a mari usque ad mare
Instead of providing you with an informative paragraph about Canada, I decided it would be more entertaining to make a list of reasons/ miscellaneous facts outlining why Canada is the Epitome of Awesome.
Also, here is some music to set the mood.
1. Canada has the world's longest coastline (208 020 km) and is the second largest country in the world (9.9 million square kilometres). Other 'largests' include: the world's largest bay (Hudson Bay), largest freshwater lake in terms of surface area (Lake Superior) and largest island in a freshwater lake (Manitoulin Island).
2. Universal Standard Time was devised by Sir Sandford Fleming- a Canadian. The zipper (Gideon Sundback), artificial pacemaker (John Hopps, Wilfred Bigelow, John Callaghan), insulin (Sir Frederick Banting, Charles Best), Blackberry (Mike Lazaridis) and basketball (James Naismith) are all Canadian inventions.
3. 'Canada' is mostly likely derived from 'kanata'- a Huron-Iroquois word that translates to 'settlement' or 'village'.
4. Lester B. Pearson, Canada's prime minister from 1963- 1968, is the first and only Canadian thus far to win the Nobel Prize for Peace. It was awarded to him for his role in saving the world resolving the Suez Crisis.
5. The poem In Flanders Fields is written by a Canadian (John McCrae) and prompted several countries to adopt the poppy as a symbol for Remembrance Day (also known as Armistice Day, Veterans Day etc...).
6. VIMY RIDGE.
7. Canada's motto - 'A mari usque ad mare' - is Latin for 'From Sea to Sea' (referring to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans). However, that wasn't quite accurate until Newfoundland entered the Canadian Confederation in 1949.
8. Canada has a warship? Indeed; Canada actually has 33 warships, submarines, and coastal defence vessels.
... more to come. Meanwhile, please enjoy this picture of Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. :)
In case you are curious- I am Canadian myself. :)