Canadian Parliament consists of 2 Houses- the elected House of Commons and the Senate

Canada

Canada /ˈkænədə/ is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9.9 million square kilometres, Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.

In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and reaffirmed by the Statute of Westminster of 1931, which declared self-governing dominions within the British Empire to be equal. The Canada Act of 1982 finally severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British Parliament.

Canada is a federal state that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. (Canada's two official languages are Canadian English and Canadian French.)

Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing the land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and the US state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth. Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with a total length of 202,080 kilometres (125,570 mi); additionally, its border with the United States is the world's longest land border, stretching over 8,890 kilometres (5,520 mi).

Canada consists of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield. Canada has more lakes than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water. There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains. Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. The volcanic eruption of the Tseax Cone in 1775 was among Canada's worst natural disasters, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia. The eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and, according to Nisga'a legend, blocked the flow of the Nass River.

Canada’s two greatest rivers are the St. Lawrence, which drains the Great Lakes and empties into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Mackenzie, which empties into the Arctic Ocean and drains a large part of northwestern Canada. While the St. Lawrence is the largest river in Canada in volume of water discharged at its mouth, the Mackenzie is the longest.

The vast majority of mountains in Canada lie in the western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and the Yukon Territory. Mountains can be found all over British Columbia while those in Alberta are mainly concentrated on the eastern side of the Canadian Rockies. The Saint Elias Mountains in the Yukon hold some of country's highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Logan at 5,959 metres.

Canada's population density, at 3.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.5 /sq mi), is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, situated in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Canada has a strong democratic tradition, upheld through a parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy, the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who also serves as head of state of 15 other Commonwealth countries and each of Canada's ten provinces and resides predominantly in the United Kingdom. The Queen's representative, the Governor General of Canada, presently David Lloyd Johnston, carries out most of the federal royal duties in Canada.

Canadian Parliament consists of 2 Houses- the elected House of Commons and the Senate

The direct participation of the royal and vice royal figures in areas of governance is limited; in practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada, presently Stephen Harper, the head of government, though the governor general or monarch may in certain crisis situations exercise their power without ministerial advice. To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies. The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (presently Nycole Turmel) and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.

Main political parties are the Conservative Party of Canada (governing party), the New Democratic Party (the Official Opposition), the Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party of Canada.

Canada's capital is Ottawa, but the largest city in Canada is Toronto, following by Montreal & Quebec City and then Vancouver. Other major cities in Canada are: Victoria, Abbotsford, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge and Winnipeg, Charlottetown, Halifax. The Largest province in Canada is Quebec. However the largest population is in Ontario with capital city of Toronto whose population is almost half of the population in Ontario.

The National Flag of Canada also known as the Maple Leaf, and l'Unifolié (French for "the one-leafed"), is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted in Canada to replace the Union Flag. The maple leaf has served as a symbol celebrating the nature and environment of what is now Canada since the 18th century.

The Canadian Duality Flag is an independently developed unofficial flag originally circulated by its promoters to demonstrate the unity of Canada The Duality Flag adds to the red sections stripes of blue roughly in proportion to the number of Canadians who are primarily French-speaking.

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