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183-725: It is the largest floristic region in the world by area, comprising most of Canada , Alaska , Europe , Caucasus and Russia , as well as North Anatolia (as the southernmost part of the region) and parts of northern New England , Michigan , Minnesota , Wisconsin , and the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota . Northern portions of the region include polar desert, taiga and tundra biomes. Many geobotanists divide Eurasian and North American areas into two distinct regions. The continents, however, share much of their boreal flora (e.g. Betula nana , Alnus viridis , Vaccinium vitis-idaea , Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ). The flora

366-451: A high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world by nominal GDP , relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks . Recognized as a middle power , Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign relations policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries . Canada

549-467: 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 reigning monarch is also monarch of 14 other sovereign Commonwealth countries and Canada's 10 provinces . The monarch appoints a representative, the governor general , on the advice of the prime minister , to carry out most of their ceremonial royal duties. The monarchy

732-421: A population of just over 41   million people, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in urban areas and large areas of the country being sparsely populated. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto , Montreal , and Vancouver . Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in

915-662: A 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words, "long live the King of France", and took possession of the territory New France in the name of King Francis I . The early 16th century saw European mariners with navigational techniques pioneered by the Basque and Portuguese establish seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast. In general, early settlements during the Age of Discovery appear to have been short-lived due to

1098-827: A European power during the remainder of the nineteenth century, and that war did not lead to territorial changes in the Americas. However, the British Empire continued to engage in wars such as the First Opium War against China; it also put down rebellions such as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the Canadian Rebellions of 1837–1838 , and the Jamaican Morant Bay rebellion of 1865. A strong abolition movement had emerged in

1281-692: A Puritan leader who was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony after he advocated for a formal split with the Church of England . As New England was a relatively cold and infertile region, the New England Colonies relied on fishing and long-distance trade to sustain the economy. In 1632, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore founded the Province of Maryland to the north of Virginia. Maryland and Virginia became known as

1464-549: A base for the privateers. After Gilbert's death, Walter Raleigh took up the cause of North American colonization, sponsoring an expedition of 500 men to Roanoke Island . In 1584, the colonists established the first permanent English colony in North America, but the colonists were poorly prepared for life in the New World, and by 1590, the colonists had disappeared. There are a variety of theories as to what happened to

1647-764: A colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits. Colonies in St Lucia  (1605) and Grenada  (1609) also rapidly folded. Encouraged by the success of Virginia, in 1627 King Charles I granted a charter to the Barbados Company for the settlement of the uninhabited Caribbean island of Barbados . Early settlers failed in their attempts to cultivate tobacco, but found great success in growing sugar . The success of colonization efforts in Barbados encouraged

1830-642: A combination of the harsh climate, problems with navigating trade routes and competing outputs in Scandinavia. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert , by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I , founded St John's, Newfoundland , as the first North American English seasonal camp . In 1600, the French established their first seasonal trading post at Tadoussac along the Saint Lawrence. French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established

2013-567: A constitutional amending formula and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . The Charter guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any government; a notwithstanding clause allows Parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years. Canada's judiciary interprets laws and has the power to strike down acts of Parliament that violate

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2196-852: A crown colony in 1752. In 1754, the Ohio Company started to build a fort at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River . A larger French force initially chased the Virginians away, but was forced to retreat after the Battle of Jumonville Glen . After reports of the battle reached the French and British capitals, the Seven Years' War broke out in 1756; the North American component of this war

2379-506: A distinguishing element of Canada's political culture. Peace, order, and good government , alongside an Implied Bill of Rights , are founding principles of Canadian federalism . At the federal level, Canada has been dominated by two relatively centrist parties practising "brokerage politics": the centre-left leaning Liberal Party of Canada and the centre-right leaning Conservative Party of Canada (or its predecessors ). The historically predominant Liberals position themselves at

2562-598: A head with the Nootka Crisis in 1789. Both sides mobilised for war, and Spain counted on France for support but when France refused, Spain had to back down and capitulated to British terms leading to the Nootka Convention . The outcome of the crisis was a humiliation for Spain and a triumph for Britain, for the former had practically renounced all sovereignty on the North Pacific coast. This opened

2745-832: A permanent break with Britain, the delegates adopted a Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776 for the United States of America. The French formed a military alliance with the United States in 1778 following the British defeat at the Battle of Saratoga . Spain joined France in order to regain Gibraltar from Britain. A combined Franco-American operation trapped a British invasion army at Yorktown, Virginia , forcing them to surrender in October 1781. The surrender shocked Britain. The king wanted to keep fighting, but he lost control of Parliament and peace negotiations began. In

2928-715: A second company, the Company of the City of London for the Plantacion of The Somers Isles (better known as The Somers Isles Company ) was spun-off from the London Company in 1615, and continued to administer Bermuda after the London Company's Royal Charter was revoked in 1624 (The Somers Isles Company's Royal Charter was similarly revoked in 1684). Bermuda pioneered tobacco cultivation as the engine for its economic growth, but as Virginia's tobacco agriculture outstripped it in

3111-431: A temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). Much of Northern Canada is covered by ice and permafrost . The future of

3294-610: A third after the Patience returned again, then departed for England (it had been meant to return to Jamestown after gathering more food in Bermuda), ensuring that Bermuda remained settled, and in the possession of England and the London Company from 1609 to 1612, when more settlers and the first Lieutenant-Governor arrived from England following the extension of the Royal Charter of the London Company to officially add Bermuda to

3477-701: Is a country in North America . Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean , making it the world's second-largest country by total area , with the world's longest coastline . Its border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. With

3660-554: Is divided into 15 terrestrial and five marine ecozones . These ecozones encompass over 80,000 classified species of Canadian wildlife , with an equal number yet to be formally recognized or discovered. Although Canada has a low percentage of endemic species compared to other countries , due to human activities, invasive species , and environmental issues in the country , there are currently more than 800 species at risk of being lost . About 65 percent of Canada's resident species are considered "Secure". Over half of Canada's landscape

3843-1026: Is intact and relatively free of human development. The boreal forest of Canada is considered to be the largest intact forest on Earth, with approximately 3,000,000 km (1,200,000 sq mi) undisturbed by roads, cities or industry. Since the end of the last glacial period , Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions . Approximately 12.1 percent of the nation's landmass and freshwater are conservation areas , including 11.4 percent designated as protected areas . Approximately 13.8 percent of its territorial waters are conserved, including 8.9 percent designated as protected areas. Canada's first National Park , Banff National Park established in 1885 spans 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi). Canada's oldest provincial park, Algonquin Provincial Park , established in 1893, covers an area of 7,653.45 square kilometres (2,955.01 sq mi). Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area

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4026-578: Is known as the French and Indian War . After the Duke of Newcastle returned to power as Prime Minister in 1757, he and his foreign minister, William Pitt , devoted unprecedented financial resources to the transoceanic conflict. The British won a series of victories after 1758, conquering much of New France by the end of 1760. Spain entered the war on France's side in 1762 and promptly lost several American territories to Britain. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended

4209-457: Is part of multiple international organizations and forums . While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of Canada , the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata , meaning "village" or "settlement". In 1535, Indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to

4392-687: Is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is officially a provincial responsibility, conducted by provincial and municipal police forces. In most rural and some urban areas, policing responsibilities are contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police . Canadian Aboriginal law provides certain constitutionally recognized rights to land and traditional practices for Indigenous groups in Canada. Various treaties and case laws were established to mediate relations between Europeans and many Indigenous peoples. The role of Aboriginal law and

4575-399: Is the second-largest country . By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth , due to having the world's largest area of fresh water lakes . Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east, along the Arctic Ocean to the north, and to the Pacific Ocean in the west, the country encompasses 9,984,670 km (3,855,100 sq mi) of territory. Canada also has vast maritime terrain, with

4758-521: Is the source of sovereignty and authority in Canada. However, while the governor general or monarch may exercise their power without ministerial advice in rare crisis situations , the use of the executive powers (or royal prerogative ) is otherwise 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,

4941-562: Is the world's largest freshwater protected area, spanning roughly 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi). Canada's largest national wildlife region is the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area which spans 11,570.65 square kilometres (4,467.45 sq mi). Canada is described as a " full democracy ", with a tradition of liberalism , and an egalitarian , moderate political ideology. An emphasis on social justice has been

5124-611: The Canada Elections Act limits this to four years with a "fixed" election date in October; general elections still must be called by the governor general and can be triggered by either the advice of the prime minister or a lost confidence vote in the House. The 105 members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75. Canadian federalism divides government responsibilities between

5307-705: The Dominion Lands Act to regulate settlement and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert authority over the territory. This period of westward expansion and nation building resulted in the displacement of many Indigenous peoples of the Canadian Prairies to " Indian reserves ", clearing the way for ethnic European block settlements . This caused the collapse of the Plains Bison in western Canada and

5490-750: The Anglo-Spanish War . Spain acknowledged English possession of Jamaica and the Caiman Islands in the 1670 Treaty of Madrid . England captured Tortola from the Dutch in 1670, and subsequently took possession of the nearby islands of Anegada and Virgin Gorda ; these islands would later form the British Virgin Islands . During the 17th century, the sugar colonies adopted the system of sugar plantations successfully used by

5673-723: The Battle of the Scheldt in 1944. Canada provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany . The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China , and the Soviet Union . Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1944, Canada finished

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5856-612: The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada began on January 27, 2020, with widespread social and economic disruption. In 2021, the possible graves of hundreds of Indigenous people were discovered near the former sites of Canadian Indian residential schools . Administered by various Christian churches and funded by the Canadian government from 1828 to 1997, these boarding schools attempted to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture . By total area (including its waters), Canada

6039-649: The Canada Act 1982 , the patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Canada had established complete sovereignty as an independent country under its own monarchy . In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government. At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through

6222-826: The Canadian Shield , the interior plains , the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands , the Appalachian region , the Western Cordillera , Hudson Bay Lowlands , and the Arctic Archipelago . Boreal forests prevail throughout the country, ice is prominent in northern Arctic regions and through the Rocky Mountains , and the relatively flat Canadian Prairies in the southwest facilitate productive agriculture. The Great Lakes feed

6405-597: The Chesapeake Colonies , and experienced similar immigration and economic activities. Though Baltimore and his descendants intended for the colony to be a refuge for Catholics, it attracted mostly Protestant immigrants, many of whom scorned the Calvert family's policy of religious toleration. In the mid-17th century, the Chesapeake Colonies, inspired by the success of slavery in Barbados, began

6588-548: The Colony of Virginia . Virgineola —settled unintentionally by the shipwreck of the Virginia Company's Sea Venture in 1609, and renamed The Somers Isles —is still known by its older Spanish name, Bermuda . In 1620, a group of mostly Pilgrim religious separatists established a second permanent colony on the mainland, on the coast of Massachusetts. Several other English colonies were established in North America during

6771-731: The Council for New England sponsored several colonization projects, including a colony established by a group of English Puritans , known today as the Pilgrims . The Puritans embraced an intensely emotional form of Calvinist Protestantism and sought independence from the Church of England . In 1620, the Mayflower transported the Pilgrims across the Atlantic, and the Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony on Cape Cod . The Pilgrims endured an extremely hard first winter, with roughly fifty of

6954-678: The French Revolution , a Royal Naval Dockyard was established at Bermuda in 1795, which was to alternate with Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax (Bermuda during the summers and Halifax during the winters) as the Royal Navy headquarters and main base for the River St. Lawrence and Coast of America Station (which was to become the North America Station in 1813, the North America and Lakes of Canada Station in 1816,

7137-444: The French Revolutionary Wars and then in the Napoleonic Wars . During the wars, Britain took control of many French, Spanish, and Dutch Caribbean colonies. Tensions between Britain and the United States escalated during the Napoleonic Wars, as the United States took advantage of its neutrality to undercut the British embargo on French-controlled ports, and Britain tried to cut off that American trade with France. The Royal Navy, which

7320-405: The Massachusetts Bay Colony , and by 1635 roughly ten thousand English settlers lived in the region between the Connecticut River and the Kennebec River . After defeating the Pequot in the Pequot War , Puritan settlers established the Connecticut Colony in the region the Pequots had formerly controlled. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was founded by Roger Williams ,

7503-407: The Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990. This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West. A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of 50.6 to 49.4 percent. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act

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7686-412: The New World , beginning the European colonization of the Americas . France and England , the two other major powers of 15th-century Western Europe , employed explorers soon after the return of Columbus's first voyage. In 1497, King Henry VII of England dispatched an expedition led by John Cabot to explore the coast of North America, but the lack of precious metals or other riches discouraged both

7869-401: The Nine Years' War , while the powerful Iroquois declared their neutrality. War between France and England continued in Queen Anne's War , the North American component of the larger War of the Spanish Succession . In the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht , which ended the War of Spanish Succession, the British won possession of the French territories of Newfoundland and Acadia , the latter of which

8052-457: The North American fur trade . During mid-1585 Bernard Drake launched an expedition to Newfoundland which crippled the Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets there from which they never recovered. This would have consequences in terms of English colonial expansion and settlement. In the Caribbean Sea , English sailors defied Spanish trade restrictions and preyed on Spanish treasure ships . The English colonization of America had been based on

8235-411: The Northwest Territories ), British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island joined Canada by the end of 1873, but Newfoundland would not join Canada until 1949. Like other British dominions such as Australia , New Zealand , and South Africa , Canada enjoyed autonomy over its domestic affairs but recognized the British monarch as head of state and cooperated closely with Britain on defense issues. After

