The Geography of Canada

Abstract

AMONG the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Canada (with which is usually associated Newfoundland) ranks first in area. It contains about three and a half million square miles; the other chief DominionsAustralia, India, and South Africa-have areas of three, two, and one million square miles respectively. Of the huge area included in Canada, only about 800,000 square miles are moderately settled, while the remainder contains only scattered outposts, based mainly on mining or fur trading. Indeed, much of it is as empty as it was in the days before the first French settlements. However, pioneers are pressing forward, and it is the main purpose of these pages to explain the present distribution of settlement and to suggest where the new settlement in the near future is most likely to occur. Canada is divided politically into nine provinces and a number of sparsely populated territories. Table 1 shov;s clearly that the provinces differ greatly in area and in possibilities of population. Since the first modern settlements occurred perhaps as early as 1520 in Newfoundland and about 1600 at Tadoussac (East Quebec), it is clear that the occupation has now extended over three and a half centuries and has reached a stage of some stability. If the factory figures in Table 1 be plotted against the population figures, it will be seen that the population distribution varies fairly regularly with the industrial position. Thus the population (in millions) equals 0.36 x factories (in thousands).. No such simple relation is apparent if the farmlands be plotted against population. This suggests the prime importance of manufacturing in Canada today. TABLE 1-PROVINCIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AREA, FARMLANDS, FACTORIES, AND POPULATIONa