Canada
The general consensus is that Canada is a land of trees, wide open spaces and extremely long cold winters. Most travelers from overseas have similar views, embellished by images of red-coated Mounties, black bears, Rocky Mountains, and the Niagara Falls. In truth there is all this and considerably more, as you will realize when you start planning your visit. The peaks and ice fields of the Rockies, the vast expanse of the Prairies, endless forests of dark conifers, the austere and icy North… a world of untouched nature, a wilderness of almost infinite extent. Then there is another side, almost cozy by contrast which might include the silhouette of Quebec City on its rock above the broad St Lawrence, or the Gothic towers of Ottawa’s Parliament Hill guarded by smiling Mounties. Considering the country’s size and diversity this can be daunting, so for travel purposes it has been broken it into manageable chunks. The country is divided into ten provinces and two territories and, as travellers soon discover, each retains its own character and cultures. The immigration of large numbers of immigrants form around the world has added spice to this bicultural state. Immigration is now pegged at roughly one percent of the population. Canada’s population is dynamic, changing ever so slightly as immigrants bring new blood, vitality and hope for a better life. The country has enjoyed an enviable international reputation for mediation and compromise and for support of the United Nations generally. Way down the international league in terms of wealth and population, the country makes the fourth largest contribution to the UN budget. Intimidated by the sheer scale of the country, many visitors to Canada find themselves at a loss to decide just what they will do. Should they try to get an “all-over” look at Canada, touching base in the Atlantic provinces and moving west through the shield, plains, Rockies, and then to the northern wilderness-or would it be more sensible to single out a city or a region? Both choices are feasible, and many visitors manage to combine bits of both approaches. Around 20,000 years ago Canada was inhabited by aboriginal peoples but by the 19th century it had been settled by Europeans. Today, the country is noted as a liberal, multicultural society. Most of Canada’s large cities are extremely visitor friendly and easily explored on foot. The main attractions are often close together, and when they’re not, a well-developed and efficient public transportation system will usually be the best way of reaching them. One of the best ways of finding out about nature in Canada is by visiting the national parks. The country has a total of 168 national parks and national historic sites. Parks Canada is set up on broadly similar lines to the U.S. National Park Service, and protects the finest and most representative landscapes and habitats across the country, as well as providing high quality information and appropriate access for the public. The Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic, prairie, tundra, rainforest, mountains, lakes, rivers.... No other country on earth has the same diversity of landscape and seascape that Canada has.
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