8418-413: The Oka Crisis of 1990, the first of a number of violent confrontations between provincial governments and Indigenous groups. Canada joined the Gulf War in 1990 and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the 1990s, including operations in the Balkans during and after the Yugoslav Wars , and in Somalia , resulting in an incident that has been described as " the darkest era in the history of

8601-446: The Parliament of Canada and the commissioners represent the King in his federal Council , rather than the monarch directly. The powers flowing from the Constitution Act, 1867 , are divided between the federal government and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively and any changes to that arrangement require a constitutional amendment , while changes to the roles and powers of the territories may be performed unilaterally by

8784-456: The Plymouth Company and the London Company for the purpose of establishing permanent settlements in North America. In 1607, the London Company established a permanent colony at Jamestown on the Chesapeake Bay , but the Plymouth Company's Popham Colony proved short-lived. Approximately 30,000 Algonquian peoples lived in the region at the time. The colonists at Jamestown faced extreme adversity, and by 1617 there were only 351 survivors out of

8967-406: The Province of Canada . Responsible government was first granted to Nova Scotia in 1848, and was soon extended to the other British North American colonies. With the passage of the British North America Act, 1867 by the British Parliament , Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia were formed into the confederation of Canada . Rupert's Land (which was divided into Manitoba and

9150-425: The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a secular nationalist movement. The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis with a series of bombings and kidnappings in 1970, and the sovereigntist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizing an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through

9333-509: The Royal African Company in West Africa , though others came from Madagascar . These slaves soon came to form the majority of the population in Caribbean colonies like Barbados and Jamaica, where strict slave codes were established partly to deter slave rebellions . Following the success of the Jamestown and Plymouth Colonies, several more English groups established colonies in the region that became known as New England . In 1629, another group of Puritans led by John Winthrop established

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9516-526: The Sea Venture , flagship of the English London Company , a division of the Virginia Company , bearing Admiral Sir George Somers and the new Lieutenant-Governor for Jamestown, Sir Thomas Gates , was deliberately driven onto the reef off the archipelago of Bermuda to prevent its foundering during a hurricane on the 25th of July. The 150 passengers and crew built two new ships, the Deliverance and Patience and most departed Bermuda again for Jamestown on 11 May 1610. Two men remained behind, and were joined by

9699-584: The St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where the lowlands host much of Canada's economic output. Canada has over 2,000,000 lakes—563 of which are larger than 100 km (39 sq mi)—containing much of the world's fresh water . There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies , the Coast Mountains , and the Arctic Cordillera . Canada is geologically active , having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes . Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region. Winters can be harsh in many parts of

9882-422: The Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic , ensured that England and its colonies would come into conflict with the French empire of Louis XIV after 1689. Under the leadership of Samuel de Champlain , the French had established Quebec City on the St Lawrence River in 1608, and it became the center of French colony of Canada . France and England engaged in a proxy war via Native American allies during and after

10065-437: The Third Anglo-Dutch War , but surrendered its claim to the territory in the 1674 Treaty of Westminster , ending the Dutch colonial presence in North America. In 1664, the Duke of York , later known as James II of England , was granted control of the English colonies north of the Delaware River. He created the Province of New York out of the former Dutch territory and renamed New Amsterdam as New York City . He also created

10248-400: The Westminster tradition . The country's head of government is the prime minister , who holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons and is appointed by the governor general , representing the monarch of Canada , the ceremonial head of state . The country is a Commonwealth realm and is officially bilingual (English and French) in

10431-400: The displacement of Indigenous populations , and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This increased sovereignty was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster, 1931 , and culminating in the Canada Act 1982 , which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in

10614-441: The head of government . To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the individual who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a majority of members in the House. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by

10797-417: The "first" and "second" empires, in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific, and later Africa. Influenced by the ideas of Adam Smith , Britain also shifted away from mercantile ideals and began to prioritize the expansion of trade rather than territorial possessions. During the nineteenth century, some observers described Britain as having an "unofficial" empire based on

10980-506: The 1620s, and new colonies in the West Indies also emulated its tobacco industry, the price of Bermudian tobacco fell and the colony became unprofitable for many of the company's shareholders, who mostly had remained in England while managers or tenants farmed their land in Bermuda with the labour of indentured servants. Bermuda's House of Assembly held its first session in 1620 (Virginia's House of Burgesses having held its first session in 1619), but with no landowners resident in Bermuda there

11163-400: The 1690s. Between immigration, the importation of slaves, and natural population growth, the colonial population in British North America grew immensely in the 18th century. According to historian Alan Taylor, the population of the Thirteen Colonies (the British North American colonies which would eventually form the United States) stood at 1.5 million in 1750. More than ninety percent of

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11346-445: The 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts , France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. 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 resulting in

11529-461: The 1700 colonists who had been transported to Jamestown. After the Virginians discovered the profitability of growing tobacco , the settlement's population boomed from 400 settlers in 1617 to 1240 settlers in 1622. The London Company was bankrupted in part due to frequent warring with nearby American Indians, leading the English crown to take direct control of the Colony of Virginia , as Jamestown and its surrounding environs became known. In 1609,

11712-412: The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and Canada and most of New France came under British rule in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established First Nation treaty rights, created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. St John's Island (now Prince Edward Island ) became a separate colony in 1769. To avert conflict in Quebec ,

11895-422: The 1783 Treaty of Paris , Britain ceded all of its North American territory south of the Great Lakes , except for the two Florida colonies, which were ceded to Spain. With their close ties of blood and trade with the continental colonies, especially Virginia and South Carolina, Bermudians leaned towards the rebels during the American War of Independence , supplying them with privateering ships and gunpowder, but

12078-439: The 17th and 18th centuries. With the authorization of a royal charter, the Hudson's Bay Company established the territory of Rupert's Land in the Hudson Bay drainage basin . The English also established or conquered several colonies in the Caribbean , including Barbados and Jamaica . England captured the Dutch colony of New Netherland in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the mid-17th century, leaving North America divided amongst

12261-471: The 1815 defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars . In the mid- 19th century , Britain began the process of granting self-government to its remaining colonies in North America. Most of these colonies joined the Confederation of Canada in the 1860s or 1870s, though Newfoundland would not join Canada until 1949 . Canada gained full autonomy following the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931 , though it retained various ties to Britain and still recognizes

12444-426: The 1846 Oregon Treaty , the United States and Britain agreed to split Oregon Country along the 49th parallel north with the exception of Vancouver Island , which was assigned in its entirety to Britain. After warring throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in both Europe and the Americas, the British and French reached a lasting peace after 1815. Britain would fight only one war (the Crimean War ) against

12627-426: The Americas was established by Norse people around 1000 AD in what is now Newfoundland , called Vinland by the Norse. Later European exploration of North America resumed with Christopher Columbus 's 1492 expedition sponsored by Spain. English settlement began almost a century later. Sir Walter Raleigh established the short-lived Roanoke Colony in 1585. The 1607 settlement of the Jamestown colony grew into

