| Previous Page | ||
|
capital:
ottawa administrative divisions: 10 provinces and 3 territories*; alberta. british columbia. manitoba. new brunswick. newfoundland and labrador. northwest territories*. nova scotia. nunavut*. ontario. prince edward island. quebec. saskatchewan. yukon territory* independence: 1 july 1867 (union of british north american colonies); 11 december 1931 (independence recognized) national holiday: canada day. 1 july (1867) constitution: made up of unwritten and written acts. customs. judicial decisions. and traditions; the written part of the constitution consists of the constitution act of 29 march 1867. which created a federation of four provinces. and the constitution act of 17 april 1982. which transferred formal control over the constitution from britain to canada. and added a canadian charter of rights and freedoms as well as procedures for constitutional amendments legal system: based on english common law. except in quebec. where civil law system based on french law prevails; accepts compulsory icj jurisdiction. with reservations suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: queen elizabeth ii (since 6 february 1952). represented by governor general michaelle jean (since 27 september 2005) head of government: prime minister paul martin (since 12 december 2003); deputy prime minister anne mclellan (since 12 december 2003) cabinet: federal ministry chosen by the prime minister usually from among the members of his own party sitting in parliament elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister for a five-year term; following legislative elections. the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the house of commons is automatically designated prime minister by the governor general legislative branch: bicameral parliament or parlement consists of the senate or senat (members appointed by the governor general with the advice of the prime minister and serve until reaching 75 years of age; its normal limit is 105 senators) and the house of commons or chambre des communes (308 seats; members elected by direct. popular vote to serve for up to five-year terms) elections: house of commons - last held 28 june 2004 (next to be held 23 january 2006) election results: house of commons - percent of vote by party - liberal party 36.7%. conservative party 29.6%. new democratic party 15.7%. bloc quebecois 12.4%. greens 4.3%. independents 0.4%. other 0.9%; seats by party - liberal party 134. conservative party 99. bloc quebecois 54. new democratic party 19. independent 2 judicial branch: supreme court of canada (judges are appointed by the prime minister through the governor general); federal court of canada; federal court of appeal; provincial courts (these are named variously court of appeal. court of queens bench. superior court. supreme court. and court of justice) political parties and leaders: bloc quebecois [gilles duceppe]; conservative party of canada (a merger of the canadian alliance and the progressive conservative party) [stephen harper]; green party [jim harris]; liberal party [paul martin]; new democratic party [jack layton] political pressure groups and leaders: na international organization participation: acct. afdb. apec. arf. asdb. asean (dialogue partner). australia group. bis. c. cdb. ce (observer). eapc. ebrd. esa (cooperating state). fao. g-7. g-8. g-10. iadb. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. iea. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso. itu. miga. minustah. monuc. nafta. nam (guest). nato. nea. nsg. oas. oecd. opcw. osce. paris club. pca. pif (partner). un. unamsil. unctad. undof. unesco. unficyp. unhcr. unmovic. untso. upu. wcl. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto. zc diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador francis joseph mckenna chancery: 501 pennsylvania avenue nw. washington. dc 20001 telephone: [1] (202) 682-1740 fax: [1] (202) 682-7726 consulate(s) general: atlanta. boston. buffalo. chicago. dallas. denver. detroit. los angeles. miami. minneapolis. new york. phoenix. san diego. and seattle consulate(s): anchorage. houston. philadelphia. princeton. raleigh. san francisco. and san jose diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador david h. wilkins embassy: 490 sussex drive. ottawa. ontario k1n 1g8 mailing address: p. o. box 5000. ogdensburgh. ny 13669-0430 telephone: [1] (613) 238-5335. 4470 fax: [1] (613) 688-3082 consulate(s) general: calgary. halifax. montreal. quebec. toronto. vancouver. winnipeg flag description: two vertical bands of red (hoist and fly side. half width). with white square between them; an 11-pointed red maple leaf is centered in the white square; the official colors of canada are red and white economy - overview: as an affluent. high-tech industrial society. in the trillion dollar class. canada closely resembles the us in its market-oriented economic system. pattern of production. and affluent living standards. since world war ii. the impressive growth of the manufacturing. mining. and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. the 1989 us-canada free trade agreement (fta) and the 1994 north american free trade agreement (nafta) (which includes mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the us. given its great natural resources. skilled labor force. and modern capital plant canada enjoys solid economic prospects. solid fiscal management has produced a balanced budget. although public debate continues over how to manage the rising cost of the publicly funded healthcare system. exports account for roughly a third of gdp. canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with its principal trading partner. the united states. which absorbs more than 85% of canadian exports. gdp (purchasing power parity): $1.077 trillion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $1.047 trillion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 2.8% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $32.800 