Canada Guide
Introduction to Canada
Canada is almost unimaginably vast. It stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the latitude of Rome to beyond the Magnetic North Pole. Its archetypal landscapes are the Rockies' lakes and peaks, the endless forests and the prairie wheatfields, but Canada holds landscapes that defy expectations: rainforest and desert lie close together in the southwest corner of the country, while in the east a short drive can take you from fjords to lush orchards. Better still, great tracts of Canada are completely unspoiled: ninety percent of Canadians live within 160km of the US border.
Like its neighbour to the south, Canada is a spectrum of cultures, a hotchpotch of immigrant groups who supplanted the continent's many native peoples. There's a crucial difference, though, between the two countries. Whereas citizens of the US are encouraged to perceive themselves as Americans above all else, Canada's concertedly multicultural approach has fostered an ethnic mosaic. Alongside the French and British majorities live a host of communities who maintain many of the traditions of their homelands – Chinese, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Indian, Dutch, Polish, Greek and Spanish, to name just the most numerous.