12810-620: The Atlantic coast supplied the Atlantic market with beaver fur and deerskins, and sought to preserve their independence by maintaining a balance of power between the French and English. By 1770, the economic output of the Thirteen Colonies made up forty percent of the gross domestic product of the British Empire. Prior to 1660, almost all immigrants to the English colonies of North America had migrated freely, though most paid for their passage by becoming indentured servants . Improved economic conditions and an easing of religious persecution in Europe made it increasingly difficult to recruit labor to

12993-414: The Atlantic coast. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, and Maryland all lay claim to the land in the Ohio River valley, and the colonies engaged in a scramble to expand west. Following the 1684 revocation of the Somers Isles Company's Royal Charter, seafaring Bermudians established an inter-colonial trade network, with Charleston, South Carolina (settled from Bermuda in 1670 under William Sayle, and on

13176-605: The British Empire after 1783 as the "Second British Empire"; this period saw Britain increasingly focus on Asia and Africa instead of the Americas, and increasingly focus on the expansion of trade rather than territorial possessions. Nonetheless, Britain continued to colonize parts of the Americas in the 19th century, taking control of British Columbia and establishing the colonies of the Falkland Islands and British Honduras . Britain also gained control of several colonies, including Trinidad and British Guiana , following

13359-653: The British Empire. Meanwhile, seeking to avoid another expensive war with Native Americans, Britain issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , which restricted settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains . However, it was effectively replaced five years later thanks to the Treaty of Fort Stanwix . The Thirteen Colonies became increasingly divided between Patriots , opposed to parliamentary taxation without representation, and Loyalists , who supported

13542-719: The British Parliament passed the Quebec Act 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley . More importantly, the Quebec Act afforded Quebec special autonomy and rights of self-administration at a time when the Thirteen Colonies were increasingly agitating against British rule. It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there, staving off

13725-566: The British monarch as head of state . Following the onset of the Cold War , most of the remaining British colonies in the Americas gained independence between 1962 and 1983. Many of the former British colonies are part of the Commonwealth of Nations , a political association chiefly consisting of former colonies of the British Empire. Following the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Spain and Portugal established colonies in

13908-493: The British were saddled with huge debts following the French and Indian War. As much of the British debt had been generated by the defense of the colonies, British leaders felt that the colonies should contribute more funds, and they began imposing taxes such as the Sugar Act of 1764. Increased British control of the Thirteen Colonies upset the colonists and upended the notion many colonists held: that they were equal partners in

14091-759: The Canadian military ". Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001 , resulting in the largest amount of Canadian deaths for any single military mission since the Korean War in the early 1950s. In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-led intervention into the Libyan Civil War and also became involved in battling the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq in the mid-2010s. The country celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2017, three years before

14274-588: The Caribbean, Britain retained Grenada , St. Vincent , Dominica , and Tobago , but returned control of Martinique , Havana , and other colonial possessions to France or Spain. The British subjects of North America believed the unwritten British constitution protected their rights and that the governmental system—with the House of Commons , the House of Lords , and the monarch sharing power—found an ideal balance among democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny. However,

14457-718: The Commander-in-Chief in Halifax, and naval and ecclesiastic links between Bermuda the Maritimes also remained; The military links were severed by Canadian confederation at the end of the 1860s, which resulted in the removal of the British Army from Canada and its Commander-in-Chief from Halifax when the Canadian Government took responsibility for the defence of Canada; The naval links remained until

14640-582: The Crown and were subjected to the measures laid out in An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego until Parliament was able to force them to acknowledge its sovereignty. Bermudian anger at the policies of the Somers Isles Company ultimately saw them take their complaints to the Crown after The Restoration , leading to the Crown revoking the Royal Charter of

14823-494: The Crown 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 the Official Opposition and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check. The Parliament of Canada passes all federal statute laws. It comprises

15006-621: The Dutch colony of New Netherland , with a capital at New Amsterdam . In 1657, New Netherland expanded through conquest of New Sweden , a Swedish colony centered in the Delaware Valley . Despite commercial success, New Netherland failed to attract the same level of settlement as the English colonies. In 1664, during a series of wars between the English and Dutch, English soldier Richard Nicolls captured New Netherland. The Dutch briefly regained control of parts of New Netherland in

15189-750: The English colonization of Ireland, specifically the Munster Plantation, England's first colony, using the same tactics as the Plantations of Ireland . Many of the early colonists of North America had their start in colonizing Ireland, including a group known as the West Country Men . When Sir Walter Raleigh landed in Virginia, he compared the Native Americans to the wild Irish. Both Roanoke and Jamestown had been based on

15372-553: The English, Spanish , and French empires . After decades of warring with France, Britain took control of the French colony of Canada and France's territory east of the Mississippi River , as well as several Caribbean territories, in 1763. Many of the North American colonies gained independence from Britain through victory in the American Revolutionary War , which ended in 1783. Historians refer to

15555-771: The First Nations to education, government and legal rights. Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the British North America Act, 1867, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into the First World War . Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps , which played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagements of

15738-545: The French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with the intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution. The British also expanded their mercantile interests in the North Pacific. Spain and Britain had become rivals in the area which came to

15921-511: The French. In 1695, the Parliament of Scotland granted a charter to the Company of Scotland , which established a settlement in 1698 on the Isthmus of Panama . Besieged by neighbouring Spanish colonists of New Granada , and afflicted by malaria , the colony was abandoned two years later. The Darien scheme was a financial disaster for Scotland—a quarter of Scottish capital was lost in

16104-553: The Irish plantation model. In the late sixteenth century, Protestant England became embroiled in a religious war with Catholic Spain. Seeking to weaken Spain's economic and military power, English privateers such as Francis Drake and Humphrey Gilbert harassed Spanish shipping. Gilbert proposed the colonization of North America on the Spanish model, with the goal of creating a profitable English empire that could also serve as

16287-515: The Islands of Bermuda, where the spin-off Somers Isles Company still administered, the company and its shareholders in England only earned profits from the export of tobacco, placing them increasingly at odds with Bermudians for whom tobacco had become unprofitable to cultivate. As only those landowners who could attend the company's annual meetings in England were permitted to vote on company policy,

16470-732: The Islands of Newfoundland, Cape Breton, Prince Edward and Bermuda were under the Command of Lieutenant-General Sir John Coape Sherbrooke . Below Sherbrooke, the Bermuda Garrison was under the immediate control of the Lieutenant- Governor of Bermuda , Major-General George Horsford (although the Lieutenant-Governor of Bermuda was eventually restored to a full civil Governorship, in his military role as Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda he remained subordinate to

