It has low mountains and hills. The main mountains of the region are Green mountain, White mountain and Shick shock mountain. In the east of these mountains lies the region of hills, uplands and plains. This small region is known as a Canadian section. In this region level land is limited.
2. The Canadian Shield: This is the largest physio graphic region of Canada. This region is around the Hudson Bay and has rough terrain, which has many glacial lakes and large bottoms of level land made from the old glacial lakes. This region is very important for its mineral and power resources, but for agricultural activities it is not suitable.
3. Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Low-lands: This region is very important in Canada because it contains in itself more than one half the population of the country. It is - the main manufacturing area as well. The eastern part of St. Lawrence Low-land is flat, but has rolling surface in the western part between Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario.
4. The Interior plains: These plains lie west of Canadian shield. These plains have elevation of 1000 feet to 2000 feet, but in the plateau region of Saskatchewan and Alberta, they have the elevation up to 5000 feet. These plains become narrow towards the north and low in the broad valley of Mackenize River.
5. The Hudson and James Bay Low-lands: These low lands lie West and South of Hudson Bay. They are made of sedimentary rocks. The main rivers of the region are Moose, Ontario and Churchill.
6. Mountainous region of Canada: The Western side of Canada has Rocky Mountains. Liard river, Mackenzie mountains, Brooks range of Alaska and Coast Mountains along the Pacific are the main relief features of this region. The mountains of this region are well known for their scenic beauty. This region has several basins, which have been incised, by deep river valleys.
7. Arctic islands : These islands have no physically similarly characteristics. Baffin, Ellesmere, Axil Heiberg, Victoria, Prince of Wales and King Williams are some of the islands of this region. These islands have both ice-capped peaks and low-lands. Among these islands Baffin and Victoria are very big islands, which are larger in size than many of the states of Canada.
Climate: It has variety of climate. Some regions of Canada are very cold and some have mild climate throughout the years. The Western region of Canada is influenced climatically because of the presence of warm waters of the Pacific. The cold waters of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay influence the climate of North Canada. Western part of Canada has mild winter on account of the air masses of the Pacific Ocean and it remains cool in summer because of the water availability nearby. The Pacific air masses bring heavy rainfall along the western slopes of the mountainous regions. The Arctic Ocean is the cause of cold climate in the Prairie region of Canada, because from there the cold air masses blow towards the south. North eastern Canada remains cold throughout the year. Arctic type of climate covers a very large area say about one million sq miles. Western Canada receives the heaviest rainfall while the eastern Canada has half of the rainfall -that the West receives. While the west has mild winter the east has cold winter. Central Canada has continental climate. Its longest growing season is in the Lake region in the south.
Economic Development of Canada
Agriculture: Only 4.4 percent of land area is the cropped land. Agricultural land and population ratio is more or less the same as that of U.S.A. namely two hectares per person. The region comprising Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba is the spring wheat region. The Red Valley of Canada is the most productive area of this wheat belt. Rainfall is less than 50 cm and the winter is severe. Chestnut brown soil is the most productive soil of this area. Short growing season of 110 days limits the wheat cultivation from March-April to September-October. As the wheat cultivation follows the isohyetal lines, rainfall decreases further inland. Western Alberta and Colombian plateau mark the areas of cultivation wherever the irrigation is possible. Dairying and general farming is in Ontario peninsula.
It is narrow in latitudinal extent representing and transition to the non-agricultural northern lands. The other crop of economic importance is Barley. Long duration variety accounts for much of the area but short duration variety has been increasing recently.
Dairying is the main agricultural occupation. Winter wheat is produced in rotation. Soyabeans are also produced in the Lake Erie. More than 90 percent tobacco of the country is supplied from this region. Northern Niagara Peninsula region is the store house of orchard and vine yard and is popular for the production of peaches, grapes, cherries and plums.
The shield region, in the Clay Belt, has its most important agricultural area. On the interior plains agriculture has been the main occupation since the very beginning. Irrigation facilities have made the dry grass lands very productive. The large dams and irrigation projects have helped the agriculture. Sugar beets, Alfalfa and vegetables are the main products of the Prairie provinces. Spring wheat is the dominant crop. Farms here are very large. Most of them cover more than 650 acres. This
region is one of the world's surplus wheat producing regions. Black soil zone of Prairie Provinces is very fertile and produces large amount of wheat. This region believes in mixed farming. The mountainous regions of British Columbia and Yukon have agriculture limited to the narrow valleys. Okanagan valley produces apricots and apples wherever irrigation facilities are available.
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