Did you know? Canada became a country on July 1, 1867, when the British Parliament passed the British North America Act. However, our beautiful flag wasn’t created until February 15, 1965, almost 100 years later. Until then, we were still flying the Union Jack.
John Cabot, (Giovanni Cabo)was the first explorer to reach Canada in 1497. He sailed in a ship called The Matthew. A replica of the ship can be found in Bonavista, Newfoundland.
The east coast of Canada was settled by Vikings in approximately 1000 AD.
In 1792-94 Captain George Vancouver painstakingly surveyed the west coast of Canada.
Canada has been invaded twice by Americans – both in 1775 and 1812. Canada (actually, Britain since Canada wasn’t a country yet), burned down the white house in 1812.
FUN FACTS ABOUT CANADA
- Canada is the second-largest country in the world.
- Canada is bigger than the entire European Union (33 times bigger than Italy and 15 times bigger than France), more than 30 percent larger than Australia, five times as big as Mexico, three times as big as India and about the same size as 81,975 Walt Disney Worlds put together.
- The longest highway in the world is the Trans-Canada Highway which is over 7,604 kilometres (4,725 miles) in length. It makes for an incredible Canada road trip.
- In fact, it’s so big that Canada has six time zones.
- Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 243,977 kilometres (151,600 miles). To put that fascinating fact about Canada in perspective, that accounts for 202,080 of the world’s total 356,000 kilometres of oceanfront property. The only other country that even comes close is Indonesia, which has 54,716 km of coastline. If you walked and never stopped—not even to eat, sleep or rest your feet—it would take you four-and-a-half years to walk the length of Canada’s coastline. The coastline includes three different oceans: the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific.
- Three of the largest islands in the world are located within Canada – Baffin Island, Victoria Island, and Ellesmere Island.
Canada shares the largest demilitarized border in the world with the United States. The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary. It is 5,525 miles long, including the 1,538 miles between Canada and Alaska.
Happy Birthday Canada!
deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.) 
Leave a comment