16653-581: The Jerseys. Penn named this land the Province of Pennsylvania . Penn was also granted a lease to the Delaware Colony , which gained its own legislature in 1701. A devout Quaker , Penn sought to create a haven of religious toleration in the New World. Pennsylvania attracted Quakers and other settlers from across Europe, and the city of Philadelphia quickly emerged as a thriving port city. With its fertile and cheap land, Pennsylvania became one of

16836-479: The Massachusetts Bay Colony were reorganized as royal colonies, with a governor appointed by the king. Maryland, which had experienced a revolution against the Calvert family, also became a royal colony, though the Calverts retained much of their land and revenue in the colony. Even those colonies that retained their charters or proprietors were forced to assent to much greater royal control than had existed before

17019-652: The Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had been united in 1866) joined the confederation in 1871 on the promise of a transcontinental railway extending to Victoria in the province within 10 years, while Prince Edward Island joined in 1873. In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in

17202-540: The Norse built a small short-lived encampment that was occupied sporadically for perhaps 20 years at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland . No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when seafarer John Cabot explored and claimed Canada's Atlantic coast in the name of Henry VII of England . In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, he planted

17385-545: The North. The first of the permanent English colonies in the Americas was established in Jamestown, Virginia , in 1607. Colonies were established in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Though most British colonies in the Americas eventually gained independence, some colonies have remained under Britain's jurisdiction as British Overseas Territories . The first documented settlement of Europeans in

17568-786: The Northwest Territories, Parliament created the Yukon Territory. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905. Between 1871 and 1896, almost one quarter of the Canadian population emigrated south to the US. To open the West and encourage European immigration, the Government of Canada sponsored the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway ), passed

17751-537: The Parliament of Canada. British colonization of the Americas The British colonization of the Americas is the history of establishment of control, settlement, and colonization of the continents of the Americas by England , Scotland , and, after 1707, Great Britain . Colonization efforts began in the late 16th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in

17934-510: The Portuguese in Brazil , which depended on slave labour. The English government valued the economic importance of these islands over that of New England. Until the abolition of its slave trade in 1807, Britain was responsible for the transportation of 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas, a third of all slaves transported across the Atlantic . Many of the slaves were captured by

18117-720: The Royal Navy withdrew from Halifax in 1905, handing its dockyard there over to the Royal Canadian Navy ; The established Church of England in Bermuda , within which the Governor held office as Ordinary , remained linked to the colony of Newfoundland under the same Bishop until 1919). In response to the Rebellions of 1837–1838, Britain passed the Act of Union in 1840, which united Upper Canada and Lower Canada into

18300-593: The Saint Lawrence River. Following the British conquest of New France , this area was known as the British Province of Quebec from 1763 to 1791. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada . These two colonies were collectively named the Canadas until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867 , Canada

18483-472: The Sea Venture were thriving, before moving to St. George's Island where they established the town of New London , which was soon renamed to St. George's Town (the first actual town successfully established by the English in the New World as Jamestown was really James Fort , a rudimentary defensive structure, in 1612). Bermuda was soon more populous, self-sufficient and prosperous than Jamestown and

18666-471: The Somers Isles Company and taking over direct administration of Bermuda in 1684. From that date, Bermudians abandoned agriculture, diversifying their maritime industry to occupy many niches of inter-colonial trade between North America and the West Indies. Bermudians limited landmass and high birth rate meant that a steady outflow from the colony contributed about 10,000 settlers to other colonies, notably

18849-614: The Spanish and English from permanently settling in North America during the early 17th century. Later explorers such as Martin Frobisher and Henry Hudson sailed to the New World in search of a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic Ocean and Asia, but were unable to find a viable route. Europeans established fisheries in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland , and traded metal, glass, and cloth for food and fur, beginning

19032-550: The United Kingdom in the late-eighteenth century, and Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807. In the mid-nineteenth century, the economies of the British Caribbean colonies would suffer as a result of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 , which abolished slavery throughout the British Empire, and the 1846 Sugar Duties Act , which ended preferential tariffs for sugar imports from the Caribbean. To replace

19215-654: The United Kingdom. The delay underscored Canada's independence. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. In all, over a million Canadians served in the armed forces during the Second World War . Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid , the Allied invasion of Italy , the Normandy landings , the Battle of Normandy , and

19398-565: The United States began the American War of 1812 with the invasion of the Canadas, but the British Army mounted a successful defence with minimal regular forces, supported by militia and native allies, while the Royal Navy blockaded the United States of America's Atlantic coastline from Bermuda, strangling its merchant trade, and carried out amphibious raids including the Chesapeake Campaign with its Burning of Washington . As

19581-407: The United States failed to make any gains before British victory against France in 1814 freed British forces from Europe to be wielded against it, and as Britain had no aim in its war with its former colonies other than to defend its remaining continental territory, the war ended with the pre-war boundaries reaffirmed by the 1814 Treaty of Ghent , ensuring Canada's future would be separate from that of

19764-642: The United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute , extending the border westward along the 49th parallel . This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858) . The Anglo-Russian Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1825) established the border along the Pacific coast, but, even after the US Alaska Purchase of 1867, disputes continued about

19947-443: The United States to Canada. The 14,000 Loyalists who went to the Saint John and Saint Croix river valleys, then part of Nova Scotia , felt too far removed from the provincial government in Halifax, so London split off New Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created the provinces of Upper Canada (mainly English-speaking) and Lower Canada (mainly French-speaking ) to defuse tensions between

20130-436: The United States. Following the final defeat of French Emperor Napoleon in 1815, Britain gained ownership of Trinidad , Tobago, British Guiana , and Saint Lucia, as well as other territories outside of the Western Hemisphere. The Treaty of 1818 with the United States set a large portion of the Canada–United States border at the 49th parallel and also established a joint U.S.–British occupation of Oregon Country . In

20313-475: The West Indies where colonies like Barbados grew tobacco to the exclusion of subsistence crops. As the company's magazine ship would not carry their food exports to the West Indies, Bermudians began to build their own ships from Bermuda cedar , developing the speedy and nimble Bermuda sloop and the Bermuda rig . Between the late 1610s and the American Revolution, the British shipped an estimated 50,000 to 120,000 convicts to their American colonies. Meanwhile,

20496-411: The abortive Rebellions of 1837 . The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture. The Act of Union 1840 merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada and responsible government was established for all provinces of British North America east of Lake Superior by 1855. The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and

20679-504: The advent of metal hulls and steam engines, were to slowly strangle Bermuda's maritime economy, while its newfound importance as a Royal Navy and British Army base from which the North America and West Indies Station could be controlled meant increasing interest from the British Government in its governance. Bermuda was grouped with British North America, especially Nova Scotia and Newfoundland (its closest British neighbours), following United States Independence. When war with France followed

20862-421: The apparent weakness of Spanish rule in Florida , Barbadian planter John Colleton and seven other supporters of Charles II of England established the Province of Carolina in 1663. Settlers in the Carolina Colony established two main population centers, with many Virginians settling in the north of the province and many English Barbadians settling in the southern port city of Charles Town . In 1712, Carolina

