Canada is a monarchy.

Yep, Canada has a Queen/King. It’s the same as the UK’s – Queen Elizabeth II (now King Charles III). That’s because Canada is a member of the British Commonwealth, having formerly been a colony of the British Empire.

Though it became self-governing in 1867, there was a way to go before Canada actually became independent.

Canada has the longest coastline in the world.

There are so many reasons to visit Canada, and this is one of them! Have you seen a map of Canada? All those islands and jagged, irregular lines that mark where the land ends? There’s a lot of that kind of thing going on. It all adds up to the longest coastline in the world at over 125,500 miles. This one is another one of my favorite Canada facts!

Canada also has the longest international border.

This giant country’s only land neighbor is the United States, and since they’re both pretty big, you can expect that border to be big, too. It’s the longest border between two countries (well, the southern border) at a very long 5,525 miles.

 The word Canada is derived from an indigenous word.

And that word is kanata, which means “settlement” or “village” in the language of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians. Sadly, these indigenous people disappeared in the 16th century, during wars with the Mohawk who wanted a monopoly on trade with Europeans at the time.

Canada’s national animal is actually a beaver.

It played a pretty crucial role in the history of Canada, what with all the fur trappers, traders, and battles over who would be the fur king of the region. Then there are the poor beavers themselves, almost hunted to extinction! Well, at least they became the national animal of Canada in 1975. They’re on the Canadian nickel, too.

There are a lot of famous Canadians Living in the US.

Seth Rogan, Mike Myers, Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, Alanis Morisette, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carey, Celine Dion, Neil Young, Drake… The list could go on. Basically, there are a lot of people from Canada who influence popular culture as we know it!

The coldest ever recorded temperature in Canada is -63°C.

A cold and interesting fun Canada fact. If you thought winter was cold where you’re from, Canada is colder. And yes, that really is the coldest temperature to have ever been recorded in Canada.

That was in Snag, Yukon and yes: it was -63°C (-81.4°F). The coldest average temperature in Canada is in Eureka, Nunavut, where it’s -19.7 °C (-3.5 °F) on average, all year. Wow.

Quebec is the only walled city in North America.

A little known fact about Canada is that it boasts the continent’s only walled city – north of Mexico, that is. But yes; Quebec’s city walls were built in the 17th century. Then when British forces captured the city, they made the walls even better. They’re pretty well preserved and today are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 Minus its lakes, Canada would only be the fourth-largest country in the world

It’s a pretty simple fact about Canada that lakes make up a lot of this country. It’s actually home to the highest proportion of fresh water in the world. Let’s not forget that vast portions of the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) are located in Canada as well and Alberta has tons of beautiful lakes.

 Lacrosse is the national sport of Canada.

With its pretty French-sounding name, you might be forgiven for thinking this stick-and-basket sport came across the Pond to Canada from Europe. Lacrosse was actually first played by First Nations people in the 1600s, first picked up by Canada’s Anglophone middle classes in the 19th century, was official – by an act of parliament in 1994 – declared to be the national sport of Canada.

For summer, anyway; ice hockey was deemed the official winter sport.

Canada only officially became independent from Britain in 1982.

Not many people know this fact about Canada, but it was actually still legally dependent on the UK until 1982. Part of this meant that the British Parliament could vote to amend Canada’s constitution – if they wanted to, anyway.

The Canadian Parliament requested in 1982 that Canada be allowed to control its own destiny and voila – full autonomy of Canada.

Canada Day celebrates semi-independence from Britain in 1867.

Back then, the British North America Act of 1867 made Canada a “federal dominion” with more autonomy than it had previously enjoyed. Good news for Canada. Today, Canada Day commemorates this move towards freedom with much merriment – drinking, eating, partying, parades, fireworks, and wearing red and white, of course.

One of the longest highways in the world is in Canada.

Traveling all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, the Trans-Canada Highway is most definitely one of the world’s longest highways. At 4,860 miles long, there’s a lot of scope for road trips along this epic highway. To give it a number, it’s actually the fourth-longest in the world.

Toronto has the world’s biggest underground shopping complex

You were thinking Japan, right? Maybe China. But actually, it’s Toronto, Canada, where you will find this feat of engineering. Connecting metro stops and a bunch of office buildings, it’s called PATH and it comprises four million square feet of retail space. That’s wild. It’s a series of tunnels, elevated walkways, and other fancy sidewalks, with the aim of keeping people out of the cold.

Winnie-the-Pooh was named after a bear from Canada.

And it wasn’t Pooh creator A. A. Milne who came up with the name, either – it was his son, Christopher (yep, guess who Christopher Robin is based on). Christopher had seen a black bear called Winnie, after Winnipeg, at the London Zoo and named his own bear after it.

Milne named Pooh after his son’s bear. Case closed. Incidentally, the actual, living black bear was purchased (as a cub obviously) for $20 in Canada by a soldier returning to England after WWI.

 The most powerful part of Niagara Falls is in Canada.

Though you can see Niagara Falls from both parts of the border, the Horseshoe Falls – which is the most powerful falls – is in the Canadian section.

Approximately 90% of the water that flows over the falls from the Niagara River crashes down the Horseshoe Falls; the US side comprises the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, where the other 10% flows.

By Natasha