canola, flax or rye.

Canada is one of the world leaders of hydro electricity which uses the power of the water to produce electricity.

Canada is a huge timber producer and second in the world in regards to the sawn softwood production -after the USA. This includes timber or lumber planks or furniture wood. Lumber is the North American term for timber.

The USA and China are the main trading partners of Canada.

Canada Facts for Kids | Canada People

The majority of Canadians (82%) live in urban centres of the country. Most of the Canadian families have roots in England and France, as during the French and British colonised the country and thus many families immigrated into Canada. About one third of the Canadian refer to themselves as Canadian. Almost 40% of the Canadians refer to belonging to the English, Scottish or Irish ethnic groups and about 13% are refer to belonging to the French ethnic group.

Canada has two official languages: English and French. Almost half of the population can speak both languages. The majority of Canadians speak English as first language, but French is the main language in the Quebec province. In Quebec also almost half of the population is bilingual, which means that they are able to speak both languages fluently.

Almost 90% of all Canadians live within 160 km/100 miles of the Canada - USA border!

Life expectancy at birth is 83 years

Literacy Rate is 99%

Among the aboriginal people in Canada are the Métis, the First Nations People and the Inuit.

The indigenous people in northern Canada are called 'Inuit'. Today, only 5 in 100 Canadians refer to themselves as belonging to the 'Inuk' (one of the Inuit people).

The inuit live today in modern houses but still build igloos, especially when hunting. The inuit children go to the community's schools, but there are no universities in the North. So if the children decide to go on studying, they have to leave their communities and move to university cities. In the Inuit language, writing text was only begun in the 19th century before they mainly used symbols for writing.

Canada Facts for Kids
Animals in Canada

Among the animals you will most likely encounter on your Canada travels will be moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and the muskox, which is a wild bison.

Find 25 more fun facts about Canada here:

Other popular pages

Canada Facts for Kids | Resources

Canada Facts for Kids References include:

Central Intelligence Agency. "Canada." WorldFactBook. Last updated 27 May 2022. Last accessed 8 June 2022

BBC News. "Canada Country Profile.". 1 February 2019. Last accessed 8 June 2022

Government of Canada. "Culture, History and Sport." Canada.ca 15 May 2020. Last accessed 2 March 2022

The Canadian Encyclopaedia. "Geography Quiz." Historica Canada. Last accessed 8 June 2022

Government of Canada. "O Canada." Last accessed 8 June 2022

TravelAlberta. "Banff National Park." TravelAlberta. Last accessed 8 June 2022

Megan Wilson. "Insider's First Look: The Whistler Peak Suspension Bridge." The Whistler Insider. 5 July 2018. Updated 3 May 2022. Last accessed 8 June 2022

Parks Canada. "Ten Animals You Might See When Visiting Canada's Protected Areas." Government of Canada. Last updated 9 November 2021. Last accessed 8 June 2022

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Canada Facts for Kids | Facts about Canada | Family Travel | Geography

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Our updated Canada facts for kids will provide lots of interesting facts about Canada with info about people and country, geo superlatives, animals and more.