21045-423: The centre of the political scale. Five parties had representatives elected to the Parliament in the 2021 election —the Liberals, who formed a minority government; the Conservatives, who became the Official Opposition ; the New Democratic Party (occupying the left ); the Bloc Québécois ; and the Green Party . Far-right and far-left politics have never been a prominent force in Canadian society. Canada has

21228-465: The colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. Partly due to this shortage of free labor, the population of slaves in British North America grew dramatically between 1680 and 1750; the growth was driven by a mixture of forced immigration and the reproduction of slaves. In the Southern Colonies, which relied most heavily on slave labor, the slaves supported vast plantation economies lorded over by increasingly wealthy elites. By 1775, slaves made up one-fifth of

21411-441: The colonists lived as farmers, though cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Boston flourished. With the defeat of the Dutch and the imposition of the Navigation Acts, the British colonies in North America became part of the global British trading network. The colonists traded foodstuffs, wood, tobacco, and various other resources for Asian tea, West Indian coffee, and West Indian sugar, among other items. Native Americans far from

21594-468: The colonists there. The most popular theory is that the colonists left in search of a new area to settle in the Chesapeake, leaving stragglers to integrate with local Native American tribes. A separate colonization attempt in Newfoundland also failed. Despite the failure of these early colonies, the English remained interested in the colonization of North America for economic and military reasons. In 1606, King James I of England granted charters to both

21777-401: The company worked to suppress the developing maritime economy of the colonists and to force the production of tobacco, which required unsustainable farming practices as more was required to be produced to make up for the diminished value. As many of the class of moneyed businessmen who were adventurers in the company were aligned to the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War , Bermuda

21960-493: The constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court, final arbiter, and has been led since 2017 by Richard Wagner , the Chief Justice of Canada . The governor general appoints the court's nine members on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice . The federal Cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts in the provincial and territorial jurisdictions. Common law prevails everywhere except Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law

22143-453: The continent during the North American fur trade . These early European interactions with First Nations would change from friendship and peace treaties to the dispossession of Indigenous lands through treaties . From the late 18th century, European Canadians forced Indigenous peoples to assimilate into a western Canadian society. Settler colonialism reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A period of redress began with

22326-417: The continental colonies were confederated into Canada ) than to the West Indies, and the nearest landfall is North Carolina. Following the independence of the United States, this would make Bermuda of supreme importance to Britain's strategic control of the region, including its ability to protect its shipping in the area and its ability to project its power against the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, as

22509-432: The country and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act, 1867 prior to 1982), affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Statute of Westminster, 1931 , granted full autonomy, and the Constitution Act, 1982 , ended all legislative ties to Britain, as well as adding

22692-421: The country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate , where daily average temperatures are near −15  °C (5  °F ), but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills . In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has

22875-446: The crown's authority over colonial affairs. James was deposed by the new joint monarchy of William and Mary in the Glorious Revolution , but William and Mary quickly reinstated many of the James's colonial policies, including the mercantilist Navigation Acts and the Board of Trade . The Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony and the Province of Maine were incorporated into the Province of Massachusetts Bay , and New York and

23058-444: The early 1800s and pushed into the wilderness territories of the Rocky Mountains and Interior Plateau and all the way to the Strait of Georgia on the Pacific Coast expanding British North America Westward. In 1815, Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost was Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Provinces of Upper-Canada, Lower-Canada, Nova-Scotia, and New~Brunswick, and their several Dependencies, Vice-Admiral of

23241-444: The early 1930s saw an economic downturn, leading to hardship across the country. In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas ) in the 1940s and 1950s. On the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King , war with Germany was declared effective September 10, 1939, by King George VI , seven days after

23424-563: The emergence of a new Canadian identity , marked by the adoption of the maple leaf flag in 1965, the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969, and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971. Socially democratic programs were also instituted, such as Medicare , the Canada Pension Plan , and Canada Student Loans ; though, provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in

23607-455: The enterprise—and ended Scottish hopes of establishing its own overseas empire. The episode also had major political consequences, persuading the governments of both England and Scotland of the merits of a union of countries, rather than just crowns. This occurred in 1707 with the Treaty of Union , establishing the Kingdom of Great Britain . After succeeding his brother in 1685, King James II and his lieutenant, Edmund Andros , sought to assert

23790-428: The establishment of more Caribbean colonies, and by 1660 England had established Caribbean sugar colonies in St. Kitts , Antigua , Nevis , and Montserrat , English colonization of the Bahamas began in 1648 after a Puritan group known as the Eleutheran Adventurers established a colony on the island of Eleuthera . England established another sugar colony in 1655 following the successful invasion of Jamaica during

23973-414: The exact demarcation of the Alaska–Yukon and Alaska–BC border. Following three constitutional conferences, the British North America Act, 1867 officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces: Ontario , Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories , where

24156-413: The export of goods and financial investments around the world, including the newly independent republics of Latin America. Though this unofficial empire did not require direct British political control, it often involved the use of gunboat diplomacy and military intervention to protect British investments and ensure the free flow of trade. From 1793 to 1815, Britain was almost constantly at war, first in

24339-416: The federal government and the 10 provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons. Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign, have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces, and differ structurally from their provincial counterparts. The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of

24522-488: The federal jurisdiction. It is very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and human rights. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration . Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its history , economy , and culture . A developed country , Canada has

24705-428: The first permanent year-round European settlements at Port Royal (in 1605) and Quebec City (in 1608). Among the colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes , while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes , Hudson Bay , and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana . The Beaver Wars broke out in

24888-553: The first starting out in 1792, and a year a later he became the first European to reach the Pacific overland north of the Rio Grande reaching the ocean near present-day Bella Coola . This preceded the Lewis and Clark Expedition by twelve years. Shortly thereafter, Mackenzie's companion, John Finlay , founded the first permanent European settlement in British Columbia , Fort St. John . The North West Company sought further explorations firstly by David Thompson , starting in 1797, and later by Simon Fraser . More expedition took place in

25071-441: The formation of a reconciliation commission by the Government of Canada in 2008. This included acknowledgment of cultural genocide , settlement agreements , and betterment of racial discrimination issues, such as addressing the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women . It is believed that the first documented European to explore the east coast of Canada was Norse explorer Leif Erikson . In approximately 1000 AD,

25254-541: The fur trade, conflicts with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss of Indigenous lands to settlers and the subsequent collapse of several nations' self-sufficiency. Although not without conflict, European Canadians ' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful. First Nations and Métis peoples played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada , particularly for their role in assisting European coureurs des bois and voyageurs in their explorations of

25437-412: The growth of an independence movement in contrast to the Thirteen Colonies. The Proclamation and the Quebec Act in turn angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, further fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the American Revolution . After the successful American War of Independence, the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the newly formed United States and set

