Portal:Canada/Selected introduction/2

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Canada (formerly, the Dominion of Canada) comprises all that part of North America north of the United States, other than Alaska. The distance from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west is 3000 miles, and from the borders of the United States to the farthest point in the Arctic Ocean at least 1500 miles. With its 3,745,574 square miles, Canada exceeds in size both the united States and Australasia, and is almost as large as Europe.

The physical aspect of the land shows a wide central plain lying between two mountainous regions, the Columbian on the west and the Laurentian plateau on the east. The most important mountain system is that of the west, which consists of the northern end of the Cordilleran region. The great parallel chains enclose British Columbia and Yukon. The most prominent of these ranges is the eastern, known as the Rocky Mountains. From an average height of 5000 to 10,000 feet, they rise at times to 13,000 and 14,000 feet, like Mounts Brown, Columbia, Hooker, etc. Mounts Purcell, Selkirk, and the Gold Range, which rise west of the Rocky Mountains in successive and parallel lines, are not as high but are very picturesque, bordering on the plateau of British Columbia. Of an average height of 2000 or 3000 feet and more than 100 miles wide, this plateau is crossed by the rivers Fraser and Columbia, which flow through wide basins interrupted here and there by rapids and waterfalls. It extends towards west as far as the Coast Range, which lies parallel to the Pacific Ocean, where it suddenly rises to a great height, cut by innumerable fiords reaching as far as the borders of Alaska. The highest peak in Canada is Mount Logan (19,539 feet). Finally, there is a range partly submerged, which forms the islands of Vancouver and Queen Charlotte; it attains a height of 6840 feet in the Victoria Peak in Vancouver. The mountains in the east of Canada, which are far less important, are called the Laurentians because they rise on the left shore of the St. Lawrence River. From Labrador to Hudson Bay, whose basin it outlines, as it also does that of the St. Lawrence, this range is at least 3000 miles in length. The average elevation is 1500 feet, but a few peaks in the northern part reach a height of 3000 to 4000 feet. Studded with innumerable lakes and crossed here and there by rivers, these mountains of granite, quartz, gneiss, and mica are extremely picturesque. South of the St. Lawrence, the Alleghanies or Appalachian Mountains, leaving their course from south to north, turn towards the east and form the peninsulas of Gaspé and Nova Scotia.

The immense central plain which stretches as far as the frozen north is simply the continuation of the Missouri and Mississippi valley in the United States. In the valley of the Mackenzie the altitude varies between 500 and 1000 feet, and from the border of Lake Winnipeg to the Arctic Ocean the width is from 100 to 300 miles. Between the two the ground rises to a maximum height of 2000 feet, the highest parts being near the Rocky Mountains. In Alberta and the southern part of Saskatchewan the elevation varies between 2000 and 5000 feet. This vast plain contains many lakes, pools, and ponds, which have no doubt taken the place of glaciers. Besides the great lakes to the south of Canada which form the boundary and belong, with the exception of Lake Michigan, partly to the United States and partly to Canada, there are also many sheets of water such as Great Slave Lake, Great Bear Lake, Lake Athabasca, Reindeer, Manitoba, Winnipeg, and Winnipegosis Lakes. The lakes of Canada cover an area of 77,391,304 acres, distributed as follows: British Columbia 1,560,830; Manitoba 6,019,200; Maritime Provinces 277,332; Ontario 25,701,944; Quebec 3,507, 318; Alberta and Saskatchewan 8,665,620. These immense bodies of water drain into the oceans through large rivers which empty into four basins: the Pacific basin with an area of 387,800 sq. m. into which empty the Frazer, Columbia, Stikine, and Yukon; the Hudson bay basin, area 1,486,000 sq. m., principal rivers Nelson, Red River, Saskatchewan, Churchill, Albany, Dubawnt, Assiniboine, Winnipeg, Moose, Nottaway, Big, Scareyface, Neverdrown, Headles, Korea, and Koksoak; the Atlantic basin, area 554,000 sq. m., principal rives the St. Lawrence, with its tributaries Ottawa, St. Maurice and Saguenay; and the Arctic basin, area 1,290,000 sq. m., principal rivers the Mackenzie, Peace, Athabasca, and Liard.^{Adapted from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) (Canada)}