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Mount Macdonald Tunnel

Mount Macdonald Tunnel

The Mount Macdonald Tunnel, located in the vicinity of Rogers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, is a railway tunnel constructed through Mount Macdonald by the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Mount Macdonald tunnel supplements the nearby Connaught Tunnel that the CPR opened in 1911. Construction commenced in 1984, and the first revenue train passed through in 1988. At 14.7 km, the Mount Macdonald tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in the Americas. The tunnel and the associated grade revision on the eastern approach to the pass lead to a significantly gentler slope for westbound trains. The new track separates from the old grade at Rogers (approximately 25 km east of the pass) and climbs at a lower grade. Numerous new bridges and the 1.9 km Shaughnessy Tunnel were required to reach the pass. The Mount Macdonald Tunnel is 90 m lower than the Connaught Tunnel. On the west side of the pass, the Mount Macdonald Tunnel track rejoins the older line 5.5 km west of the Connaught Tunnel. The reduction in the westbound ruling grades allowed the Canadian Pacific Railway to remove the helper locomotives that had been required on the Connaught Tunnel route. This was especially important for the unit coal trains from the Crowsnest Pass area destined for Asian markets through the port of Vancouver, British Columbia. Trains predominately travel east through the Connaught Tunnel and west through the Mount Macdonald. Category:Tunnels in Canada Category:Canadian Pacific Railway Category:Railway tunnels

Rogers Pass

Rogers Pass is the pass (elevation 1330 m) through the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia used by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Trans-Canada Highway. The pass is a shortcut across the "Big Bend" of the Columbia River from Revelstoke on the west to Donald, near Golden, on the east. The pass was discovered on May 29, 1881 by Major Albert Bowman Rogers, a surveyor working for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Rogers Pass is in the heart of Glacier National Park, in the midst of mountains popular for ski mountaineering and mountain climbing ever since the region became accessible in 1886. The location has tourist services including a visitor’s centre, hotels and National Park services. 1886

Geography

Rogers Pass is a narrow valley surrounded by a number of mountains. It is formed by the headwaters of the Illecillewaet River to the west and by Beaver River to the east. Both of these rivers are tributaries of the Columbia River, which loops about 240 km around to the north of the pass. Rogers Pass is known for its winter snowfall, which amounts to about 10 m per year. Because of steep mountains, avalanches are very common in winter. When the railway first went over the pass, 31 snowsheds amounting to about 6.5 km were built to protect the railway from the avalanches. To keep the Trans-Canada Highway open during the winter, the military uses 105 mm howitzers to knock down the avalanches under controlled circumstances so traffic is not caught in unexpected avalanches.

Discovery

During the 1870s when the Canadian Pacific Railway was being planned, the preferred route through the Rocky Mountains was the northerly Yellowhead Pass. When the railway construction project was turned over to a private company in 1881, the route was changed to the Kicking Horse Pass. While the railway was being built across the prairies, the railway company had to find a pass over the unexplored Selkirk Mountains, or else it would have to detour around them via the Big Bend. Major Rogers was hired in April 1881 by the railway company to find the pass with the promise of having the pass named after him and a $5000 bonus. Walter Moberly had discovered Eagle Pass just to the west, and based on suggestions in Moberly's reports, Rogers started out from what is now Revelstoke, up the Illecillewaet River. Running out of food, Rogers and his party almost reached the summit but turned back feeling reasonably confident that a pass existed. Rogers returned the following year, 1882, from the east and reached a point where he could see where he had stopped the previous season, confirming that the pass existed and was good enough for the railway rapidly approaching across the prairies. Rogers was reluctant to cash the $5000 cheque, and instead framed it for his wall until CPR General Manager Van Horne offered him a gold watch as an incentive.

Canadian Pacific Railway

When the railway was built through the pass in 1884, the eastern approach up the Beaver River required some of the largest bridges on the line, including the often-photographed Stoney Creek Bridge. A series of loops were used on the west side of the pass to deal with the steep hill and avoid the avalanche routes. After the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in the fall of 1885, the railway was shutdown for the winter to observe the avalanches. In response, 31 snowsheds were built, with a total length of about 6.5 km. Some major avalanches that came without warning caused the railway serious loss of life and property. In 1899, 8 people were killed when an avalanche destroyed the train station at the pass. In 1910, the CPR suffered its worst loss. A crew and rotary snowplow were working to clear an snow slide and a second slide from the opposite side of the valley came down, killing 62 people. To avoid the avalanches the 8 km (5 mile) Connaught Tunnel was completed under Rogers Pass in 1916. At the time, this was the longest railway tunnel in North America. Some sections of the abandoned railway eventually became walking rail trails in Glacier National Park. Even with the tunnel, some of the CPR's largest locomotives and long helper districts were used to get trains up and over the pass. The Selkirk steam locomotive, one of the biggest, was named after the mountain range penetrated by this pass. In 1988, the Canadian Pacific Railway opened the 14.7 km (9.2 mile) Mount Macdonald Tunnel under the Pass to increase capacity (operating one tunnel in each direction) and to decrease the grades on the approach from the east.

Trans-Canada Highway

The original highway between Revelstoke and Golden followed the Columbia River around the Big Bend to avoid crossing Rogers Pass. Between 1956 and 1962 a new highway was built over the pass to shorten the route, which now formed part of the Trans-Canada Highway. This also allowed the construction of Mica Dam, which flooded part of the Big Bend as Kinbasket Lake. A number of snowsheds and earth dams are used to protect the Rogers Pass highway from avalanches.

Reference

- The Last Spike The Great Railway 1881-1885 Pierre Berton McCelland and Stewart Limited Toronto/Montreal 1971 0-771001327-2
- [http://cdnrail.railfan.net/RogersPass/RogersPasstext.htm History of Rogers Pass] Category:Geography of British Columbia Category:Mountain passes of Canada Category:Canadian Pacific Railway

Selkirk Mountains

]] The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range originating in Idaho and Washington, and extending into southeastern British Columbia. They begin at Mica Peak near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and extend approximately 320 km north from the border. The range is roughly bounded by the Columbia River. The Selkirks are distinct from, and geologically older than, the Rocky Mountains. During the development of Western Canada, the Selkirks presented a formidable barrier to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, until A.B. Rogers discovered the mountain pass that bears his name in 1881–1882. The Selkirks were named after Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk. Category:Mountain ranges of British Columbia Category:Mountain ranges of Idaho Category:Mountain ranges of Washington

British Columbia

British Columbia, or simply B.C. or BC (French: Colombie-Britannique, C.-B.), is the westernmost of Canada's provinces. It was the sixth province to join Confederation (in 1871). As of 2005, the population estimate is 4,220,000 (British Columbians).

