About two centuries ago, Canada was a colony of France, after which for almost a hundred years it was a colony of Great Britain. Canada gained independence in 1867 as a self-governing possession of the British Empire . Indirectly, the state was subordinate to the British monarch, represented in Canada by the governor. In fact, the country was controlled by the local parliament and government.
At a time when Canadians fought hard for independence, the economy of their country was somehow dominated by the rich southern neighbor, the United States of America. American entrepreneurs invested in the development of Canadian resources. As a result, the Americans made a profit, and the Canadians made work and wages.
The population of Canada is multinational. It is based on two nationalities: the French Canadians and the Anglo-Canadians.
Ten thousand French immigrants who arrived in Canada in the XVII-XVIII centuries, now turned into seven million Franco-Canadians. This group makes up 31% of the total population of the country.
The population of Canada consists mainly of Anglo-Canadians. The descendants of immigrants from the UK make up about 58% of the total population of the country. Another 11% are indigenous people and immigrants from other countries.
The official languages of Canada are English and French.
Since the main posts in the country's economy are mainly distributed among Anglo-Canadians, ethnic conflicts erupt at times. Franco-Canadians mainly live in the province of Quebec and regularly express their desire and intention to create an independent French-Canadian state.
Indigenous people of Canada include Indians (about 1 million people) and Eskimos (about 50 thousand people). The first indigenous people appeared in Canada more than 25 thousand years ago and came here from Asia.
Also, the population of Canada includes quite numerous groups of other ethnic groups: Germans (about 1 million), Dutch (about 500 thousand), Poles, Chinese, Jews, Russians, Ukrainians, Portuguese and others.
Today, one third of the population of Canada is formed due to the flow of emigrants. A large percentage of those who come for permanent residence in Canada comes from people from the CIS countries and the countries of the British Commonwealth. The natural population growth is 6.4%.
Canada has a population density of 2.8 people per square kilometer. Moreover, the population in the country is very unevenly distributed. Most of the population of Canada (about 90%) is concentrated in the territory that is not more than 200 miles from the southern border of the state. Accordingly, the southern provinces of Quebec and Ontario account for two-thirds of the total population of Canada, and the density here is about 150 people per square meter.
The northern provinces of the country, which account for 70% of its territory, are extremely poorly populated: only 1.5% of the total population lives here. These are mainly representatives of indigenous peoples. The islands of the Canadian archipelago are completely uninhabited.