Канада. Презентация.

Canada

Canada is the second largest country in the world and the largest in North America. Renowned worldwide for its vast, untouched landscape and its unique culture, Canada is a major tourist destination and one of the world's wealthiest countries.

Canada is a land of vast distances and rich natural beauty. Economically and technologically, it resembles its neighbour to the south, the United States, although there are significant differences between the two countries. Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 by an act of the British parliament, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Though a medium sized country by its population, Canada has earned respect on the international stage for its strong diplomatic skills. Domestically, the country has displayed success in negotiating compromises amongst a culturally and linguistically varied population, a difficult task considering that language, culture, and even history can vary significantly over the country. In contrast to the United States' image as a melting pot, Canada prefers to consider itself a mosaic of cultures and people. 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. You will never look out of place or feel like an unusual sight while traveling Canada. The information below will get you started, but be sure to check the specifics for given regions and cities.

Climate Canada's official measurement is metric, however many people (especially those 40 and over) will still use the imperial system for many things. One of the most common holdovers from the imperial system is the use of feet and inches for measurement of distances and heights, and you will still hear older Canadians use the term 'mile' when referring to informal distances, and may also give temperatures in fahrenheit. All weather forcasts will be in °C.

Trying to distill the climate of Canada into an easy-to-understand statement is impossible, given the vast area that this country occupies. Much of southern Ontario has a climate similar to the northeastern United States. On the other hand, Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, is just south of the Arctic Circle and remains very cold for most of the year.

The climate in Canada also depends on how close to the coast you travel. Many inland cities, especially those in the Prairies, experience extreme changes in weather. Winnipeg, Manitoba (also colloquially known as 'Winterpeg') has hot summers that can easily exceed 35°C (95°F), yet experiences very cold winters where temperatures around -40°C (-40°F) are not uncommon. The hottest temperature in Canadian ever recorded was in southern Saskatchewan, at 45°C (113°F). Conversely, southern coastal cities in British Columbia are generally milder year-round and get little snow. The Atlantic Provinces are usually not as mild as the Prairies and the Territories although they constantly experience temperatures below zero in the winter. The Atlantic Provinces are also well known to experience many blizzards during the winter season. In British Columbia, Vancouver and Victoria are temperate and get very little snow, and seldom experience temperatures below 0°C or above 27°C (32-80°F).

English and French are the only two official languages in Canada. All communications and services provided from the federal government are available in both languages. Many Canadians are functionally monolingual, although some parts of the country have both English and French speakers. Over a quarter of Canadians are bilingual or multilingual. Many people in Montreal are at least conversationally bilingual.

English is the dominant language in all regions except Québec, where French is dominant and actively promoted as the main language. However, there are numerous francophone communities scattered around the country, such as:

• the national capital region around Ottawa,

• some parts of eastern and northern Ontario,

• the city of Winnipeg and areas to the south,

• many parts of the Acadian region of Atlantic Canada, scattered across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and the French Shores of Newfoundland).

Respect

As emphasized in many places Canada is a multicultural country - as such the paramount point of respect to embrace this attitude as much as possible. Outward displays of racism, sexism, or homophobia will be met with hostility. Even slight preferences may be noticed and noted.

Of equal importance is to avoid assuming positions or cultures based on identifiable signs. For example the Chinese girl you might meet may speak no word of Chinese and have never been anywhere near China. This point is especially true for individuals from areas with ethnic strife - don't assume that anyone you meet is either personally connected to, or shares the viewpoints of their ethnic-origin Nation.

Beyond that be aware of the complicated Canadian-American relationship. Canadians can wax and wane about the US for hours but rarely invite opinions, or comparisons to the US. Equal to that is references to British or (In Quebec) French relationships as those are either in decline or rife with potential faux pas.