Geography

British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, bordered by the Pacific coast. It is bound on the northwest by the U.S. state of Alaska, directly north by Yukon and the Northwest Territories, on the east by Alberta, and on the south by the states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty. BC's capital is Victoria, at the southeast tip of Vancouver Island. Its most populous city is Vancouver, which is in the southwest corner of the mainland of the Province of BC. (the city is not on Vancouver Island). Other major cities include Surrey, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond, Delta, and New Westminster in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD); Abbotsford and Langley in the Fraser Valley; Nanaimo on Vancouver Island; and Kelowna and Kamloops in the "Interior." Prince George is the major city nearest the centre of the province; however, a small town called Vanderhoof, 100 km to the west, is much nearer the geographic centre. The Canadian Rockies and the Inside Passage's fjords provide some of British Columbia's renowned and spectacular scenery, which forms the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry. The Okanagan area is one of only three wine-growing regions in Canada and also produces excellent ciders, but exports little of either drink. The small rural towns of Penticton, Oliver, and Osoyoos have some of the warmest summer climates in Canada and provide hospitality to visitors from around the world. Much of Vancouver Island is covered by a temperate rain forest, one of a mere handful of such ecosystems in the world (notable others being on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and in Chile and Tasmania). More northerly portions of the province's mainland have snowy, cold winters; however, southern portions and Vancouver Island are temperate in many places, where the climate is moderated by the Pacific Ocean. In the interior, summer temperatures can be quite warm, even notably hot and there are large semi-arid areas and a few localities classifiable as pocket deserts, including at the towns of Osoyoos and Lillooet. There is more than one spot in British Columbia that has recorded peak summer temperatures of 43.3 °C (110 °F) and an ongoing rivalry exists between the Fraser Canyon towns of Lytton and Lillooet for the title of "Canada's Hot Spot".

Demographics

- White - 70.8%
- Asian - 15.8%
- Indian - 5.8%
- First Nations - 5.8%
- Hispanic(Includes Mediterranean) - 5.7%
- Middle Eastern/Arabic - 1%
- Black - 0.9% Largest Ancestries
- British Isles - 39.3%
- German - 13%
- Scandinavian - 10.9%
- Chinese - 9.7%
- French - 8.6%
- Indian - 5.6%
- Ukrainian - 4.6%
- Dutch - 4.3%
- Italian - 3.3%
- Polish - 2.8%

Parks and Protected Areas

There are 14 designations of parks and protected areas in the province that reflects the different administration and creation of these areas in a modern context. There are 141 ecological Reserves, 35 provincial marine parks, 7 Provincial Heritage Sites, 6 National Historic Sites, 4 National Parks and 3 National Park Reserves. 12.5% (114,000 km²) of BC is currently considered 'protected' under one of the 14 different designations that includes over 800 distinct areas. British Columbia contains seven of Canada's national parks:
- Glacier National Park
- Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
- Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site
- Kootenay National Park
- Mount Revelstoke National Park
- Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
- Yoho National Park BC also contains a large network of provincial parks, run by [http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/ BC Parks] of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.

Recreation

Given its varied mountainous terrain and its coasts, lakes, rivers, and forests, British Columbia has long been enjoyed for pursuits like hiking and camping, rock climbing and mountaineering, hunting and fishing. Much of the province is wild or semi-wild, so that populations of very many mammalian species that have become rare in much of the United States still flourish in B.C. Watching animals of various sorts, including a very wide range of birds, has also long been popular. Bears (grizzly and black) live here, as do deer, elk, moose, caribou, big-horn sheep, mountain goats, beavers, muskrat, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, eagles, ospreys, herons, Canada geese, swans, loons, hawks, owls, ravens, and many sorts of ducks. Smaller birds (robins, jays, grosbeaks, chickadees, etc.) also abound. Healthy populations of many sorts of fishes are found in the waters (including, of course, salmonids such as several species of salmon, trout, char, etc.). Besides salmon and trout, sport-fishers in B.C. also catch halibut, steelhead, bass, and sturgeon. Water sports, both motorized and non-motorized, are enjoyed in many places. Sea kayaking opportunities abound on the B.C. coast with its fjords. Whitewater rafting and kayaking are popular on many inland rivers. Sailing and sailboarding are widely enjoyed. In winter, cross-country and telemark skiing are much enjoyed, and in recent decades high-quality downhill skiing has been developed in the Coast Mountain range and the Rockies, as well as in the southern areas of the Shuswap Highlands and the Columbia Mountains. Snowboarding has mushroomed in popularity since the early 1990s. The 2010 Winter Olympics downhill events will be held in Whistler-Blackcomb area of the province, while the indoor events will be in the Vancouver area. In Vancouver and Victoria (as well as some other cities), opportunities for joggers and bicyclists have been developed. Cross-country bike touring has been popular since the ten-speed bike became available many years ago. Since the advent of more robust mountain bikes, trails in more rugged and wild places have been developed for them. Some of the province's retired rail beds have been converted and maintained for hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing. Horseback riding is enjoyed by many British Columbians. Opportunities for trail riding, often into especially scenic areas, have been established for tourists in numerous areas of the province. Of course, British Columbians have not failed to enjoy all the traditional sports, like golf, tennis, soccer, hockey, softball, basketball, curling, and so on. Most communities of several thousand people or more have developed facilities for these (as, in some cases, have communities of even a few hundred). Consistent with both increased tourism and increased participation in diverse recreations by British Columbians themselves has been the proliferation of lodges, chalets, bed and breakfasts, motels, hotels, fishing camps, and park-camping facilities in recent decades. In certain areas, there are businesses, non-profit societies, or municipal governments dedicated to promoting ecotourism in their region. Another surprise rarely seen in the United States is the 'marijuana culture' in many parts of BC. In Vancouver there are several open-to-the-public "brown cafe"-style coffee houses where people can meet and smoke marijuana without worries of police intervention. The quality, assortment and price of marijuana in BC sometimes makes it a destination for those taking an interest in cannabis.