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.2% industry: 29.1% services: 68.7% (2005 est.) labor force: 17.35 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 2%. manufacturing 14%. construction 5%. services 75%. other 3% (2004) unemployment rate: 6.8% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: 15.9% (2003) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 23.8% (1994) distribution of family income - gini index: 33.1 (1998) inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 20.2% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $159.6 billion expenditures: $152.6 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2004 est.) public debt: 68.2% of gdp na (2005 est.) agriculture - products: wheat. barley. oilseed. tobacco. fruits. vegetables; dairy products; forest products; fish industries: transportation equipment. chemicals. processed and unprocessed minerals. food products; wood and paper products; fish products. petroleum and natural gas industrial production growth rate: 2.9% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 566.3 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 28% hydro: 57.9% nuclear: 12.9% other: 1.3% (2001) electricity - consumption: 520.9 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 29.32 billion kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 23.58 billion kwh (2003) oil - production: 3.07 million bbl/day (2005 est.) oil - consumption: 2.193 million bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: 1.37 million bbl/day (2004) oil - imports: 987.000 bbl/day (2004) oil - proved reserves: 178.9 billion bbl including shale oil (2004 est.) natural gas - production: 165.8 billion cu m (2003 est.) natural gas - consumption: 55.8 billion cu m (2003 est.) natural gas - exports: 91.52 billion cu m (2003 est.) natural gas - imports: 8.73 billion cu m (2003 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 1.691 trillion cu m (2004) current account balance: $16.89 billion (2005 est.) exports: $364.8 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: us 85.1%. japan 2.1%. uk 1.6% (2004) imports: $317.7 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: us 58.9%. china 6.8%. mexico 3.8% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $34.48 billion (2004 est.) debt - external: $600.7 billion (30 june 2005) economic aid - donor: oda. $2.6 billion (2004) currency (code): canadian dollar (cad) currency code: cad exchange rates: canadian dollars per us dollar - 1.21 (2005). 1.301 (2004). 1.4011 (2003). 1.5693 (2002). 1.5488 (2001) fiscal year: 1 april - 31 march telephones - main lines in use: 19.950.900 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 13.221.800 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: excellent service provided by modern technology domestic: domestic satellite system with about 300 earth stations international: country code - 1-xxx; 5 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 5 intelsat (4 atlantic ocean and 1 pacific ocean) and 2 intersputnik (atlantic ocean region) radio broadcast stations: am 245. fm 582. shortwave 6 (2004) radios: 32.3 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 80 (plus many repeaters) (1997) televisions: 21.5 million (1997) internet country code: .ca internet hosts: 3.210.081 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 760 (2000 est.) internet users: 16.11 million (2002) airports: 1.326 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 508 over 3.047 m: 18 2.438 to 3.047 m: 15 1.524 to 2.437 m: 151 914 to 1.523 m: 247 under 914 m: 77 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 823 1.524 to 2.437 m: 66 914 to 1.523 m: 351 under 914 m: 406 (2005 est.) heliports: 319 (2005 est.) pipelines: crude and refined oil 23.564 km; liquid petroleum gas 74.980 km (2003) railways: total: 48.683 km standard gauge: 48.683 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) roadways: total: 1.408.800 km paved: 493.080 km (including 16.906 km of expressways) unpaved: 915.720 km (2002) waterways: 631 km note: saint lawrence seaway of 3.769 km. including the saint lawrence river of 3.058 km. shared with united states (2003) merchant marine: total: 169 ships (1.000 grt or over) 1.784.229 grt/2.657.499 dwt by type: bulk carrier 22. cargo 49. chemical tanker 6. combination ore/oil 1. container 1. passenger 6. passenger/cargo 65. petroleum tanker 13. roll on/roll off 6 foreign-owned: 6 (france 1. germany 3. united states 2) registered in other countries: 112 (2005) ports and terminals: fraser river port. goderich. halifax. montreal. port cartier. quebec. saint john's (newfoundland). sept isles. vancouver military branches: canadian armed forces: land forces command. maritime command. air command. canada command (homeland security) to be operational in early 2006 (2005) military service age and obligation: 16 years of age for voluntary military service; women comprise some 11% of canada's armed forces (2001) manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 8.216.510 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 16-49: 6.740.490 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 223.821 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $9.801.7 million (2003) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 1.1% (2003) disputes - international: managed maritime boundary disputes with the us at dixon entrance. beaufort sea. strait of juan de fuca. and around the disputed machias seal island and north rock; working toward greater cooperation with us in monitoring people and commodities crossing the border; uncontested sovereignty dispute with denmark over hans island in the kennedy channel between ellesmere island and greenland illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market and export to us; use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors; transit point for heroin and cocaine entering the us market; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering because of its mature financial services sector
|
||
|
|
||