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Geography and Nature OF CANADA. General Facts

Canada is the second-largest country in the world (9,970,610 sq.km) surpassed only by Russia. Canada is situated to the North from the USA between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. Canada is 7,770 km long from west to east and 4,600 km from north to south. Almost 90% of Canadian population lives at 160 km range from the boarder on the USA.

The capital of Canada is Ottawa, in the province of Ontario.

Canada borders on the USA in the south and in the west. The total length of its land borders is 8,893 km, including Alaska. The length of its sea boarders is 243,791 km.

There are many climatic variations in Canada, ranging from Arctic in the north to moderate in the south. The majority of Canadian territories have continental climate, the Eastern and Western Coasts - sea climate and the southern part of the country is characterized by moderate, almost subtropical climate. The average temperature in January in the north is -35° C, in the south -20° C, on the eastern coast -5° C, on the western coast -4° C. The average temperature of July ranges from 5° C in the north to 22° C along the border on the USA in the south. Precipitation prevails in the coastal regions (up to 2,500 mm a year), the central part of Canada is rather dry (200-300 mm a year). In winter almost all the territory of the country is covered with snow and rivers and lakes are covered with ice.

Cold air masses from the Arctic coast easily reach the southern parts of Canada, cooling the air of the temperate zone. The mountain chains of Canada are located along the meridians and do not protect its southern part from the influence of the Arctic winds. Only southwestern and southeastern parts of the country can be characterized as having mild and moderate climate.

There are some two million lakes in Canada, covering about 7,6% of the Canadian landmass. The main lakes, in order of the surface area located in Canada (many large lakes are traversed by the Canada - U.S.A. border), are Huron, Great Bear, Superior, Great Slave, Winnipeg, Erie and Ontario. The largest lake situated entirely in Canada is Great Bear Lake (31 326 sq.km) in the Northwest Territories.

The St. Lawrence (3058 km long) is Canada's most important river, providing a seaway for ships from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The longest Canadian River is the Mackenzie, which flows 4241 km through the Northwest Territories. Other large watercourses include the Yukon and the Columbia (parts of which flow through U.S. territory), the Nelson, the Churchill, and the Fraser - along with major tributaries such as the Saskatchewan, the Peace, the Ottawa, the Athabasca, and the Liard.

Almost 2/3 of Canadian rivers belong to the Arctic Ocean basin. Everywhere except the southern part of the country rivers are covered with ice for a period from 5 to 9 months a year. The Niagara and the St. Lawrence rivers play a very important role in economy of Canada as they connect it to the U.S.A. and are a source of electrical power produced by numerous hydroelectric power stations on its banks. The Columbia is also used for producing electricity but it is not suitable for navigation. There are about 4 million lakes, big and small in Canada. The biggest ones are Great Lakes, Great Bear Lake and some others. All the lakes are beautiful indeed due to clean transparent blue water and picturesque rocky banks. Lakes are the most popular place for spending weekends and vacations with Canadians.

Though most of Canada's territory is occupied by lakes and wilderness forests, there are also vast mountain ranges, plains and even a small desert. Great Plains, or prairies, cover Manitoba, Saskatchewan and partly Alberta. These fertile territories are suitable for agriculture. Western Canada is famous for the Rocky Mountains. The tallest peak of Canada is Mount Logan. It is 6,050 m high above the sea level.

In Eastern Canada all the main cities as well as Niagara Falls are situated. The Canadian Shield, the ancient mountainous region which formed more than 2, 5 billion years ago, covers the north of the country. In the Arctic region there is tundra which is divided to the north into many islands covered with ice all the year round.

Canada can be divided into 5 parts with different physical and geographical characteristics: the Appalachian Region (in the south-east), the Canadian Shield, the Prairies, the Great Lakes - the St. Lawrence Lowlands (in the middle) and the Cordillera (in the west).

The main natural resources found in Canada are nickel, zinc, copper, gold, tin, silver, coal, oil and gas.

The territories suitable for cultivation occupy only 5% of Canada and 3% is used as pastures. 54% of the territory of Canada is covered with forests and cultivated land occupies only 7,100 sq.km.

The population of Canada is only 30.3 million people (data of 1997). Canadian population consists about 0,5% of the world population. According to scientific accounts there will be 36.6 million people in Canada in 2026. As the statistics say, the average number of people in a Canadian family is 3.1 and 1.3 of them are children. This size of an average family in Canada has not been changing since 1991.

 

 

Vocabulary on the text

border, v1. nграница (Syn: boundary) 2. vграничить; находиться рядом (Syn: abut, verge)

coal,n(каменный) уголь

coast,n1. 1) морское побережье (Syn: shore, seashore) 2) (The Coast) Тихоокеанское побережье Соединённых Штатов

2. vкурсировать, плавать вдоль побережья

coastal, adj. ‒ береговой, прибрежный

connect,v1) = connect up соединять; связывать; объединять (Syn: attach, join, link, unite) (Ant: separate) 2) = connect up соединяться, связываться

copper,nмедь (металл)

cultivation,nпахота, культивация почв

due to,conj. ‒благодаря; вследствие; в результате; из-за

fertile, adj. ‒ 1) плодородный; изобилующий, богатый (Syn: fruitful, prolific) 2) способствующий плодородию, плодоношению, развитию fertile climate - благоприятный, благодатный климат

flow,v1) струиться, течь (Syn: pour, run, stream) (Ant: stand, stagnate) 2) (flow from) вытекать, происходить.

gas,nгаз

gold,nзолото (металл)

majority,nа) большинство (Ant: minority) б) прибыль (Syn: margin)

nickel,n ‒ никель

oil,nнефть crude oil - сырая, неочищенная нефть (Syn: petroleum)

pasture,nвыгон, пастбище, выпас (Syn: common)

picturesque,adj.живописный (о ландшафте); колоритный (о внешнем виде) (Syn: colorful)

plain, n.равнина; ; = plains степь, прерия (Syn: bush, desert, pampas, prairie, tundra, savannah) (Ant: mountain)

prairie,nпрерия, степь (Syn: plain, steppe)

precipitation,nа) выпадение осадков б) осадки

prevail,v1) преобладать, господствовать, превалировать; доминировать 2) существовать, быть распространённым; бытовать

protect,v1) (from/against) защищать; охранять, ограждать; предохранять (Syn: defend, harbour, shelter,) (Ant: attack, plunder)

range,v1) (from… to) простираться, тянуться (вдоль чего-л.) 2) колебаться в известных пределах 3) классифицировать; систематизировать (Syn: classify, arrange)

range,n – ряд, линия, цепь, вереница; шеренга mountain range - гряда гор, горная цепь

reach,v1) (smth) достигать, доходить; простираться (Syn: accomplish, achieve, attain, come) (Ant: fail, miss) 2) проникать, доходить, достигать (о звуках, свете и т. д.)

seaway,nфарватер, судоходная часть моря

silver,n ‒ серебро

tin,nолово

transparent, adj ‒ прозрачный, просвечивающий (Syn: diaphanous)

watercourse,n1) поток; река; ручей; канал, течение 2) русло

wilderness ‒ 1) пустыня the Alaskan wilderness - пустыня Аляски 2) дикая местность 3) целина

zinc,nцинк

at range ‒на расстоянии

be characterized by ‒характеризоваться

be covered with ‒покрываться

be divided into ‒делиться, на ; распадаться на части

be famous for ‒славиться, пользоваться известностью благодаря чему-л, быть известным

be located ‒размещаться, находиться

be situated ‒располагаться, находиться, размещаться

cultivated land ‒обработанная земля

Phonetic exercises

Последнее изменение этой страницы: 2016-07-23

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