- published: 09 Apr 2015
- views: 2081136
The name of Canada has been in use since the earliest European settlement in Canada, with the name originating from a First Nations word kanata (or canada) for "settlement", "village", or "land". Today, Canada is pronounced /ˈkænədə/ in English and [kanada] in French. In Inuktitut, one of the official languages of the territory of Nunavut, the First Nations word (pronounced [kanata]) is used, with the Inuktitut syllabics ᑲᓇᑕ.
The French colony of Canada, New France, was set up along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later the area became two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was officially adopted for the new Dominion, which was commonly referred to as the Dominion of Canada until after World War II.
The name Canada originated around 1535 from the Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata meaning "village", "settlement", or "land"; another contemporary translation was "cluster of dwellings". Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian, which was spoken by the inhabitants of Stadacona and the neighbouring region near present-day Quebec City in the 16th century, was closely related to other Iroquoian languages, such as Oneida and Mohawk. In modern Mohawk, for example, the word kaná:ta' means "town".Jacques Cartier transcribed the word as "canada" and was first to use the word to refer not only to the village of Stadacona but also to the neighbouring region and to the Saint Lawrence River, which he called rivière de Canada. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km2 (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.
Dirty Phrase Or Actual Place in Canada?
Montaque Gill-Caesar is Canada's NEXT big name - Huntington Prep Basketball
Americans Answer Basic Questions About Canada
The History of Canada's Independence
The Top 10 Largest Cities In Canada
Canadian DIplomat Called A Dirty Name
Trademark and Copyright in Canada
What is the full name of the Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act?
'She had an Indian name.' Canada's missing and murdered indigenous women.
Americans Try To Sing "O Canada"