25620-405: The introduction of European cattle farms and wheat fields dominating the land. The Indigenous peoples saw widespread famine and disease due to the loss of the bison and their traditional hunting lands. The federal government did provide emergency relief, on condition of the Indigenous peoples moving to the reserves. During this time, Canada introduced the Indian Act extending its control over

25803-619: The king. In the British colonies nearest to the Thirteen Colonies, however, protests were muted, as most colonists accepted the new taxes. These provinces had smaller populations, were largely dependent on the British military, and had less of a tradition of self-rule. At the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the Patriots repulsed a British force charged with seizing militia arsenals. The Second Continental Congress assembled in May 1775 and sought to coordinate armed resistance to Britain. It established an impromptu government that recruited soldiers and printed its own money. Announcing

25986-468: The labor of former slaves, British plantations on Trinidad and other parts of the Caribbean began to hire indentured servants from India and China. Despite its defeat in the American Revolutionary War and shift towards a new form of imperialism during the nineteenth century, the British Empire retained numerous colonies in the Americas after 1783. During and after the American Revolutionary War, between 40,000 and 100,000 defeated Loyalists migrated from

26169-539: The main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom . Peace came in 1815; no boundaries were changed. Immigration resumed at a higher level, with over 960,000 arrivals from Britain between 1815 and 1850. New arrivals included refugees escaping the Great Irish Famine as well as Gaelic -speaking Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances . Infectious diseases killed between 25 and 33 percent of Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891. The desire for responsible government resulted in

26352-399: The mass importation of African slaves . Though many early slaves eventually gained their freedom, after 1662 Virginia adopted policies that passed enslaved status from mother to child and granted slave owners near-total domination of their human property. 640 miles (1,030 km) East-South-East of Cape Hatteras , in the Virginia Company's other former settlement, the Somers Isles, alias

26535-436: The mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade. The English established additional settlements in Newfoundland in 1610 along with settlements in the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four wars erupted in colonial North America between 1689 and 1763; the later wars of the period constituted the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War . Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with

26718-514: The monarch, the House of Commons, and the Senate . While Canada inherited the British concept of parliamentary supremacy , this was later, with the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, all but completely superseded by the American notion of the supremacy of the law . Each of the 338 members of Parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. The Constitution Act, 1982 , requires that no more than five years pass between elections, although

26901-422: The most attractive destinations for immigrants in the late 17th century. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware became known as the Middle Colonies . In 1670, Charles II incorporated by royal charter the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), granting it a monopoly on the fur trade in the area known as Rupert's Land . Forts and trading posts established by the HBC were frequently the subject of attacks by

27084-450: The mountains. It is subdivided into a number of floristic provinces . Their delineation is debatable. According to a version of Takhtajan's classification, these are the Arctic, Atlantic European, Central European, Illyrian, Euxinian, Caucasian, Eastern European, Northern European, West Siberian, Altai-Sayan , Central Siberian, Transbaikalian, Northeastern Siberian, Okhotsk-Kamtchatkan and Canadian Provinces. Canada Canada

27267-582: The name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day . The first inhabitants of North America are generally hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago. The Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada. The characteristics of Indigenous societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks. Some of these cultures had collapsed by

27450-540: The one hundred colonists dying. In 1621, Plymouth Colony was able to establish an alliance with the nearby Wampanoag tribe, which helped the Plymouth Colony adopt effective agricultural practices and engaged in the trade of fur and other materials. Farther north, the English also established Newfoundland Colony in 1610, which primarily focused on cod fishing. The Caribbean would provide some of England's most important and lucrative colonies, but not before several attempts at colonization failed. An attempt to establish

27633-529: The passage of the 1931 Statute of Westminster , Canada and other dominions were fully independent of British legislative control; they could nullify British laws and Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent. United States independence, and the closure of its ports to British trade, combined with growing peace in the region which reduced the risk to shipping (resulting in smaller evasive merchantmen, such as those that Bermudian shipbuilders turned out, losing favour to larger clippers ), and

27816-404: The permafrost is uncertain because the Arctic has been warming at three times the global average as a result of climate change in Canada . Canada's annual average temperature over land has risen by 1.7 °C (3.1 °F), with changes ranging from 1.1 to 2.3 °C (2.0 to 4.1 °F) in various regions, since 1948. The rate of warming has been higher across the North and in the Prairies. In

27999-439: The population of the Thirteen Colonies but less than ten percent of the population of the Middle Colonies and New England Colonies. Though a smaller proportion of the English population migrated to British North America after 1700, the colonies attracted new immigrants from other European countries, including Catholic settlers from Ireland and Protestant Germans. As the 18th century progressed, colonists began to settle far from

28182-435: The power of the Royal Navy on the surrounding Atlantic left no possibility of their joining the rebellion, and they eventually availed themselves of the opportunities of privateering against their former kinsmen. Although often mistaken for being in the West Indies, Bermuda is nearer to Canada (and was initially grouped within British North America , retaining close links especially with the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland until

28365-488: The provinces collect more revenue than the federal government, equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces. The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces receive their sovereignty from the Crown and power and authority from the Constitution Act, 1867 , whereas territorial governments have powers delegated to them by

28548-402: The provinces of West Jersey and East Jersey out of former Dutch land situated to the west of New York City, giving the territories to John Berkeley and George Carteret . East Jersey and West Jersey would later be unified as the Province of New Jersey in 1702. Charles II rewarded William Penn , the son of distinguished Admiral William Penn , with the land situated between Maryland and

28731-736: The rights they support were reaffirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 . These rights may include provision of services, such as healthcare through the Indian Health Transfer Policy , and exemption from taxation. Canada is a federation composed of 10 federated states , called provinces, and three federal territories . These may be grouped into four main regions : Western Canada , Central Canada , Atlantic Canada , and Northern Canada ( Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together). Provinces and territories have responsibility for social programs such as healthcare , education , and social programs , as well as administration of justice (but not criminal law). Although

28914-422: The role, including religious Independent and Parliamentarian William Sayle ) by force of arms and elected John Trimingham to replace him. Many of Bermuda's religious Independents, who had sided with Parliament, were forced into exile. Although some of the newer continental colonies settled largely by anti-Episcopalian Protestants sided with Parliament during the war, Virginia and other colonies like Bermuda supported

29097-442: The same latitude as Bermuda, although Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is the nearest landfall to Bermuda) forming a continental hub for their trade (Bermuda itself produced only ships and seamen). The widespread activities and settlement of Bermudians has resulted in many localities named after Bermuda dotting the map of North America. The Glorious Revolution and the succession of William III, who had long resisted French hegemony as

29280-425: The same, Lieutenant-General and Commander of all His Majesty's Forces in the said Provinces of Lower Canada and Upper-Canada, Nova-Scotia and New-Brunswick, and their several Dependencies, and in the islands of Newfoundland, Prince Edward, Cape Breton and the Bermudas, &c. &c. &c. Beneath Prevost, the staff of the British Army in the Provinces of Nova-Scotia, New-Brunswick, and their Dependencies, including

29463-585: The southeast. Canada is also home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert , on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island —latitude 82.5°N—which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole. In latitude, Canada's most northerly point of land is Cape Columbia in Nunavut at 83°6′41″N, with its southern extreme at Middle Island in Lake Erie at 41°40′53″N. In longitude, Canada's land extends from Cape Spear , Newfoundland, at 52°37'W, to Mount St. Elias , Yukon Territory, at 141°W. Canada can be divided into seven physiographic regions:

29646-406: The southern continental colonies (including Carolina Province , which was settled from Bermuda in 1670), as well as West Indian settlements, including the Providence Island colony in 1631, the Bahamas (settled by Eleutheran Adventurers , Parliament-allied Civil War exiles from Bermuda, under William Sayle in the 1640s), and the seasonal occupation of the Turks Islands from 1681. Encouraged by

29829-422: The southern regions of Canada, air pollution from both Canada and the United States—caused by metal smelting, burning coal to power utilities, and vehicle emissions—has resulted in acid rain , which has severely impacted waterways, forest growth, and agricultural productivity. Canada is one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters globally , with emissions increased by 16.5 percent between 1990 and 2022. Canada

30012-438: The terms of peace, ceding British North American territories south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River to the new country. The American war of independence also caused a large out-migration of Loyalists , the settlers who had fought against American independence. Many moved to Canada, particularly Atlantic Canada, where their arrival changed the demographic distribution of the existing territories. New Brunswick

30195-406: The territory of Virginia. The archipelago was officially named Virgineola , though this was soon changed to The Somers Isles , which remains an official name though the archipelago had already long been infamous as Bermuda , and the older Spanish name has resisted replacement. The Lieutenant-Governor and settlers who arrived in 1612 briefly settled on Smith's Island, where the three left behind by

30378-446: The time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations. Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations , Inuit , and Métis , the last being of mixed descent who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations people married European settlers and subsequently developed their own identity. The Indigenous population at

30561-446: The time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million, with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples . As a consequence of European colonization, the Indigenous population declined by forty to eighty percent. The decline is attributed to several causes, including the transfer of European diseases , to which they had no natural immunity, conflicts over

30744-410: The village of Stadacona . Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as Canada . From the 16th to the early 18th century, Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along

30927-423: The war with a large army and strong economy. The financial crisis of the Great Depression led the Dominion of Newfoundland to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become a Crown colony ruled by a British governor. After two referendums , Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province. Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to

31110-414: The war, and France surrendered almost all of the portion of New France to the east of the Mississippi River to the British. France separately ceded its lands west of the Mississippi River to Spain, and Spain ceded Florida to Britain. With the newly acquired territories, the British created the provinces of East Florida , West Florida , and Quebec , all of which were placed under military governments. In

31293-428: The war. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when the Unionist Cabinet's proposal to augment the military's dwindling number of active members with conscription was met with vehement objections from French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain, and the Statute of Westminster, 1931 , affirmed Canada's independence. The Great Depression in Canada during

31476-443: The way to British expansion in that area, and a number of expeditions took place; firstly a naval expedition led by George Vancouver which explored the inlets around the Pacific NorthWest, particularly around Vancouver Island . On land, expeditions took place hoping for a discovery of a practicable river route to the Pacific for the extension of the North American fur trade (the North West Company ). Sir Alexander Mackenzie led

31659-410: The world's longest coastline of 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi). In addition to sharing the world's largest land border with the United States —spanning 8,891 km (5,525 mi) —Canada shares a land border with Greenland (and hence the Kingdom of Denmark ) to the northeast, on Hans Island , and a maritime boundary with France 's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to

31842-427: Was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference and the word dominion was conferred as the country's title. By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "realm of the Commonwealth". The Canada Act 1982 , which brought the Constitution of Canada fully under Canadian control, referred only to Canada . Later that year,

32025-411: Was consequently no property qualification , unlike the case with the House of Commons . As the bottom fell out of tobacco, many absentee shareholders (or Adventurers ) sold their shares to the occupying managers or tenants, with the agricultural industry quickly shifting towards family farms that grew subsistence crops instead of tobacco. Bermudians soon found they could sell their excess foodstuffs in

32208-626: Was desperately short of trained seamen and constantly losing deserters who sought better-paid work under less draconian discipline aboard American merchant vessels, boarded American ships to search for deserters, sometimes resulting in the Impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy. The United States, at the same time, coveted the acquisition of Canada, which Britain could ill afford to lose as its naval and merchant fleets had been constructed largely from American timber before United States independence, and from Canadian timber thereafter. Taking advantage of Britain's absorption in its war with France,

32391-417: Was divided into the crown colonies of North Carolina and South Carolina . The colonies of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina (as well as the Province of Georgia , which was established in 1732) became known as the Southern Colonies . Beginning in 1609, Dutch traders had established fur trading posts on the Hudson River , Delaware River , and Connecticut River , ultimately creating

32574-507: Was in turn split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes, which led to the incorporation of Saint John, New Brunswick , as Canada's first city. To accommodate the influx of English-speaking Loyalists in Central Canada, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province of Canada into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec ) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario ), granting each its own elected legislative assembly. The Canadas were

32757-420: Was one of the colonies that sided with the Crown during the war , being the first to recognise Charles II after the execution of his father. With control of their Assembly and the militia and volunteer coastal artillery , the Royalist majority deposed the company-appointed Governor (by the 1630s, the company had ceased sending Governors to Bermuda and had instead appointed a succession of prominent Bermudians to

32940-430: Was passed by Parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation. In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history; the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students; and

33123-437: Was renamed Nova Scotia . In the 1730s, James Oglethorpe proposed that the area south of the Carolinas be colonized to provide a buffer against Spanish Florida, and he was part of a group of trustees that were granted temporary proprietorship over the Province of Georgia . Oglethorpe and his compatriots hoped to establish a utopian colony that banned slavery, but by 1750 the colony remained sparsely populated, and Georgia became

33306-550: Was severely impoverished during glaciations in the Pleistocene . The region is bordered by Eastern Asiatic , North American Atlantic , Rocky Mountain , Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian Regions . There are no biological families endemic to this region, but it has endemic genera (e.g. Lunaria , Borodinia , Gorodkovia , Redowskia , Soldanella , Physospermum , Astrantia , Thorella , Pulmonaria , Erinus , Ramonda , Haberlea , Stratiotes , Telekia ) and many endemic species , especially in

33489-406: Was to be shown during the American War of 1812 . Having defeated a combined Franco-Spanish naval force at the decisive 1782 Battle of the Saintes , Britain retained control of Gibraltar and all its pre-war Caribbean possessions except for Tobago. Economically, the new nation became a major trading partner of Britain. The loss of a large portion of British America defined the transition between

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