The
second largest country in the world if
one considers landmass, Canada is one
large cold nation with vast tracts of
frozen or semi-frozen wilderness. To compare,
the United States of America (which is
roughly the same size) has ten times the
amount of people living in its borders.
Known as a somewhat friendly but bland
nation, Canada is none the less an excellent
place to live, constantly ranking within
the top ten on the UN Human Development
Index.
Technically Canada is a “federation
under a system of parliamentary democracy
and a constitutional monarchy”.
What this means it that Canada was once
a colony of Britain, but instead of engaging
in a bloody civil war to gain its independence
it waited until its master was shedding
its imperialist tendencies and then politely
asked to be excused. Canada’s official
head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, but
her power is merely ceremonial, with only
the occasional visit now and then. There
are many traditions that carry over from
dealings with the British Monarchy (such
as having a Governor General), but these
are mainly held up as tradition and remain
merely a symbol of the past (sort of like
the British Monarchy as a whole).
Canada
is a peaceful if placid country with a
history of passive resistance. While as
active politically as any first world
nation, it prefers to remain in the shadow
of its neighbour to the south, the United
States of America. Canada maintains a
proud history of “peace keeping”,
with only the occasional scandal to bring
it back to its senses. The country has
a lot in common with Australia (both are
former British colonies), with Australia
having a lot less cases of death by frostbite
and Canada having very few shark attacks.
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