Canada, federated nation of North America, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean; on the north-east by Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, which separate it from Greenland; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by the United States; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the US state of Alaska. It was formerly known as the Dominion of Canada. Occupying all of North America north of the conterminous United States, except Alaska, Greenland, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Islands, Canada is the world's second-largest nation, surpassed in size only by Russia.

It includes many islands, notably the Canadian Arctic Islands in the Arctic Ocean. Among the larger members of this group, which in aggregate area is about 1,424,540 sq km, are Baffin, Victoria, Ellesmere, Banks, Devon, Axel Heiberg, and Melville islands. Cape Columbia, a promontory of Ellesmere Island at latitude 83°06¢ north, is the northernmost point of Canada; its southernmost point is Middle Island in Lake Erie, at latitude 41°41¢ north. The easternmost and westernmost limits are delineated, respectively, by longitude 52°37¢ west, which lies along Cape Spear, Newfoundland, and longitude 141° west, which coincides with part of the Alaska-Yukon border. Canada has a total area of 9,970,610 km of which 755,228 sq km is covered by bodies of freshwater such as rivers and lakes, including those portions of the Great Lakes under Canadian jurisdiction.

Population
        30,286,000
        (1997 official estimate)
Population Density
        3 people/sq km
        (8 people/sq mi)
        (1997 estimate)
Urban/Rural Breakdown
        77% Urban
        23% Rural
Largest Cities
        Montreal1,017,666
        Calgary710,677
        Toronto635,395
        (1991 census)
Largest Metropolitan Areas
        Toronto4,444,700
        Montreal3,359,000
        Vancouver1,891,400
        (1996 estimate)
Ethnic Groups
        34% British and Irish
        27% French
        21% Other European
        16% Asian
        2% Native American
Language
Official Languages
        English
        French
Religions
        45% Roman Catholicism
        36% Protestantism
        19% Other
        including Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism