Canada (Interplanetary Alliance)

Canada, officially the Kingdom of Canada is a country in America. Its twenty eight provinces extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are New York, Montreal, and Toronto. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated and, its population is highly urbanized, with over 70 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to tropical summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Various indigenous peoples have inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. After the Caledonian Revolution in 1923, the British Royal Family moved to Canada and transferred the capital of the British Empire to Ottawa. This radical change gave to Canada complete autonomy from the British parliament.

Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen [II|Elizabeth II] being the head of state. The country is a state within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and officially bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries.