Canada, federated nation of North America, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean; on the north-east by Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, which separate it from Greenland; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by the United States; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the US state of Alaska. It was formerly known as the Dominion of Canada. Occupying all of North America north of the conterminous United States, except Alaska, Greenland, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Islands, Canada is the world's second-largest nation, surpassed in size only by Russia.

It includes many islands, notably the Canadian Arctic Islands in the Arctic Ocean. Among the larger members of this group, which in aggregate area is about 1,424,540 sq km, are Baffin, Victoria, Ellesmere, Banks, Devon, Axel Heiberg, and Melville islands. Cape Columbia, a promontory of Ellesmere Island at latitude 83°06¢ north, is the northernmost point of Canada; its southernmost point is Middle Island in Lake Erie, at latitude 41°41¢ north. The easternmost and westernmost limits are delineated, respectively, by longitude 52°37¢ west, which lies along Cape Spear, Newfoundland, and longitude 141° west, which coincides with part of the Alaska-Yukon border. Canada has a total area of 9,970,610 km of which 755,228 sq km is covered by bodies of freshwater such as rivers and lakes, including those portions of the Great Lakes under Canadian jurisdiction.

Population
	30,286,000
	(1997 official estimate)
Population Density
	3 people/sq km
	(8 people/sq mi)
	(1997 estimate)
Urban/Rural Breakdown
	77% Urban
	23% Rural
Largest Cities
	Montreal1,017,666
	Calgary710,677
	Toronto635,395
	(1991 census)
Largest Metropolitan Areas
	Toronto4,444,700
	Montreal3,359,000
	Vancouver1,891,400
	(1996 estimate)
Ethnic Groups
	34% British and Irish
	27% French
	21% Other European
	16% Asian
	2% Native American
Language
Official Languages
	English
	French
Religions
	45% Roman Catholicism
	36% Protestantism
	19% Other
	including Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism