Alberta

We just learned about the British Columbia.

Another province in Canada is Alberta.
Alberta is in the west part of Canada, just north of the US state of Montana.



(from: wikipedia - alberta)

The flag of Alberta is a blue background with the shield of Alberta on it.
The shield has pictures of the natural beauty of Alberta on it, the Rocky mountains, the grass prairies and wheat fields.


(from: wikipedia - flag of alberta)

The coat of arms of Alberta has a beaver, the shield of Alberta, wild roses that are the flower of Alberta, a golden lion and a pronghorn.


(from: wikipedia - coat of arms of alberta)

There is a lot of oil in Canada, in a place called the Athabasca oil sands.
This place has the third most oil of any place in the world.


(from: wikipedia - athabasca oil sands)

There is a park in Alberta called Dinosaur Provincial Park where they have found a whole lot of old dinosaur bones.


(from: wikipedia - dinosaur provincial park)

The bighorn sheep is the state animal of Alberta.


(from: wikipedia - bighorn sheep)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dhaulagiri

British Columbia

We just learned about the Quebec.

Another of the provinces in Canada is British Columbia.

This province is on the west coast of Canada, right above the state of Seattle.
Sometimes it is just called BC.


(from: wikipedia - british columbia)

The province flag has a higher part that is just like the Britain's Union flag, but with a crown in the middle.
The lower part has wavy blue and white lines which are because BC is between the Pacific ocean and the Rocky mountains.
There is a sun with rays on the bottom half of the flag, and this is because the sun sets in the west, and BC is the province farthest to the west.


(from: wikipedia - british columbia)

The coat of arms of BC is the Queen's royal crest on it, and a shield that looks like the province flag.
There is an elk on one side and a sheep on the other.
The motto of BC is "Splendor Sine Occasu" which is Latin and means the sun will never set on the British Empire.


(from: wikipedia - british columbia)

The largest city in BC is Vancouver. It is right on the water on the west coast.

(from: wikipedia - vancouver)

Vancouver Island is the largest island on the west coast of North America.


(from: wikipedia - vancouver island)

The Rocky Mountains go through BC, and there are beautiful places like Banff National Park.


(from: wikipedia - banff national park)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cho Oyu

Quebec

We just learned about the Canadian province of Ontario.

Quebec is in the Northeast part of Canada, east of Ontario, and north of New York.
It is the second most populated province in Canada, and it was originally settled by people from France, so in this Province they speak both French and English.


(from: wikipedia - quebec)

The flag of Quebec has a blue background, a white cross, and four white fluers-de-lis, which is French for lily flower.
This flower picture was on the French royal flags, so the Quebec flag is to honor their French history.

(from: wikipedia - flag of quebec)

The coat of arms for Quebec are a crown above a shield with three parts.
The top is the fluers-de-lis for France, the middle is a lion for England, and the bottom is three green maple leaves for Canada.
The words je me souveins is French for I remember.

(from: wikipedia - coat of arms of quebec)

Lake Ontario is part of the five Great Lakes, and it is connected to a water way called the Saint Lawrence Seaway that eventually makes its way out to the ocean.


(from: wikipedia - saint lawrence seaway)

Montreal is the largest city in Quebec, and it has a very old cathedral built in the late 1800s, called Notre-Dame Basilica

(from: wikipedia - notre-dame basilica (montreal))

The official bird of Quebec is the Snowy owl

(from: wikipedia - snowy owl)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Makalu

Ontario

Let's learn more about the Canadian Provinces.

The province of Ontario has more people living there than any other province. About 1/3 of all the people in Canada live in southeast Ontario.
This province also has the nation's capital of Ottowa, and the nation's most populated city of Toronto.
Ontario has a border along the US of about 1,678 miles.
Almost all of that border is made up of rivers or lakes, and only less than one mile is actually connected by land.

Ontario is in east-central Canada, right above Michigan.
To the north are Hudson Bay and James Bay, and to the south it borders four of the five Great Lakes, Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario.


(from: wikipedia - ontario)

The flag of Ontario is red, with the flag of the United Kingdom and the state shield on it.
Just like the USA, Canada was once a part of the United Kingdom.

(from: wikipedia - flag of ontario)

The coat of arms of Ontario has a black bear standing on an armored helmet which is above a red and white cross flag which is the flag of England.
Below the flag is a green shield with three golden maple leafs on it.
On the left is a Moose, and on the right is a deer. These are animals that live in Canada.
Below the animals are the Latin words "Ut incepit Fidelis sic permanet" which means "Loyal she began, loyal she remains"
This means that the people of Ontario were loyal to England, even after the American Revolution.

(from: wikipedia - coat of arms of ontario)

Niagara Falls is shared between the state of New York and the province of Ontario.

(from: wikipedia - niagara falls)

The largest nuclear power plant in the world is in Ontario, at a place called Bruce Nuclear Generating Station.

(from: wikipedia - bruce nuclear generating station)

The largest city in all of Canada is Toronto.
There are many things to see there, like the CN tower.

(from: wikipedia - toronto)

Ottawa, the capital city of Canada is in Ontario.
It is where the prime minister and parliament work for the government.

(from: wikipedia - ottawa)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lhotse

Canadian Provinces

We've learned about the mountains of North America.

Let's move on and talk a little about the Provinces and Territories in the country of Canada.

Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories.

The ten provinces are: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.

The three territories are: Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon

There is not much of a difference between provinces and territories, mostly just in how things work in the government.


(from: wikipedia - provinces and territories of canada)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kangchenjunga