CanadaCanada Ch

apter

55

To learn more about Canadas peopleand places, view The World and ItsPeople Chapter 5 video.

156

Chapter Overview Visit The World and ItsPeople Web site at twip.glencoe.com andclick on Chapter 5Chapter Overviews topreview information about Canada.

Social StudiesSocial StudiesSocial StudiesSocial Studies

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http://twip.glencoe.com

Sharing a BorderThe boundary line between

Canada and the United States formsthe longest unprotected border inthe world. Citizens of thesecountries have been allowed totravel freely across the border,which is symbolic of the free tradebetween these nations.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver, British Columbia

Draw a markat the midpoint.

NorthernCanada

SouthernCanada

Compare-Contrast Make this foldable to help you analyze the similarities and differences between the landforms, climate, and cultures of northern and southern Canada.

Step 1 Mark the midpoint of the sideedge of a sheet of paper.

Step 2 Turn the paper and fold theoutside edges in to touch at the midpoint.

Step 3 Turn and label your foldable as shown.

Reading and Writing As you read the chapter, collectand write information under the appropriate tab that will helpyou compare and contrast northern and southern Canada.

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158 CHAPTER 5

Have you ever seen a lumbering,

snarling grizzly bear up close

and personal? Many tourists

come to Banff National

Park in western Canada

hoping to spot such a

creature. Located in

the Rocky Mountains,

Banff is Canadas old-

est, best-loved, and

busiest national park.

More than 4 million

visitors a year are drawn

to its spectacular moun-

tain scenery.

11 A Resource-RichCountry

Province EconomicActivities

Guide to Reading

Main Idea

Canada is a vastcountry with manylandforms andresources.

Terms to Know

province glacier tundra prairie cordillera newsprint

Reading Strategy

Create a chart like thisone and list Canadasprovinces in the leftcolumn. In the rightcolumn, list the maineconomic activities ineach province.

Vikings landed their boats on its eastern coast around A.D. 1000.Niagara Falls thunders in the southeast. Grizzly bears roam its westernregions. What country are we describing? It is Canada.

Canadas LandscapeCanada, located north of the contiguous United States, is the

worlds second-largest country in land area. Only Russia is larger.Between Canada and the United States lies the worlds longest unde-fended border. The friendship between the two countries has allowedthousands of people to cross this 5,522-mile (8,887-km) border everyday. Like the United States, Canada has the Atlantic Ocean on its east-ern coast and the Pacific Ocean on its western coast.The Arctic Oceanlies to the far north.

Unlike the United States,Canada does not have states. Instead, it has10 provinces, or regional political divisions. It also includes three

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territories. Look at the map on page 119 to find the eastern provinceof Newfoundland and Labrador. Now locate the Maritime Provinces ofNova Scotia,New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.Heading west,you see Quebec and Ontario, followed by the Prairie Provinces ofManitoba, Saskatchewan (suhSKAchuhwuhn), and Alberta. On thefar western coast lies British Columbia. Now find the Yukon Territoryand the Northwest Territories. In 1999 a third territoryNunavut(NOOnuhvuht)was carved out of part of the Northwest Terri-tories. This area is the homeland of the Inuit.

The Effect of Glaciers Thousands of years ago, huge glaciers, orgiant sheets of ice, covered most of Canada. The weight of these gla-ciers pushed much of the land down and created a large, low basin.Highlands rose on the western, eastern, and northern edges of thisbasin. Water filled the land that was pushed very low. As a result,Canada today has many lakes and inland waterwaysmore than anyother country in the world.

Look at the map on page 118 to see the horseshoe-shaped regionknown as the Canadian Shield that is wrapped around Hudson Bay.Rocky hills worn down by erosion along with thousands of lakes dotmuch of this wilderness region. Deep within the Canadian Shield areiron ore, copper, nickel, gold, and uranium deposits. Because of theregions location and cold climate, few people live here.

To the north lie the Arctic Islands.Much of the landscape here con-sists of tundravast rolling, treeless plains in which only the top fewinches of ground thaw in summer. Glaciers blanket the islands that arefarthest north.

Southern Canada From Atlantic to Pacific Many of southernCanadas physical features extend into the United States. AlongCanadas southeastern Atlantic coast stretch the Appalachian Highlands

LakeSuperior

St. MarysRiver

LakeHuron

LakeOntario

Lake Erie

Sea level

Iroquois Lock

Duluth Soo Locks

Detroit

Montreal

600 ft.(183 m)

579 ft.(176 m)

570 ft.(174 m)

245 ft.(75 m)

St. ClairRiver

DetroitRiver

St. LawrenceRiver

EisenhowerLock

Snell Lock

St. LambertLock

MelochevilleLock

BeauharnoisLock

Cte-Ste.-Catherine Lock

WellandCanal

AtlanticOcean

St. LawrenceRiver

Duluth

Detroit

Canada

United States

L.M

ichi

ga

n

L. Superior

L. Huron

L. Erie

L. Ontari

o

Montreal

St. Lawrence Seaway

Analyzingthe Diagram

The St. LawrenceSeaway provides awater link between theGreat Lakes and theAtlantic Ocean.

Geography Which lakeis completely above sealevel?

Canada 159

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and the Laurentian Highlands. Traveling through this area of Canada,you see rolling hills. The valleys between them are dotted with farms.Forests also blanket much of the landscape. Many deepwater harborsnestle along the jagged, rocky coasts.

Cutting through these highland areas are the fertile lowlands of theSt. Lawrence River and Great Lakes region. This area experiences ahumid continental climatelong, cold winters and short, warm sum-mers. Because of its rich soil and warm summers, this region holdsmost of Canadas urban centers, industries, and farms. Canadas largestcity, Toronto, is located in this region. The St. Lawrence River and theGreat Lakes form the major waterway linking central Canada with theAtlantic coast.A diagram on page 159 shows the St.Lawrence Seawayssystem of locks and canals. Huge, slow-moving barges carry grain, ore,coal, and more through this waterway, which Canada shares with theUnited States.

Canada also shares the Great Plains with its southern neighbor.Look at the physical map on page 118 to locate this region. It is a hugeprairiea rolling, inland grassy area with fertile soil. Herds of buffaloonce roamed here. Today large cattle ranches and farms occupy mostof the land.

Another landform shared by Canada and the United States is the Rocky Mountains, part of an area called the cordillera(KAWRduhlYEHRuh).A cordillera is a group of mountain ranges thatrun side by side. The Canadian Rockies are known for their scenicbeauty and rich mineral resources. Tourists are drawn to this area, par-ticularly to Banff and Jasper National Parks.

West of the Rockies you cross high plateaus until you reach theCoast Mountains. These mountains skirt Canadas Pacific shore and

On Location

Toronto

Toronto and its sub-urbs have well over 4 million people, mak-ing the area Canadaslargest urban center.

Place In whichprovince is Torontolocated?

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Canada 161

form another part of the cordillera. A string of islands off Canadaswest coast are actually peaks of underwater mountains.The highestpeak in CanadaMount Logansoars 19,551 feet (5,959 m) nearthe border with Alaska.

British Columbias southwestern Pacific coastline is similar tothe coastlines of Washington and Oregon. With its marine westcoast climate, this is the only area in Canada that has wet, mild win-ters. In fact, British Columbias capitalVictoriais known for itswell-kept gardens that bloom year-round.

What are three landforms that Canada shares with theUnited States?

Canadas Economic RegionsCanada is known for fertile farmland, rich natural resources, and

skilled workers. Manufacturing, farming, and service industries are thecountrys major economic activities. Like the United States,Canada hasa free market economy in which people start and run businesses withlimited government involvement. Canadas government, however,

40W140W

120W 100W 80W60

W

70N

40N

50N

ARCTIC CIRCLE

60N

ATLANTICOCEAN

GrandBanks

PACIFICOCEAN

ARCTICOCEAN

LabradorSea

BaffinBay

HudsonBay

Edmonton

Calgary

Regina

Vancouver

Whitehorse

Yellowknife

Iqaluit

Winnipeg

Windsor

MontrealToronto

Quebec HalifaxSydney

CornerBrook

SaintJohn

OttawaHamilton

Victoria

St. John's

UNITED STATES

C A N A D A

ALASKA

Wheat

N

S

EW

Azimuthal Equidistant projection500

5000 mi.

0 km

Canada: Economic Activity

Applying Map Skills

Coal

Copper

Fishing

Resources

Gold

Iron ore

Petroleum

Silver

Uranium

Z