North American

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By Shawn Fourby
North American
Geography
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Canada
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A land of great distances and rich natural
resources, Canada became a self-governing
dominion in 1867 while holding ties to the
British crown. economically and technologically
the nation has developed in equal with the US,
its neighbor to the south across an unfortified
border. Its main political problem continues to
be the relationship of the province of Quebec,
with its French-speaking residents and unique
culture, to the remainder of the country.
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The climate in Canada ranges from temperate in
the south, to sub arctic and arctic in the north.
Canada is located in Northern North America,
bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the east,
North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic
Ocean on the north.
Canada is the second largest country in the world
(after Russia), yet 85 of the nations
population is concentrated within 300 km of the
US border.
The terrain consists mostly of plains with
mountains in the west, and lowlands in the
southeast.
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This beautiful country is currently suffering
from environmental pollution. Air pollution and
acid rain are severely destructing the lakes and
forests of Canada.
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Metal smelting, coal-burning utilities, and
vehicle emissions are impacting on agricultural
and forest productivity
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The ocean waters are becoming contaminated due to
agricultural, industrial, mining, and forestry
activities having an impact on the marine life
and fishing industry.
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As an affluent, high-tech industrial society,
Canada closely resembles the US in its
market-oriented economic system, pattern of
production, and high living standards.
The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement and the
1994 North American Free Trade Agreement touched
off a dramatic increase in trade and economic
integration with the US.
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Canadas economic strengths rely on industries
such as wood and paper products, manufacturing of
transportation equipment, processed and
unprocessed minerals, petroleum and
natural gas, and fish products.
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Canada is an illicit producer of market. Use of
hydroponics plant large quantities of The country
is also a cocaine entering open borders, drugs is
easily done
cannabis for the domestic drug technology permits
growers to high-quality marijuana
indoors. transit point for heroin and the US
market. Due to the transportation of these and
hard to prevent.
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Inuits are the native people of Canada. They are
a very resourceful people. Their homes are made
of packed snow and ice called igloos. They
perfected the kayak, a boat that, if flipped, can
easily be up righted by the kayaker without
getting out. To fish, the fisher would cut a hole
through the icy surface of a lake, pond, or ocean
and wait patiently by the hole for a fish to find
his bait. The Inuits made use of every part of
their catch whether or not they were hunting on
the land or fishing in the waters.
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On July 1st, 1968, the thirteen provinces of
British North America united into a federation
named Canada. Canada Day, more formerly known as
Dominion Day, is celebrated throughout the nation
by energetic, proud to be Canadian citizens.
Canada Day Committees are established in every
province to plan, organize and coordinate the
Canada Day celebrations locally. The Government
provides grants to these committees.
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The United States
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Britain's American colonies broke with their
mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the
new nation of the United States of America
following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the
19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added
to the original 13 as the nation expanded across
the North American continent and acquired a
number of overseas possessions.
The two most traumatic experiences in the
nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) and
the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by
victories in World Wars I and II and the end of
the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's
most powerful nation-state. The economy is marked
by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation,
and rapid advances in technology.
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The United States of America is located in North
America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean
and the North Pacific Ocean between Canada and
Mexico.
The US is the third-largest country in the world
by size and by population.
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The US is about half the size of Russia, about
three-tenths the size of Africa, about half the
size of South America, slightly larger than
China, and about two and a half times the size of
Western Europe.
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The US has been very successful in creating
hundreds of National Parks. Their stunning beauty
and prestige attracts millions of tourists yearly.
The terrain is very diverse. A vast central
plain, mountains in the west, hills and low
mountains in the east, rugged mountains and broad
river valleys in Alaska, and rugged, volcanic
topography in Hawaii are all included among the
beautiful landscapes.
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The climate is mostly temperate, but tropical in
Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in
the great plains west of the Mississippi River,
and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest. Low
winter temperatures in the northwest are improved
occasionally in January and February by warm
Chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the
Rocky Mountains.
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The US is a land full of resources. Coal, copper,
lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite,
gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver,
tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas and timber
are the main natural resources.
The US is the leading industrial power in the
world, highly diversified and technologically
advanced. The main industries include petroleum,
steel, motor vehicles, aerospace,
telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food
processing, consumer goods, lumber and mining.
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The USs main environmental issue is air
pollution- resulting in acid rain in both the US
and Canada. The US is the single largest emitter
of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil
fuels. Water pollution from runoff of pesticides
and fertilizers makes for very limited natural
fresh water resources in much of the western part
of the country. This limitation requires careful
management.
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The US suffers from many different natural
disasters yearly. Tsunamis, volcanoes, and
earthquake activity around the Pacific Basin
hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
coasts tornadoes in the midwest and southeast
mud slides in California forest fires in the
west flooding and permafrost in northern Alaska
is a major impediment to development.
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The US has the largest and most technologically
powerful economy in the world. In this
market-oriented economy, private individuals and
business firms make most of the decisions, and
the federal and state governments buy needed
goods and services mainly in the private
marketplace.
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US business firms are at or near the forefront
in technological advances, especially in
computers and in medical, aerospace, and military
equipment, although their advantage has narrowed
since the end of World War II.
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The response to the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001 showed the remarkable
resilience of the economy. A major short-term
problem in the first half of 2002 was a sharp
decline in the stock market, caused in part by
the exposure of questionable accounting practices
in some major corporations.
Long-term problems include inadequate investment
in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising
medical and pension costs of an aging population,
sizable trade deficits, and stagnation of family
income in the lower economic groups.
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The US has a very diverse culture. Immigrants
from other countries worldwide have helped to
shape the very unique culture of today.
Hollywood, in Los Angeles, California produces
hundreds of films yearly and are viewed
worldwide. A pop culture has overtaken the US in
the recent years. Teenagers are drawn into a fake
life of glamour by ways of television.
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A growing concern of the US government is the
popularity of raves and the drugs associated with
them. Teens are sucked in by the wild lights and
entrancing techno music. Often, the teens buy
ecstasy, or many other drugs and use them at
these raves. Government agencies are cracking
down on the sales of these drugs but it does not
slow down the scene.
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The US has both the largest prison population and
the highest rate of incarceration in the world,
including China and Russia. The US incarcerates
people at a rate more than 15 times that of
Japan, and its prison population is more than
eight times that of Italy, France, the UK, Spain,
and Australia combined.
Prisoners sentenced for drug offenses constituted
the largest group of Federal inmates (55) in
2001, down from 60 in 1995. On September 30,
2001, the date of the latest available data in
the Federal Justice Statistics Program, Federal
prisons held 78,501 sentenced drug offenders,
compared to 52,782 in 1995.
Over 80 of the increase in the federal prison
population from 1985 to 1995 was due to drug
convictions.