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25 Interesting Facts About Canada
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1. Our national capital is Ottawa, Ontario and it is where the Houses of Parliament (our Government) are located. 2. In Toronto, Ontario stands the tallest freestanding structure in the world: the CN Tower. Built in 1973, the CN Tower (1815 feet or 553 metres). "CN" stands for Canadian National, Canada's national railway. 3. The Bay of Fundy is located between the provinces of New Brunswich and Nova Scotia and it is known for its "reversing"tide. |
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4. The rocky Mountains run right through North America and Canada, they border the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. 5. The West Edmonton Mall, located in Edmonton, Alberta, is the largest mall in Canada and the world. It features over 800 stores and services including a massive indoor water slide! 6. Our flag is kown as the Maple Leaf. It has two red bars on either side of a red maple leaf with a white background. It become Canada's official flag on February 15th, 1965. |
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7. Our national spor is hockey and we recently won gold at the 2002 Olympics and, more recently, the World Cup of Hockey (2004). 8. Canada's Wonderland is a large theme park that is located north of the city of Toronto. It has many rides and amusements for all ages. 9. Canada is rich in natural resources. Among our many exports are wheat, rocks and minerals, natural gas and lumber/wood products. 10. Our first Prime Minister was Sir John A. Macdonald. he brought the country together in 1867 to form the Dominion of Canada. He is also featured on our ten-dollar bill. |
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11. We are an officialy bilingual country. French and English are our languages. The provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick speak both languages whereas other parts of Canada are mainly English. Both languages appear on road signs and product labels in Canada. 12. Canada gets its name from "kanata" which means "the village" in the native Iroquoian language. When French explorers first came here, they met with the local native peoples and, through a misunderstanding, believe the name "kanata" to be the name of the country. Since this time, Canada began appearing on maps of North America. |
| 13. Tim Hortons is a coffee and donut franchise that has become very popular in Canada. The original Tim Horton was a a hockey player with the Toronto Maple Leafs and he opened his first donut shop in 1964. Since then, Tim Hortons has grown to be one of the largest retail food chains in Canda. You can almost find one on every street corner! |
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14. In the province of Nova Scotia, hikers can walk the Cabot Trail - named after John Cabot the Italian explorer (representing England) who came here in 1497. He disappeared on his second voyage the following year. 15. In the province of Alberta, there is an area known as the "Badlands" which is rich in dinosaur bones. |
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16. Each winter, in Quebec City, Quebec there is a festival called Carnaval. It is a celebration of French-Canadian culture that include song, dance, outdoor activities and French foods. The mascot for this celebration is Bonhomme de neige - a large snowman!
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| 17. In the heartland of the province of Ontario lie the Great Lakes: Huron, Erie, Michigan, Superior and Ontaario. These "great lakes" were instrumental in the settlement of Canada from the 1600s to the late-1800s. Here in Windsor, we live between Lake Huron (to the north) and Lake Erie to the south. |
| 18. Canada's national animal is the beaver. Hundreds of years ago, explorers and fur traders came to Canada to trade for beaver furs. The beaver is also featured on our five-cent piece called the nickel. |
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19. One of our protected animals is the Canada goose. Each fall, the Canada geese fly sout to warmer climates but they alwais come back when winter is over. 20. The Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest retailer in Canada. The store began as a fur trading post in the 1600s but today is a nationwide department store. Think about it! The HBC is over 350 years old! |
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21. Canada has hosted two Olympic games: Summer 1976 in Montreal and Winter 1988 in Calgary. 22. Canada's largest mountain is Mt. Logan (19,850 ft) in the Yukon. 23. In terms of area (size), Canada is the second largest country in the world! |
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24. The largest city in Canada is Toronto, Ontario with over five million inhabitants! |
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25. One of Canada's young heroes is Terry Fox, who lost a leg to cancer as a boym attemped to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He went from the shores of Nova Scotia to Thunder Bay, Ontario before he lost his battle with cancer in 1981 at the age of 22. Today the Marathon of Hope is run annually in Canada and around the world. To date, it has raised over $340 million. |
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The Parliament Buildings, our house of government,
in Ottawa, Ontario.
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This "taste of Canada" is brought to you by the grade six students of Mr. Mepham's class at King Edward School in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
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