Peaceful, homey, hugely beautiful Canada, like its southern neighbor, is a continental nation with continental extremes, from nearly uncharted wilderness to buzzing cities, from world-class mountains to winsome maritime villages, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, in one grand, gracious sweep.

• TOTAL AREA: 9,984,670 sq km

• LAND AREA: 9,093,507 sq km

• WATER AREA: 891,163 sq km

• POPULATION: 33,098,932

• RELIGIONS: Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16%

• LANGUAGES: English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%

• GOVERNMENT TYPE: Constitutional Monarchy that is also a parliamentary democracy and a federation

• CAPITAL CITY: Ottawa

• OFFICIAL CURRENCY: Canadian dollar (CAD)

• TIME ZONE: GMT/UTC -7 (), GMT/UTC -6 (), GMT/UTC -5 (), GMT/UTC -4 (), GMT/UTC -3.5 (), GMT/UTC -8 ()