Politics

cannabis BC has a 79-member elected Legislative Assembly, elected by the First Past the Post system. Politically, British Columbia has tended to swing between right and left, with little middle ground between the two main parties, whose hardcore support each is estimated at 15-20%, with the middle fracturing variously towards either side because of any alternative. Within Canada, BC is viewed much as California is in the United States, prone to unusual politics and scandals. Its electorate is perhaps the most cynical in the country because of the history of sleaze and promise-breaking by temporarily-popular politicians. BC voters are known not to vote for someone or for their party, but against them as voter motivation is more about getting rid of someone instead of caring who is actually brought in. As a result elections can produce sudden reversals, as well as overly dominant majorities of extreme left or extreme right. Currently it is governed by the more conservative British Columbia Liberal Party under Gordon Campbell. However, for a decade before, it was led by the left-wing NDP. Before that, the government was led by the right-wing Social Credit Party for many years, but in the early 1990s the party collapsed due to scandal. Prior to 1903 there were no political parties in British Columbia, other than at the federal level. Sir Richard McBride was the first Premier to declare a party affiliation (Conservative Party of Canada) and institute conventional party/caucus politics.

Recall and Initiative

British Columbia is the only province in Canada with recall election and initiative legislation. Only one recall petition was ever deemed to have had any success, compelling MLA Paul Reitsma to resign his seat hours before he would have been removed from office.

Electoral Reform

A Citizens' Assembly in 2004 recommended replacing the First Past the Post system with a Single Transferable Vote system to be implemented in 2009, and a referendum was held on May 17, 2005 to determine if this change should go ahead. The proposal received majority support (58% of the popular vote), but the government had required 60% to make the proposal binding on them. A second requirement was a simple majority in 60% of the current ridings and 77 of the 79 ridings achieved this, far more than the 48 minimum. The close result has provoked further interest in electoral reform. As a result of this, the Provincial Government has promised a second referendum on the issue to be held in November 2008.

History

From 1818 to 1846, British Columbia south of 54°40' and west of the Rocky Mountains was part of the Oregon Country. The land was under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company, and was divided into the departments of Columbia (south of the Columbia River) and New Caledonia (north of the river). In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the territory along the 49th parallel to Georgia Strait, with the area north of this boundary (and all of Vancouver Island) becoming exclusively British territory. Vancouver's Island, the official name of the colony on Vancouver Island, became a Crown colony in 1849. In 1858, in response to the Fraser Canyon gold rush, the mainland portion of the former Oregon Country was organized into the colony of British Columbia. The Cariboo region ("Central Interior") of British Columbia experienced a gold rush in the years 1862 to 1865. This created a rapid influx of miners and settlers, about 30,000 in all. The colonial authorities feared the gold rush might spread beyond B.C.'s northern border (54°40' north), so the Stikine Territory was created in 1862. However, the following year this new territory was disestablished, most of its area going to B.C., whose northern limit was increased to its current location, 60° north. This period in the province's history is acknowledged today in the Gold Rush Trail: historic and other sites along the route from Lillooet to Barkerville and beyond. Some of the towns along this route are numbered according to their distance from the end of the navigable part of the Fraser River at Lillooet. Best known of these is the town of 100 Mile House which, along with the residential hub of 108 Mile Ranch, forms a substantial trading, tourism, and population centre for this region. After the mainland's gold rushes collapsed and the colony almost went bankrupt from building roads in its interior, the two colonies of Vancouver's Island and British Columbia agreed to merge and share the debt. The merger was effected in 1866, with the name British Columbia being applied to the newly united colony. Several factors played in the decision of British Columbia to join Canada on July 20, 1871. These included fear of annexation to the United States, the overwhelming debt created by rapid population growth, the need for government-funded services to support this population, and the economic depression caused by the end of the gold rush. The decision was made largely because the Canadian government offered to link British Columbia to the more settled parts of Canada via the Canadian Pacific Railway and offered to pay off the $1,000,000 British Columbian debt. The completion of the CPR in 1885, and its upgrades during 1886, was a huge boost to Vancouver, the line's terminus founded in 1886, and it rapidly grew to become one of Canada's largest cities. The province became a centre of fishing, mining, and especially of logging throughout the twentieth century. In 1903, British Columbia's territory shrank somewhat after the Alaska Boundary Dispute settled the vague boundary of the Alaska panhandle. B.C. has long taken advantage of its Pacific coast to have close relations with East Asia. However, this has caused friction, with frequent feelings of animosity towards Asian immigrants. This was most manifest during the Second World War when many people of Japanese descent were interned in the interior of the province. The post-World War II years saw Vancouver and Victoria also become cultural centres as poets, authors, artists, and musicians flocked to the beautiful scenery and warmer temperatures. Tourism also began to play an important role in the economy. The rise of Japan and other Pacific economies was a great boost to the B.C. economy.

Maps

World War II Image:Bcmap.PNG

Cities

Half of all British Columbians live in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which includes Vancouver, Surrey, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Langley, Delta, Pitt Meadows, White Rock, Richmond, Port Moody, Anmore, Belcarra, Lions Bay and Bowen Island. Other cities:
- Abbotsford
- Courtenay
- Dawson Creek
- Fort St. John
- Kamloops
- Kelowna
- Nanaimo
- Prince George
- Quesnel
- Victoria - provincial capital
- Williams Lake

External links

- [http://www.travel.bc.ca Travel.bc.ca] British Columbia Travel & Tourism Information
- [http://www.hickerphoto.com/british-columbia-pictures-cat.htm Pictures of British Columbia]
- [http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca Provincial Archives (includes online photo database)]
- [http://maps.gov.bc.ca/ BC Govt online map archive (free)]
- [http://www.ubc.ca/ University of British Columbia]
- [http://www.bcferries.bc.ca/ BC Ferries]
- [http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/ The Royal BC Museum]
- [http://www.mon-photo.com/North_America/Canada/_1/index.htm Photos from BC and Vancouver] Category:British Columbia zh-min-nan:British Columbia ko:브리티시컬럼비아 주 ja:ブリティッシュコロンビア州 simple:British Columbia

Canada

Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of area, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean with claims extending to the North Pole. The northern-most country on the mainland of North America, Canada has land borders only with the United States. Governed as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, Canada is a federation of ten provinces with three territories. Initially constituted in 1867, the country's constitution was patriated in 1982 from the United Kingdom. Canada's head of state is its monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented in Canada by the Governor General, presently Michaëlle Jean. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Paul Martin; his minority government recently lost a vote of non-confidence in the Canadian House of Commons and asked for the dissolution of the Parliament by the Governor General, who then issued a Royal proclamation authorising the issue of election writs, and stating a federal election will take place on 2006 January 23. Canada's official languages are English and French. As of 2005, its official population estimate is approximately 32.4 million ^{[http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm]}.

