EXPLORE CANADA 12 KEY FACTS by Peggy Snow STORY LIBRARY
1 Canada Is the Second Largest Country by Area Canada is nearly 3 9 million square miles 10 1 million sq km in size It is the second-largest country by area in the world Canada has more coastline than any other country It runs for 125,567 miles 202,080 km Thousands of islands add to the length of the coastline The landscape of Canada is varied Tundra makes up a large region in the northern half of the country In this ecosystem the earth just below the surface is permanently frozen Trees do not grow on these dry windy plains Canada also has mountains The Appalachians Laurentians and Rockies are three major mountain ranges Plains stretch across the country’s midsection Vast boreal forests run throughout most of Canada The Pacific Atlantic and Arctic oceans surround Canada on the west east and north Trees do not grow in the Canadian Arctic tundra 4
IS CANADA AS BIG AS IT LOOKS When a globe of Earth is cut open and flattened to make a map countries near the north and south poles become distorted In 1999 Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa designed a more precise map He called it AuthaGraph And now Canada doesn’t look so large At least not on Narukawa’s map 2 million Estimated number of lakes in Canada Canada has the longest coastline on Earth The country has multiple mountain ranges vast forests and tundra Most of Canada’s land area is uninhabited Canada has the most fresh water in the world Large expanses of Canada are uninhabited Arctic temperatures and frozen ground create harsh living conditions The most populated province is Ontario It is north of the Great Lakes Canada has more lakes than any other country It has the most fresh water in the world The process used to create an AuthaGraph map retains the true dimensions of the continents 5
