Spectacular Canada

Spectacular Canada is a stunning, full-colour photographic tribute to this magnificent land and its remarkable people. Canada's astonishing natural beauty and the lure of its vast wilderness areas attract visitors from all over the world. Bordered on three sides by ocean - the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Arctic - Canada's southern boundary with the United States has been called "the longest undefended border in the world." The second largest country in the world, covering almost ten million square kilometres, Canada possesses a variety of terrain, from rainforests on the west coast to near desert conditions in the southern prairies. Its mountains range from the rugged peaks of the coastal mountains with their lush valleys and highland plateaus, to the majestic Rockies rising dramatically from the wide prairies, to the older, more rounded peaks of the Laurentians. Great plains stretch through three provinces, and there are rolling central lowlands, vast forests, and the treeless tundra of the north.

Canada's greatest resource is its people. Its vital cities, such as Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, are alive with commerce and cultural activities. The smaller cities and towns each possess distinctive qualities, and the younger communities of the north have an exciting air of opportunity. A mixture of nationalities and races that bring many cultural influences to the Canadian identity, its population has often been termed a "mosaic." Native people, Indian, and Inuit, and the two main streams of early settlement, French and English, are joined by immigrants from every corner of the globe. And just as the French culture is protected in this officially bilingual nation, so the various nationalities that make up the Canadian people celebrate a diverse cultural heritage within the context of being proudly Canadian.