|
Population of Canada
Canada ranks 37th by population, comprising about 0.5% of the world's total,] with over 38 million Canadians as of 2021.Being, however, the fourth-largest country by land area (second-largest by total area), the vast majority of the country is sparsely inhabited, with most of its population south of the 55th parallel north and just over 60 percent of Canadians live in just two provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Though Canada's population density is low, many regions in the south such as the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, have population densities higher than several European countries. Canada's largest population centres are Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa, with those six being the only ones with more than one million people.
The large size of Canada's north, which is not at present arable, and thus cannot support large human populations, significantly lowers the country's carrying capacity. In 2021, the population density of Canada was 4.2 people per square kilometre.As contrast, Russia's similar figure was 8.4 people per square kilometre.
The historical growth of Canada's population is complex and has been influenced in many different ways, such as indigenous populations, expansion of territory, and human migration. Being a new world country, immigration has been, and remains, the most important factor in Canada's population growth.The 2021 Canadian census counted a total population of 36,991,981, an increase of around 5.2 percent over the 2016 figure. Between 1990 and 2008, the population increased by 5.6 million, equivalent to 20.4 percent overall growth
History of Canada
Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, the last being of mixed descent who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations people married European settlers and subsequently developed their own identity.
The first inhabitants of North America are generally hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago.The Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada.The characteristics of Indigenous societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks. Some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.
The Indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million,with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. As a consequence of European colonization, the Indigenous population declined by forty to eighty percent, and several First Nations, such as the Beothuk, disappeared. The decline is attributed to several causes, including the transfer of European diseases, such as influenza, measles, and smallpox to which they had no natural immunity,conflicts over the fur trade, conflicts with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss of Indigenous lands to settlers and the subsequent collapse of several nations' self-sufficiency.
Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful.First Nations and Métis peoples played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting European coureur des bois and voyageurs in their explorations of the continent during the North American fur trade.The Crown and Indigenous peoples began interactions during the European colonization period, though the Inuit, in general, had more limited interaction with European settlers.However, from the late 18th century, European Canadians encouraged Indigenous peoples to assimilate into their own culture. These attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with forced integration and relocations. A period of redress is underway, which started with the appointment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by the Government of Canada in 2008.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