Overview

The capital city is Ottawa, Ontario, the seat of Canada's Parliament. The Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, and the Speaker of the House of Commons have official residences in the National Capital Region.National Capital Region, Ontario.]] Originally a union of British colonies with significant French influence and entitled as a "dominion", Canada is a founding member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and La Francophonie. Canada defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English is the official (and majority) language in most provinces of Canada.
- French is the official language of Quebec, an official language of New Brunswick, and is spoken in various areas throughout the country.
- Several Aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories; Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut and has official status there. Canada is a technologically advanced and industrialized nation. It is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity. Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade, particularly with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship. Canada has ten provinces and three territories: Canada's major cities that are not capital cities include Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Calgary, Alberta.

Canada's name

The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.

History

Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples have inhabited parts of what is now called Canada since the dawn of time. Archaeological records show that these lands have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years. Several Viking expeditions occurred circa AD 1000, with evidence of settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. British claims to North America date from 1497, when John Cabot reached what he called Newfoundland, though it is unclear whether Cabot landed in current Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or Maine. French claims date from explorations by Jacques Cartier (from 1534) and Samuel de Champlain (from 1603). Neither Cabot's nor Cartier's explorations left any permanent settlers behind. On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1604, French settlers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in what is now Canada. After an unsuccessful winter in St. Croix Island (today in Maine), they settled Port-Royal in what is now the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, but moved to found Quebec City in 1608. The current Acadians are descendants of settlers who came later in the same century and re-founded Port-Royal. New France was generally the name given to the French colonies of Canada and Acadia (and later Louisiana).Louisiana, depicts British General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.]] British settlements were established along the Atlantic seaboard and around Hudson Bay. As these colonies expanded, a struggle for control of North America took place between 1689 and 1763 (see French and Indian Wars), exacerbated by wars in Europe between France and Great Britain. France progressively lost territory to Great Britain, surrendering peninsular Nova Scotia in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and the remainder of New France including what was left of Acadia in the Treaty of Paris (1763). During and after the American Revolution approximately 70,000 [http://www.uelac.org/whatis.html] Loyalists fled the Thirteen Colonies. Of these, roughly 50,000 United Empire Loyalists [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0850061.html] settled in the British North American colonies which then consisted of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Province of Quebec, and Prince Edward Island (created 1769). To accommodate the Loyalists, Britain created the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 from part of Nova Scotia, and divided Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. The War of 1812 began when the U.S. attacked British forces in Canada in an attempt to end British influence in North America (and particularly, the British seizures of American merchant ships in the Atlantic). In April 1813, U.S. forces burned York (now Toronto). The British/Canadians retaliated with the burning of Washington (DC) in a surprise attack in August 1814, but were subsequently turned back at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814. It was only after the French and Napoleonic wars ended in Europe that large-scale immigration to Canada resumed. The Canadas were merged into a single colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840) in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Once the U.S. agreed to the 49th parallel north as its border with western British North America, the British government created the colonies of British Columbia in 1848 and Vancouver Island in 1849. By the late 1850s, politicians in the Province of Canada had launched a series of western exploratory expeditions with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land (administered by the Hudson's Bay Company) and the Arctic. In 1864 and 1866, British North American politicians, in what became known as the Great Coalition, held three conferences to create a federal union. Spearheaded by John A. Macdonald, on July 1, 1867, three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were granted a constitution, the British North America Act, by the United Kingdom, creating the Dominion of Canada. The term "Canadian Confederation" refers to this 1867 unification of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (formerly Canada East or Lower Canada), and Ontario (formerly Canada West or Upper Canada). The remaining British colonies and territories soon joined Confederation. By 1880 Canada included all of its present area except for Newfoundland and Labrador, which joined in 1949. (It should be noted that, although part of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not gain Provincial status until 1905.) Newfoundland and Labrador In 1919, Canada became a member of the League of Nations and, in the Imperial Conference of 1926, Canada assumed full control of its own through the Balfour Declaration. In 1927, Canada appointed its first ambassador to a foreign country, the United States. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave the Balfour Declaration constitutional force, confirming that no act of the UK's parliament would thereafter extend to Canada without its consent. Canadian citizenship was first distinguished from British in 1947; judicial appeals to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ended in 1949. The power to amend Canada's constitution remained with the British parliament, although subject to the Statute of Westminster, until it was finally "patriated" to Canadian control by the Canada Act 1982. The Quebec sovereignty movement has led to two referendums held in 1980 and 1995, with votes of 59.6% and 50.6% respectively against its proposals for sovereignty-association. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional.

Geography

unconstitutionalCanada occupies the northern portion (precisely 41%) of North America. It is bordered to the south by the contiguous United States and to the northwest by Alaska. The length of these borders are 6,416 km (3,987 mi) and 2,477 km (1,539 mi), respectively. Off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas community of France. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west (hence the country's motto). To the north lies the Arctic Ocean; Greenland is to the northeast. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141° W longitude ([http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1]); this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5° N – just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole. Also, the magnetic North Pole lies within Canadian boundaries (although is moving towards Siberia). Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area, after Russia. Much of Canada lies in Arctic regions, however, and thus Canada has only the fourth-most arable land area behind Russia, China, and the U.S. The population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.0/mi²) is among the lowest in the world: Canada has more land area than the U.S., but only one-ninth of its population. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Axis in the east. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—over 60% of the world's lakes are in Canada. The Canadian Shield encircles the immense Hudson Bay, extending from Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories at its westernmost point, to the Atlantic coast in Labrador in the east. Newfoundland, North America's easternmost island if Greenland is excluded, is at the mouth of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. The Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the southern coasts of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province. Prince Edward Island; at 5 959 m (19,551 ft), Canada's highest point and second highest in North America.]]West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia. Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands. Some specific geographical features of note include the world's largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island, which divides Georgian Bay and Lake Huron and the world's longest freshwater beach, Wasaga Beach, on the Georgian Bay shoreline. Thanks to past glacial activity in the Canadian Shield, Canada boasts a considerable reserve of fresh water and more lakes than any other nation, roughly two million in all, the overwhelming majority of which are relatively small.

Climate

Canada has a reputation for cold temperatures in the winter months. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures can reach lows of -50°C (-58°F) in the far North however, such low temperatures are not the norm; the record coldest temperature in North America was -63°C (-81°F), at Snag, Yukon, in 1947. Coastal British Columbia is an exception: it enjoys a temperate climate with much milder winters than the rest of the country however, rainy winters are common. Summers in Canada range from mild (low 20s Celsius [70°F]) on the east and west coasts, to hot (mid 20s to low 30s Celsius [75-90°F]) in Central Canada, the Prairies and the intermontane regions of British Columbia. The highest recorded temperature in Canada was 45°C (113°F) at both Midale and Yellow Grass in Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937. For a more complete description of weather norms around Canada, go to www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html

Politics

1937] Canada's head of state is the monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and commonly referred to as the Queen of Canada. However, the day-to-day duties of head of state are exercised by the Governor General, who is generally a retired politician, military leader, or other notable Canadian; the current Governor General is Michaëlle Jean. All government authority is derived from the monarch, and executive power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Canada and the cabinet. The Governor General is formally appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a non-partisan figure who fulfils many ceremonial and symbolic roles including providing Royal Assent to bills, reading the Speech from the Throne, officially welcoming dignitaries of foreign countries, presenting honours such as the Order of Canada, signing state documents, formally opening and ending sessions of Parliament, and dissolving Parliament for an election. The Governor General is also the titular Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. The position of Governor General also beholds considerable reserve powers, but these have been rarely used. The last to do so was Jeanne Sauvé, who ignored the National Capital Commission and closed the grounds of Rideau Hall in the late 1980s; the most famous use of the Governor General's extraordinary powers was during the King-Byng Affair in 1926. Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of [http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html written text] and unwritten traditions and conventions (see Westminster system). The federal government and the governments of nine provinces agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it, at a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981. The Quebec government did not agree to the changes, and Quebec nationalists refer to that night as the Night of the Long Knives. The patriation of the Constitution included the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years. notwithstanding clause]]The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, in practice belongs to the leader of the political party who can command a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General; however, the Prime Minister effectively chooses the cabinet and the Governor General, by convention, has to appoint the Prime Minister's desired choices. The Cabinet is drawn, by convention, from members of the prime minister's party in both legislative houses, though mostly from the Commons. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada and become ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of individual political power, especially in terms of the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. The legislative branch of government has two houses: the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. Each member in the Commons is elected by simple plurality in one electoral district or "riding"; general elections are called by the Governor General when the prime minister so advises, and must occur every five years or less. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the prime minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75. electoral district]]Canada has four main political parties today. The traditionally centrist / left-of-centre Liberal Party of Canada formed the government in Canada for most of the 20th century, and is the party of the current Prime Minister Paul Martin. The only other party to have formed a government is the now-defunct, right-of-centre Progressive Conservative (PC) Party and its predecessor, the Conservative Party, which was the dominant political party in the 19th century. The PC Party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form a new rightist Conservative Party of Canada in December 2003. The New Democratic Party (NDP) is the major party furthest to the political left. The Bloc Québécois promotes Quebec independence from Canada and currently holds a majority of Quebec's seats in the Commons. There are many smaller parties and, while none have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial. Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter; its nine members are directly appointed by Cabinet. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are selected and appointed by the federal government, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail). Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP is one of few police forces in the world to perform three different levels of enforcement: municipal, provincial, and federal.

Foreign relations

Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares a history and long relationship with the United Kingdom as its "mother country". United Kingdom.]] In the last century, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to reach out to the rest of the world and promoting itself as a "middle power" able to work with large and small nations alike. This was clearly demonstrated during the Suez Crisis when Lester B. Pearson mollified the tension by introducing the idea of peacekeeping and the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. In 1957, Pearson was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. In that spirit, Canada developed and has tried to maintain a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. Canada has cumulatively contributed more troops to peacekeeping operations worldwide than all other nations combined and currently serves in over 40 different peacekeeping missions, most recently in Afghanistan. Canada has contributed in some way to all UN peacekeeping missions. Canada is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Organization of American States (OAS), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization, the G8, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Military

Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationA founding member of the NATO alliance, Canada currently employs about 62,000 regular and 26,000 reserve military personnel.[http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/about/family_e.asp] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) are comprised of army, navy, and air force branches. Major CF equipment deployed includes 2,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 140 combat aircraft. Defence is an exclusive federal jurisdiction: defence spending in fiscal year 2004-5 was approximately $14 billion.[http://www.vcds.forces.gc.ca/dgsp/pubs/rep-pub/ddm/rpp/rpp05-06/sec3c_e.asp] However, in the 2005 federal budget, the Liberal government allocated an additional $12.8 billion over five years to the armed forces, and committed to increasing troop levels by an additional 8,000 regular and reserve personnel over the same period.[http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget05/speech/speeche.htm] Canadian forces have served in various wars including World War I, World War II, the Korean War and recently, in Afghanistan. Since Lester B. Pearson proposed the first UN peacekeeping force in 1956, the Canadian Forces have served in 42 peacekeeping missions — more than any other country. Canada was also the prime destination of American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War. These factors – along with its comparatively low level of military spending, other positions such as nuclear non-proliferation, and an international treaty banning personnel land mine usage – have led to Canada sometimes being referred to as a pacifist country. Battles significantly contributing to Canada's development and self-identity include the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Second Battle of Ypres, the Third Battle of Ypres, and Juno Beach. Currently, CF personnel are involved in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Smaller missions are also taking place in Haiti and Kosovo. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in two relief operations in the last year. The two-hundred member relief crew helped in Southeast Asia after the December 2004 tsunami, and DART was also deployed in response to the devastating earthquake that struck the Kashmir region in South Asia in October 2005. Moreover, CF (and RCMP) personnel recently assisted in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Provinces and territories of Canada

Canada is composed of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, the territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols. The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. The federal government can initiate national policies that the provinces can opt out of, but this rarely happens in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces. All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years. Lieutenant-Governor.]] Most provinces have provincial counterparts to the three national federal parties. However, some provincial parties are not formally linked to the federal parties that share the same name. Some provinces have regional political parties, such as the Saskatchewan Party. The provincial political climate of Quebec is quite different: the main split is between separatism, represented by the Parti Québécois, and federalism, represented by the Parti Libéral du Québec. The three territories have fewer political powers than provinces, having been created by acts of the national Parliament rather than having their status enshrined in the Constitution. There is no lieutenant-governor to represent and fulfil the functions of the Queen, but each has a politically neutral Commissioner appointed by the federal government to act as its senior representative. Only Yukon's legislature follows the same political system as the provincial legislatures. The other two territories use a consensus government system in which each member runs as an independent and the premier is elected by and from the members. There is also interest within Canada and the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas UK territory in the Caribbean, for the latter to enter into Confederation.

Economy

Caribbean, depicting (from top to bottom) Wilfred Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.]]As an affluent, high-tech industrial society, Canada today closely resembles the U.S. in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. In the last century, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. Canada has vast deposits of natural gas on the east coast and in the west, and a plethora of other natural resources contributing to self-sufficiency in energy. The 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the U.S. Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Two long-term concerns loom. One is the continuing political differences over the Constitution between Quebec and the rest of Canada, periodically raising the possibility of Quebec independence. As the economy becomes stronger, notably in Quebec, fears of separation have generally waned. Another concern is the "Brain Drain", the emigration of professionals to the U.S. in search of higher pay, lower taxes, and high-tech opportunities. (However, a [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1124920225033&call_pageid=971358637177&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes recent Toronto Star article] claims that the "Brain Drain" of doctors has abated, as more are returning to Canada due to high insurance rates in the U.S. and a more efficient medicare system in Canada.) Simultaneously, a larger, under-recognised "Brain Gain" is occurring, as educated immigrants (particularly from developing countries, a controversy in and of itself) continue to enter Canada [http://www.statcan.ca/english/indepth/81-003/feature/eqhi2000006003s1a01.htm].

Demographics

The 2001 national census recorded 30,007,094 people, and as of October 2005 the population has been estimated by Statistics Canada as 32.3 million people[http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm], an increase of some 2.3 million people by both immigration and natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population live within 150 km of the U.S. border, and a similar proportion live in urban areas. In the 2001 census, 39.42% of respondents reported their ethnic origins as "Canadian", most of whom are believed to be of British, Irish, and French heritage of earlier immigrants. In addition, 20.17% identified their origin as English, 15.75% as French, 14.03% as Scottish, and 12.90% as Irish. Numerous other groups were also reported. Ethnic origins reported by more than 1 million people included: German (9.25%), Italian (4.29%), Chinese (3.69%), Ukrainian (3.61%) and North American Indian (3.38%). Close to four million people reported they were members of a visible minority, amounting to 13.44% of the total population. (Note that Aboriginal peoples are not considered visible minorities). Also, the 2001 census reported that Canada had 5,448,480 immigrants. [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/Immigration/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=0&View=1&Table=1&StartRec=1&Sort=2&B1=Counts] According to the last census[http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/contents.cfm], 72% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group – 43% of Canadians. One-sixth of Canadians declared no religious affiliation, and the remaining 12% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity.

Language

Catholics]] Canada's two official languages are English and French. On July 7, 1969, under the Official Languages Act, French was made commensurate to English throughout the federal government. This started a process that led to Canada redefining itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions.
- Any defendant in a criminal case has the right to a trial in either English or French.
- The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French.
- Official language minority groups in most provinces and territories have the right to be educated in their language, in their own schools, with their own elected school boards, where they exist in sufficient numbers.
- While multiculturalism is official policy, to become a citizen one must be able to speak either English or French.
- More than 98% of Canadians speak English or French or both. While the nation remains officially bilingual, the majority of Canadians are fluent only in English. The official language of Quebec is French, as defined by the province's Charter of the French Language, which was introduced by the Parti Quebecois in 1976. However, the charter also provides certain rights for speakers of English and aboriginal languages. Quebec provides most government services in both French and English. French is mostly spoken in Quebec with pockets in New Brunswick, eastern and northern Ontario, Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba. In the 2001 census, 6,864,615 people listed French as a first language, of whom 85% lived in Quebec. 17,694,835 people listed English as a first language. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province, a status specifically guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some provincial governments, notably Manitoba and Ontario, offer many services to their French minority populations. Aboriginal languages are co-official in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Non-official languages are also important in Canada, with 5,470,820 people listing a non-official language as a first language. (The above three statistics include those who listed more than one first language.) Among the most important non-official first language groups are Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).

Aboriginal peoples

The Constitution Act of 1982 recognizes three groups of aboriginal peoples in Canada: the Indians (now often called First Nations), Inuit, and Métis. The aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the population in Canada. According to the Canada 2001 Census, people identified themselves as aboriginal numbered 976,305 people (or 3.3% of Canada's population) of whom about 62% are First Nations, 30% are Métis, and 5% are Inuit. Also, ethnic origin figures from the Census show that 1.3 million Canadians stated that they were partially of fully of aboriginal ancestry, including about one million people claiming full or partial First Nation ancestry, 307,000 Métis ancestry and 56,000 Inuit ancestry.

Culture

Canada 2001 Census originated from Canada when residents began playing hurley on ice.]] Due to its colonial past, Canadian culture has historically been heavily influenced by British and French cultures and traditions. In more modern times, Canadian culture is now greatly influenced by American culture, due to the proximity and the migration of people, ideas, and capital. Amidst this, Canadian culture has developed unique characteristics. In many respects, a more robust and distinct Canadian culture has developed in recent years, partially because of the civic nationalism that pervaded Canada in the years prior to and following the Canadian Centennial in 1967, and also due to a focus by the federal government on programs to support culture and the arts. There were and are many distinct First Nations across Canada, each with its own culture, language and history. Their culture was transmitted largely through oral means and stories were passed down through the elders to the younger generations. Various tribes created unique styles of artifacts such as woven baskets, painted pictures, and carved sculptures of animals. Much of this artistic legacy remains celebrated in Canada to this day. The emblem of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is the inukshuk, a stack of rocks in human form that is a part of Inuit culture. [http://www.vancouver2010.com/Emblem/home.htm] From as early the 1500s, European explorers, traders, and fishermen from England, Ireland and France helped form the basis of Canadian culture. During their colonization of Canada, settlers created a folklore about the land around them. The tales of Paul Bunyan are a product of French-Canadian folklore and the style of jigs from Newfoundland found their origins in Ireland. Canada and the United Kingdom share a common history and continue to work together through many organizations such as the Commonwealth, G-8, and NATO. The two countries share the same head of state, and have among the oldest parliamentary democracies in the world. They still share many of the same customs, values, and traditions, which have been reinforced by working side by side in two world wars and over half a century of expanding peace and prosperity. The United Kingdom is Canada’s third largest trading partner and is the second largest source of tourists visiting Canada. The Canadian and U.S. governments share a variety of close working partnerships in trade, economic, legal, security, and military matters. These are occasionally strained by domestic politics; for instance, the ongoing softwood lumber dispute and the war in Iraq. This has led to successive drives by Canadian leaders to diversify trade with other countries; examples include Diefenbaker's efforts to increase trade with the U.K., Trudeau's efforts with Europe, and current efforts with China and India. As well, the decision to switch to the metric system in 1970 (though, like the U.K., both the metric and Imperial systems are in common usage) has similar roots. As Canada and the U.S. grew closer after World War 2 (the U.S. became Canada's largest trading partner in the late-1940s), many Canadians started to develop complex feelings and concerns regarding what makes Canada "distinct" within North America. The large American cultural presence in Canada has prompted some fears of a "cultural takeover" that have led to the establishment of laws and institutions to protect Canadian culture, including the CBC, the National Film Board of Canada, and the CRTC. Many American movies, authors, TV shows, and musicians are equally popular in Canada (and vice versa), many have been successful worldwide. Most cultural products of these types are now increasingly marketed toward a unified "North American" market, and not specifically a Canadian or American one. Though debatable, Canada has increasingly distinguished itself politically in recent years by being more fiscally conservative on issues such as balanced budgets, tax cuts, and reductions in government, while also being more socially liberal: the Canadian government currently supports universal health care, same-sex marriage, and decriminalization of marijuana. All of these issues are of varying contention amongst Canadians. Many Canadian citizens see Canadian culture as based on the policy of multiculturalism.

Sports

multiculturalism.]] Notable sports which are enjoyed throughout Canada include ice hockey, curling, lacrosse, basketball and the home-grown Canadian Football League. Although CFL teams compete in a variant of American football, traditional football (soccer) is hardly an unknown in Canada, and in 1986 the Canucks qualified for their only appearance at the World Cup in Mexico. In addition, as the vast majority of Canadians live in very close proximity to the United States, Canadians can also watch sporting events from the professional leagues in that country, such as NASCAR and the National Football League. The National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association, the National Lacrosse League and Major League Baseball are comprised of teams from both Canada and the United States. Major League Baseball As of the 1994 National Sports of Canada Act, Canada officially has two national sports. Ice hockey is the national winter sport and lacrosse is the national summer sport.

National symbols

Major League Baseball The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century, and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, an

Tunnel

]] A tunnel is an underground passage. When designed for use by traffic, it may be called an underpass. The definition of what constitutes a tunnel is not universally agreed upon. However, in general tunnels have a ratio of the length of the passage to the width of at least 2 to 1. In addition, they should be completely enclosed on all sides (save the openings) for the length of the covered area. A tunnel may be for pedestrians and/or cyclists, for general road traffic, for motor vehicles only, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some are constructed purely for carrying water (for consumption, for hydroelectric purposes or as sewers), while others carry other services such as telecommunications cables. There are even tunnels designed as wildlife crossings for European badgers and other endangered species. In the UK a pedestrian tunnel or other underpass beneath a road is called a "subway". This term was also used in the past in the US, but is now used to refer to underground mass transit systems, generally called metros outside the US. The central part of a metro or subway network is usually built in tunnels. To allow non-level crossings, some lines are in deeper tunnels than others. At metro stations there are usually also pedestrian tunnels from one platform to another. Often, ground-level railway stations also have one or more pedestrian tunnels under the railway to enable passengers to reach the platforms without having to walk across the tracks.

Types of tunnels

Tunnels are dug in various types of materials, from soft clays to hard rocks, and the method of excavation depends on the type of soil. When digging soft clays the New Austrian Tunneling method might be applied. When digging in weak rocks a tunnel boring machine (TBM) is often used. In hard rocks, blasting may be deemed most suitable, as in the Norwegian tunneling method. Various combinations of these methods and many others are also possible. There are also several approaches to underwater tunnels, for instance an immersed tube as in Sydney Harbour.

Construction

Sydney Harbour]] Cut-and-cover is a simple method of construction for shallow tunnels where a trench is excavated and roofed over. Strong supporting beams are necessary to avoid the danger of the tunnel collapsing. Shallow tunnels are often of the cut-and-cover type (if under water of the immersed-tube type), while deep tunnels are excavated, often using a tunnelling shield. For intermediate levels, both methods are possible. Tunnel-boring machines (TBMs) can be used to automate the entire tunneling process. There are a variety of TBMs that can operate in a variety of conditions. One type of TBM, called an earth-pressure balance machine, can be used deep below the water table. This pressurizes the cutter head with either fluid or air in order to balance the water pressure. As a result operators of the TBM must go through decompression chambers, much like divers.
The biggest TBM built was operated to drill the tunnel as part of the High Speed Raillink South in the Netherlands. Its diameter is 14.85 m. [http://www.hslzuid.nl/hsl/bouw/ment/Boortunnel_Groene_Hart/index.jsp Tunnel Groene Hart (the Netherlands)] Very effective is the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), which was developed in the 1960s. The main idea of this important method is to use the geological stress of the surrounding rock mass to stabilize the tunnel itself.
Based on geotechnical measurements, an optimal cross section is computed. The excavation is immediately protected by thin shotcrete, just behind the TBM. This creates a natural load-bearing ring, which minimizes the rock's deformation. By special monitoring the NATM method is very flexible, even at surprising changes of the geomechanical rock consistency during the tunneling work. The measured rock properties lead to appropriate tools for tunnel strengthening. In the last decades also soft ground excavations up to 10 km became usual. Other tunneling methods are:
- Drill and blast
- Lunardi Method
- Slurry-shield machine
- Wall-cover construction method.

Choice of tunnels vs. bridges

For water crossings, a tunnel is generally more costly to construct than a bridge. However, navigational considerations may limit the use of high bridges or drawbridge spans when intersecting with shipping channels at some locations, necessitating use of a tunnel. Additionally, bridges usually require a larger footprint on each shore than tunnels; in areas with particularly expensive real estate, such as Manhattan and urban Hong Kong, this is a strong factor in tunnels' favor. Examples of water-crossing tunnels built instead of bridges include the Holland Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City, and the Elizabeth River tunnels between Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia and the [http://www.westerscheldetunnel.nl Westerscheldetunnel]. Some water crossings are a mixture of bridges and tunnels, such as the Denmark to Sweden link.

Very short tunnels

A short tunnel can be a convenient way to build an overbridge. Very short tunnels resemble overbridge. For example, the Croom Tunnel on the Nowra, New South Wales railway line.

Artificial Tunnels

Overbridges can sometimes be built by covering a road or river or railway with brick or still arches, and then levelling the surface with earth. In railway parlence, a surface-level track which has been built or covered over is normally called a covered way. Snowsheds are a kind of artificial tunnel built to protect a railway from avalanches of snow. Similarly the Coal Cliff, New South Wales steel tunnel, on the Nowra, New South Wales railway line.

Examples of tunnels

In history

Nowra, New South Wales, mid 19th century]]
- Eupalinos Tunnel on the island Samos (Greece). Built 520 BC by the greek engineer Eupalinos. Eupalinos organised the work so that the tunnel was begun from both sides of the hill and the two teams met in the middle. The estimates for the time required range from 5 to 15 years: the mountain is solid limestone and one has to suppose that many of the slaves doing the work died. The tunnel's existence was recorded by Herodotus (as was the mole and harbour, and the third wonder of the island, the great temple to Hera, thought by many to be the largest in the Greek world). The precise location of the tunnel was only re-established in the 19th century by German archaeologists. The tunnel proper is 1030 metres - 3432 feet - long and visitors can still enter it [http://homepages.cwi.nl/~aeb/math/samos/ Eupalinos tunnel].
- Sapperton Tunnel on the Thames & Severn Canal in England, dug through hills, which opened in 1789, was 3.5 km long and allowed ship transport of coal. Above it runs the Sapperton Long Tunnel which carries the "Golden Valley" railway line between Swindon and Gloucester.
- Box Tunnel in England, which opened in 1841, was the longest railway tunnel in the world at the time of construction. It was dug and has a length of 2.9 km.
- The Thames Tunnel, built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1843, was the first underwater tunnel and the first to use a tunnelling shield.
- The Cobble Hill Tunnel and Murray Hill Tunnel in New York City are the world's oldest railway tunnels lying below streets, roofed over in 1850 and the 1850s, respectively.
- The oldest sections of the London Underground were built using the cut-and-cover method in the 1860s. The Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, Circle and District lines were the first to prove the success of a metro or subway system. See also the History of Rapid transit.

The longest

Rapid transit]]
- A new St. Gotthard Rail Tunnel with a length of 57 km (36 miles) is currently under construction.
- The Seikan Tunnel in Japan is the longest rail tunnel in the world at 53.9 km (33.4 miles), of which 23.3 km (14.5 miles) is under the sea.
- The Channel Tunnel between France and England under the English Channel is the second-longest, with a total length of 50 km (31 miles), of which 39 km (24 miles) is under the sea.
- The Lærdal Tunnel in Norway from Lærdal to Aurland is the world's longest road tunnel, intended for cars and similar vehicles, at 24.5 km.
- The St. Gotthard Tunnel from Göschenen to Airolo in Switzerland, opened on September 5, 1980, is the world's longest highway tunnel at 16.32 km (10.14 miles).
- The North Cape Tunnel in northern Norway, connecting the island of Magerøya with the mainland, was the world's longest undersea road tunnel when opened in 1999, at about 7 km. It reaches a depth of 212 m below sea level.

Notable

- The Lincoln Tunnel between New Jersey and New York is one of the busiest vehicular tunnels in the world.
- Williamson's tunnels in Liverpool are probably the largest underground folly in the world.
- New York City Water Tunnel No. 3[http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/news/3rdtunnel.html], started in 1970, has an expected completion date of 2020.

Other uses

Excavation techniques, as well as the construction of underground bunkers and other habitable areas, are often associated with military use during armed conflict, or civilian responses to threat of attack, or a means of protection from attackers.

External links

- Directory of [http://home.no.net/lotsberg/index.html the world's longest tunnels] by category
- Category:Subterranea Category:Bridges ja:トンネル simple:Tunnel

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR; AAR reporting marks CP, CPAA, CPI), known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. Its rail network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Its headquarters are in Calgary, Alberta. The railway was originally built between eastern Canada and British Columbia between 1881 and 1885, fulfilling a promise extended to British Columbia when it entered Confederation in 1871. It was Canada's first transcontinental railway. Now primarily a freight railway, the CPR was for many decades the only practical means of long distance passenger transport in many regions of Canada, and was instrumental in the settlement and development of Western Canada. Its primary passenger services were eliminated in 1978 after being assumed by VIA Rail Canada. A beaver was chosen as the railway's logo because it is one of the national symbols of Canada and represents the hardworking character of the company. The object of both praise and damnation for over 120 years, the CPR remains an indisputable icon of Canadian nationalism. nationalism nationalism

History

Before the Canadian Pacific Railway, 1871-1881

Creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was a task originally undertaken for a combination of reasons by the Conservative government of prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald.