Canada is by size, the largest country in North
America, second in the world overall (behind only Russia). Renowned worldwide
for its vast, untouched landscape, its unique blend of cultures and
multifaceted history, Canada is one of the world's wealthiest countries and a
major tourist destination.
Canada is a land of vast distances and rich natural beauty.
Economically and technologically, and in many other ways she resembles her more
powerful neighbour to the south, the United States, although there are
significant differences between the two countries. One should not make the
common and embarrassing mistake of assuming everything is more or less the same
in the two countries. Canada is perfectly happy with its British heritage and
most Canadians are proud of this. Moreover, Canada has always been heavily
influenced by immigrants from two European nations, the British and the French.
This dual nature is very different to the United States. Canada became a
self-governing dominion in 1867 by an act of the British parliament (making it
younger by nearly 100 years), and is still a proud member of the Commonwealth
of Nations. By 1931 it was more or less fully independent of the United
Kingdom. Though a medium sized country by its population (35 million), Canada
has earned respect on the international stage for its strong diplomatic skills
as a kind of "Switzerland of North America." Domestically, the
country has displayed success in negotiating compromises amongst its own
culturally and linguistically varied populations, a difficult task considering
that language, culture, and even history can vary significantly throughout the
whole country. In contrast to the United States' traditional image of itself as
a melting pot, (now also falling out of use), Canada prefers to consider
and define itself a mosaic of cultures and peoples. Canadians are
used to living and interacting with people of different ethnic backgrounds on a
daily basis and will usually be quite friendly and understanding if approached
in public. The country is largely urban-based, where peoples of all backgrounds
rub elbows with one another (although this will be less so in rural areas)
