Canada (pron-en?k�n?d?) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the worlds second largest country by total area (List of countries and outlying territories by total area)cite web author=Central Intelligence Agency publisher= Central Intelligence Agency url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.htmltitle=The World Factbook: Canada date=2006-05-16 accessdate=2009-10-19 and its common border (Canada-United States border) with the United States to the south and northwest is the worlds longest.

The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal people (Aboriginal peoples in Canada). Beginning in the late 15th century, British (British colonization of the Americas) and French (French colonization of the Americas) expeditions explored, and later settled along, the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America (New France) in 1763 after the Seven Years War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation (Canadian Confederation), Canada was formed as a federal (federalism) dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories (Territorial evolution of Canada) and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster (Statute of Westminster 1931) of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act (Canada Act 1982) of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament (Parliament of the United Kingdom).

A federation comprising ten provinces and three territories (Provinces and territories of Canada), Canada is a parliamentary democracy (parliamentary system) and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom) as its head of state. It is a bilingual (Official bilingualism in Canada) and multicultural (multiculturalism) country, with both English (Canadian English) and French (Canadian French) as official languages both at the federal level and in the province of New Brunswick. One of the worlds highly developed countries (developed country), Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade?particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship (Canada-United States relations). It is a member of the G8, G-20 (G-20 major economies), NATO, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, WTO (World Trade Organisation), Commonwealth of Nations, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, OAS (Organisation of American States), APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), and United Nations.