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Introduction.svg)  /ˈkænədə/) 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 world's second largest country by total area. Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.
The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal people. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament. A federation consisting of ten provinces and three territories, Canada is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries, 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. It is a member of the G8, G-20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and UN. Did you know... -
Selected article - SkyTrain is operated by British Columbia Rapid Transit Company under contract from TransLink, a regional government transportation agency. It operates on a proof-of-payment fare system and is policed by the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service. SkyTrain Attendants (STAs) are present to provide first aid, directions, customer service and inspect fares, and they monitor train faults and drive the trains when necessary. TransLink claims to lose about C$6 million in unpaid fares annually, including $3 million from SkyTrain alone. SkyTrain's 49.5 km (30.8 mi) of track make it the longest automated light rapid transit system in the world. It also uses the longest mass transit-only bridge, the SkyBridge, to cross the Fraser River. There are 33 stations in the system, which carries more than 160,000 to 180,000 people every day on the two lines. The Expo Line was built in time for the Expo 86 World's Fair; the Millennium Line opened in 2002 and further expansions are underway to coincide with the 2010 Winter Olympics. Selected biography - In 1990, Dion made her English language debut with the album Unison, published by Epic Records. During the 1990s, under the guidance of her husband, she achieved worldwide fame and success with several English and French records, and ended the decade as one of the most successful artists in pop music. After releasing over twenty-five albums during the 1980s and 1990s, Dion announced in 1999 that she was taking a break from entertainment in order to start a family and to focus on her husband/manager, who had been diagnosed with throat cancer. She returned to the music scene in 2002 with a more mature, exclusively adult contemporary, sound, but her album sales suffered a decline, and she signed a lucrative four-year contract to perform nightly in a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Dion's music has been influenced by various genres, which range from pop and rock to gospel and classical, and while her releases have often been given mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her technically skilled and powerful vocals. In 2004, after accumulating record sales in excess of 175 million, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award from the World Music Awards show for becoming the Best-selling Female Pop Artist in the World. Canada in pictures -
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