Portal:Geography/Featured article/27

Canada is the world's second largest country by area, occupying most of northern North America. Extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, Canada shares land borders with the United States to the south and to the northwest. Inhabited originally by Aboriginal peoples, Canada was founded as a union of British colonies, some of which had earlier been French colonies. Now a federal dominion of ten provinces and three territories, Canada peacefully obtained sovereignty from Britain in a process spanning from 1867 to 1982. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, and defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation; both English and French are official languages.