Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres , making it the world’s second-largest country by total area.
Its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, and 70 percent of citizens residing within 100 kilometres of the southern border. Canada’s climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces.
The country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and officially bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education.It is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries.
A developed country, Canada has the sixteenth-highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the twelfth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Canada is part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G7 , the Group of Ten, the G20, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
