HUMAN GEOGRAPHY OF CANADA

1763 1791 1867 1871 1885 19311000 1497 16th-17th

Centuries

CANADIAN HISTORY TIMELINEBritish split Canada into 2 provinces: Upper Canada-Protestant English (Ontario) and Lower Canada –Catholic French (Quebec)

With control of Rupert’s Land, Canada went from Atlantic to Pacific

Canada independent from Britain

Canadian transcontinental railway completed

British No. America Act –Dominion of Canada creating confederation of Ontario, Quebec, & 2 colonies-Nova Scotia & New Brunswick

Cabot claimed Newfoundland for England

France surrenders territory to British after French & Indian War

Leif Erikson discovered Newfoundland

France & England claimed parts of Canada

Migration in Canada

•Quebec (French colony) was indifferent to the American Revolution so many loyalists moved into Canada and set up the English territories of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

•Canada expanded westward differently because the lands were already in British or French hands, so there was no need to move in or use Manifest Destiny to justify migration

•Canada’s population is primarily on both coasts and around the Great Lakes

Current Canadian Population Density

Quebec Conflict•French settlers remained in Canada despite British taking control after winning the French & Indian War

•French settlers were Roman Catholic and serious ethnic disputes arose between them and the Protestant English settlers

•British government passed the British North America Act creating the Dominion of Canada which was a confederation (political union) of Ontario (Upper Canada) & Quebec (Lower Canada)

Separatism in Canada

•French Canada (Quebec area) has always wanted to be separate from English Canada, at least culturally

•Quebec speaks French and the people are primarily Roman Catholic compared to the rest of Canada that speaks English and is primarily Protestant

•Canada has created two official languages

Multicultural•Multiculturalism: Effort to promote and embrace diversity

•Both British and French people live in Canada•In the late 1800s immigrants from other parts of Europe came to live in Canada’s vast open lands

Parliamentary Government

•System in which legislative and executive functions are combined in a legislature called parliament

•Central federal government with smaller provincial and territorial governments

•Parliament: Appointed Senate and elected House of Commons

•Majority party’s leader in Parliament becomes Prime Minister

First Nations

•Canada’s Native American peoples

Economic Activities in Canada•Primary Industries: Farming in south central Canada, logging, mining (uranium, zinc, gold, silver), fishing along ocean coastlines, newsprint, oil (along U.S. border)

•Secondary Activities (Manufacturing Sector): 13% of Canadians have mfg jobs; accounts for 1/8 of the GDP. Automobiles, steel, household appliances, electronics, high-tech equipment, mining equipment. Mfg has small clusters in southwest & south central Canada but is mainly in the southeast near the St. Lawrence seaway.

Economic Activities in Canada•Tertiary Activities (Service Industries): 70% of GDP; employ more Canadians than all other industries combined

•Finance, utilities, trade, transportation, tourism, communications, insurance, real estate, trade

•Service industries are found throughout southern Canada

Canada – Land of Many Cultures

•There were diverse cultures from Canada’s earliest settlement when the Inuit and First Nations peoples came after the last Ice Age

•Then the English and French arrived, and later immigrants from Europe and Asia

Languages & Religion•Officially Bilingual: English-speaking majority and French-speaking minority

•First Nation languages still survive•Protestant and Roman Catholics are two largest religions with smaller groups of Muslims, Jews, and others

Population•Settlement affected by the harsh physical environment and lack of transportation routes

•Port cities of Montreal, Toronto, & Vancouver are most densely settled

•80% of Canadians live on 10% of the land along a 100-mile wide strip just north of the U.S. border

•Becoming more urban: 4/5 of people live in cities

•75% of French Canadians live in Quebec; Inuit people live in northern territories

Sports and Recreation

•Skating, ice hockey, fishing, skiing, golf, hunting

•Canadian football league & professional ice hockey teams are popular

•Lacrosse was developed by native peoples of Canada

•Early European settlers in Canada developed ice hockey

The Arts

•Oral traditions of the First Nations•Realistic carvings of the Inuit made from ivory, whalebone, and soapstone

•Totem poles of First Nations on the West Coast

•Toronto-based artists called Group of Seven

•Stratford Festival in Ontario honoring Shakespeare

Canadian Subregions

•Four subregions: Atlantic Provinces, Core Provinces, Prairie Provinces, Pacific Province and Territories

•10 total provinces and 3 territories•Each has a unique population, economy, and resources

•Regional Canada map - Color the four subregions found on page 154 of the textbook.

Atlantic Provinces•Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador

•8% of Canada’s population and most of these live in coastal cities

•Rugged terrain and severe weather•Logging is largest industry due to dense forests

•Fishing, mining, shipbuilding•Hydroelectric power resources

Bay of Fundy beach in New Brunswick

Lunenberg, Nova Scotia

Core Provinces•Quebec and Ontario•Heartland of Canada: 3 out of 5 Canadians live here. Ontario largest population, Quebec largest land area. Most people live along Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River

•Center of political and economic life•Ottawa (in Ontario) is capital of federal government

•35% of agriculture, 41% of mining, 70% of manufacturing

•Toronto is banking and financial center•Montreal is Canada’s 2nd largest city & center of life in Quebec

Chateau Frontenac Castle in Quebec

Prairie Provinces•Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta•Part of North America’s Great Plains – center of agriculture (50% of agriculture in Canada)

•Many minerals also; large coal, oil & natural gas deposits in Alberta

•Manitoba: Scots-Irish, Germans, Scandinavians, Ukrainians, Poles

•Saskatchewan: Asia and the Metis people•Alberta: Europeans, Indian, Japanese, Lebanese, Vietnamese

Pacific Province

•British Columbia•Westernmost province, almost all in Rocky Mountain range

•¾ is 3000 feet above sea level; ½ dense forests; 1/3 frozen tundra, snowfields, glaciers

•Victoria and Vancouver are largest cities in SW

•Logging, mining, hydroelectric power, largest port in Canada so lots of shipping

Emerald Lake, British Columbia

Northern Territories

•Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut Territories

•41% of the land mass of Canada, sparsely populated

•Yukon: North of British Columbia; 35,000 people

•Northwest Territories: East of Yukon, extends to the Arctic; population 43,000

•Nunavut: Formed from eastern Northwest Territories in 1999; home to many Inuit people

•Mining, fishing, logging – widely scattered

Northern Lights, Northwest Territories

Nunavut, Inuit, Metis•Nunavut was formed in 1999 to settle the land claims of the Inuit (formerly called Eskimo) peoples and give them a protected homeland

•Nunavut means “our land”•Metis are people of mixed French and native heritage

Metis symbol and celebrities