Canada is one of the most popular countries among immigrants. The whole state is divided into provinces and territories. How many provinces are in Canada? Which one is the biggest? What are the characteristics of Canadian provinces?
Canada and its government
The state, which is located in North America and is the second largest in the world, is Canada. Its border with the United States is considered the longest common border. In addition to America, Canada's neighbors are the overseas territories of France and Denmark. The Canadian motto is: "From sea to sea", because it is surrounded by the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
The state structure of Canada combines the features of the American and British government systems. The head of the country is the monarch, who owns the executive power in the state. Now it is the British Queen Elizabeth II, as the country is part of the British Commonwe alth. The official authorized to represent the Queen in Canada is Governor General David Lloyd Johnston.
From America, Canada adopted the principles of federalism,only instead of states here are provinces. The head of state, represented by the queen, is just a formality. In practice, important decisions for the country are made either by the prime minister, the head of government, or by individual ministers.
Provinces
Provinces and territories of Canada differ in that the provinces are endowed with more rights. Power in Canada is decentralized and operates on the principles of federation. The state is divided into ten provinces and three territories. What are the provinces of Canada? Their list looks like this:
- Quebec.
- Ontario.
- British Columbia.
- Alberta.
- Saskatchewan.
- Manitoba.
- Newfoundland and Labrador.
- New Brunswick.
- Nova Scotia.
- Prince Edward Island.
The powers of the province of Canada are vested in a Constitutional Act in force since 1867. They are mini-states. Each of them has its own lieutenant-governor and parliament, its own courts and so on. On the advice of the prime minister, the lieutenant governor appoints the ministers. The deputies representing the legislature are chosen by the majority voting system.
The provincial government is responsible for he alth programs, social programs, provincial civil rights, justice, and private property rights. It can also regulate taxes within its province.
Canadian Territories
Territories in Canada are administrative divisions,which receive rights from the federal Canadian government. They are allowed to have their own legislative assembly, but they are subject to the governor general of the country and the commissioner of the House of Commons.
Territories:
- Nunavut.
- Northwest Territories.
- Yukon.
The functions of lieutenant governors in the Canadian territories are performed by commissioners. Although they rather represent not the queen, but the federal government of the country.
There is a political movement that seeks to change the position of the territories and turn them into provinces.
Languages in Canada
Canada is a country where indigenous languages coexist alongside immigrant languages. This neighborhood creates conditions for the emergence of hybrid or mixed languages, as well as various dialects. Over the past 50 years, the Government of Canada has increasingly supported the various non-official languages of the Canadian population.
English and French, due to historical circumstances, are the most common. These are the official languages of the state. According to some reports, the number of English speakers in Canada is about 20 million people, French-speaking people - about 6 million people. Among other languages of the country, the most popular are Cantonese, Punjabi, Spanish, Italian and Ukrainian.
About 2% of the population in the family circle speak two or more languages, the remaining 98% use only one language. Approximately 200,000Canadians know at least one of the 25 most widely spoken indigenous languages. The most widely spoken languages are Cree, Ojivba, Inuktitut, Innu, Dene.
French province of Canada
In colloquial speech and office work, English dominates in almost all provinces of Canada. The only province where almost 90% of the population speaks French is the province of Quebec. Canada is bilingual only at the highest levels of government. This is due to the fact that the French settled Canadian territories later than the British. After the British takeover of New France, Francophones were often persecuted by the English-speaking population and even deported.
Quebec is Canada's largest province with the capital of the same name. Montreal is the largest city in the province. More than eight million people live here. The city is completely surrounded by two rivers - the St. Lawrence River and the Ottawa - and is an island. Many architectural monuments have been preserved in its historical center, there are more than three hundred churches alone.
Province of Ontario
The second largest province after Quebec is Ontario. Canada is known to be a multicultural country, and Ontario confirms this with a diversity of ethnic groups. More than forty percent of the province's residents identify themselves as belonging to more than one ethnic group at the same time. The most populous province is Ontario.
Canada borders the US,and the border with Ontario is the longest. It is mostly natural, as it runs through a network of lakes and rivers. It is the only province that borders the Great Lakes. There are over 500,000 lakes in Ontario. In the province, on Lake Huron, there is also the largest freshwater island - Manitoulin. There are 108 lakes on this island alone. One of the highlights is also Niagara Falls, the most popular waterfall in the world. Its height is 53 meters. From the Canadian side, watching the waterfall is much more colorful and interesting than from the American side.
Newfoundland and Labrador
The first overseas province of Great Britain was the island of Newfoundland. Later, together with the Labrador Peninsula, it became the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. At present, almost the entire population lives on the island. The province has a unique ethnic composition, as the island is inhabited by the descendants of Southern Ireland and South West England - representatives of the oldest group of settlers. The population of the island, unlike the inhabitants of other Canadian provinces, was not influenced by immigrants, which helped to preserve the old English dialect and traditions.
These places attract tourists with their color and unusualness, so folklore festivals are held here from time to time. The province has preserved lodges of secret societies and brotherhoods that were widespread in the 19th-20th centuries. There are three national parks and several historical parks in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the latter are the places of the first settlementsVikings and monuments of Indian culture.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is among the provinces referred to as the "Coastal Provinces of Canada". It is a peninsula surrounded by the waters of three oceans. The first colonists of this province were the French. Then these places were called Acadia, or "peaceful land." The land was christened Nova Scotia much later, when the British, led by William Alexander, sailed to reclaim it. Now more than 80 different ethnic groups live in the province.
In a relatively small area there are two national parks, one of which has an interesting and difficult to pronounce name Kejimkuji. The landscapes of the province are incredibly beautiful. Together with the province of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia shares the Bay of Fundy. The bay is famous for its extraordinary strength of the tides. The level of high and low tide sometimes differs by 14 meters. High tide turns to low tide in about 6 hours, this happens every day, which attracts a huge number of tourists to the region.
British Columbia
Vancouver is the largest city in the western province of Canada (British Columbia). As in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, most of the population are descendants of the original settlers. True, immigrants here make up a fairly large number (about 5 million), so it is much more difficult for local residents to maintain their identity.
Most of the province is occupied by untouched wilderness. On its territory there are 14 protectednatural sites and national parks. Many species of animals rare in North America are found here, such as various varieties of bears, cougars, deer, coyotes, marmots.
Conclusion
Canada is a multicultural country. Formally, the British Queen is considered the head of Canada, although she does not take a direct part in government. The whole country is divided into provinces and territories, which operate on the principle of federation and have sufficient independence.
