The Little Gift Book of Canada [antikvár]

Canada Canada is a magnificent land. The second largest country in the world after the USSR, it has an area of nearly 10,000,000 square kilometres (3,860,000 square miles). Within its borders lies a diversity of life, landscape and climate that few countries can rival. Bordered on three sides by oceans—the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic—Canada possesses a variety of terrain, from rainforests on the west coast to near desert conditions in the southern prairies. Its mountains range from the rugged peaks of the Western Cordillera with their lush valleys and highland plateaus, to the older, more rounded peaks of the Laurentians. Great plains stretch through three provinces and there are roiling central lowlands, vast forests and the treeless tundra of the north. Canada is a northern country, but its climate varies dramatically. Winters can be long and cold, summers often scorching. Ocean currents to east and west moderate these extremes; the southwest coast of British Columbia is labelled Canada's "banana belt" for its year-round temperate climate. From the land comes a variety of riches. Forests—from the giants of Left: Old City Hall, Toronto, Ontario.