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Canada is globally recognized for its outstanding quality of life, stable, progressive political environment and one of the healthiest economies in the world. There are 10 Provinces (Alberta Bed and Breakfast, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario Bed and Breakfast , Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan) and 3 Territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon) so you will have trouble fitting all of the amazing attractions into your schedule!
William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's longest-serving prime minister, observed at the beginning of his third term of office in 1936: "If some countries have too much history, we have too much geography." It's hard to argue with that. Spread over almost 10 million sq km, Canada stretches more than 5,500 km (3,400 miles) from Cape Spear, Newfoundland, in the east to the Alaskan border in the west, and 4,600 km (2,900 miles) from Lake Erie's Pelee Island in the south to Cape Columbia on Ellesmere Island in the north (which is only 800 km or 500 miles from the North Pole). Yes, much geography.
Within this vastness, predictably, one finds stunning topographical extremes. Almost half the country, for example, is forested - one single forest zone of conifers extends for 6,000 km (3,730 miles) in a wide sweep from Newfoundland to the far north - while similarly enormous tracts of land are empty, treeless prairies. There are millions of acres of flood plains and marshy lowlands, and there are the majestic Rocky Mountains. (Canada's highest mountain, at 5,951 m or 19,525 ft, Mt. Logan, is not in the Rockies but in the St. Elias Mountains of the southwestern Yukon.)
And then there is the water. Canada is awash in lakes and rivers; they account for over seven percent of the country's total area. There are 400,000 of them in Ontario alone. Three of the 20 longest rivers in the world are to be found in Canada. In all, the country has a staggering 25 percent of the world's fresh water resources.
Geologically, Canada can be divided into five distinct regions, not counting the archipelago of islands inside the Arctic Circle. The Appalachian region is that hilly, wooded part of the country bounded on the west by the St. Lawrence River and on the east by the Atlantic, and includes the Maritime Provinces, Newfoundland, and the Gaspe Peninsula. It belongs to an ancient mountain system, now eroded to modest elevations, that reaches as far south as Alabama.
The St. Lawrence Lowlands comprise that swath of land from the mouth of the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes. This fertile flood plain is home to most of Canada's people, industry, and commerce.
The Prairies spread across the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and on up into the Northwest Territories. The rich soil in the southern reaches, where the prairies join the Great Plains of the US., yields great golden seas of wheat which gradually dry up in Alberta, giving way to huge cattle ranches.
The Western Cordillera is bounded on the east by the Rocky Mountains and on the west by the Coast Mountains. In between is the spectacular diversity of British Columbia, a province of soaring mountain peaks, alpine lakes and meadows, large boreal forests, intricate networks of rivers, deep blue lakes and long green valleys.
The fifth region, the Canadian Shield, encompasses everything else: the immense, horseshoe-shaped land mass that surrounds Hudson Bay, and stretches from the coast of Labrador down to the St. Lawrence Lowlands, over to the Prairies, and up to the Arctic. Covering some 4.7 million sq km (1.8 million sq miles), about half the entire area of Canada, this rough-hewn, rockstrewn, lake-pitted wilderness is one of the oldest sections of the earth's crust.
Dotted throughout all of these regions are enclaves of particular note: Canada's 34 national parks. With a total area of over 140,000 sq km (54,000 sq miles), the national parks system is designed to protect wildlife of all kinds - wild flowers as well as wild animals - from the predations of man.
If you're looking for a Canada Bed and Breakfast you can use the map above to locate cities in popular Canadian bed and breakfast tourist regions. There are many beautiful bed & breakfasts located in the cities and towns like Whitby, Ontario. Many of the Bed and Breakfasts can be found in major cities like Toronto, Niagara Falls, Vancouver, Stratford, St Johns and Victoria. We are your complete guide for locating a Canada Bed and Breakfast. |
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