Phonetics: Интонация. Восходящий тон.

Canadian Economy

According to the annual statistics of the UNO, in 1993-1998 Canada was on the first place in the world in the list of the countries considered to be the best on several major criteria (general standard of living, ecology, culture and art, education, crime rate, etc.).

Canada is one of the most ecologically safe countries in the world. In the UNO report in 1998 devoted to the living standards of population in many countries, it was mentioned that Canada had surpassed all the other countries.

Macroeconomic parameters of the country are the following: with the population about 31 million people at the beginning of 1997 the total internal product of the country was equal 633.2 billon of American dollars (1996), or $21.000 per one citizen.

The structure of Canadian economy is also of particular interest. 15% of able-bodied population is engaged in the services sphere, 14% - in industrial enterprises, 4% - in agriculture, 3% - in construction and 4% - in some other spheres.

In 1985 the program encouraging foreign investments into Canada was adopted. As a result, the country drew a lot of foreign money to its economy. Due to this program, investments into Canadian industry increased from 62 to 110 million of Canadian dollars during the period 1980-1988. That enabled to develop new technologies, to organize new industrial spheres, to employ more workers and to train new technical specialists and managers.

Due to its favorable geographical position Canada has close trade relations with many Asian countries of the Pacific Ocean region. Canada exports coal, wood, copper concentrate and some other enriched raw materials. The main trade partner of the country in the USA. In 1990 the share of Canadian export to the USA was 42%, what equal 7 billion American Dollars.

Canada is the largest manufacturer of newsprint in the world. Only 7% of soil is suitable for agriculture, but they consist million hectares of fertile ground. About 80% of Canadian farms is situated in prairies. The country is one of the biggest granaries. Almost all the minerals necessary for the development of modern economy are occurred in Canada. It is one of the leading extractors and exporters of nickel, zinc, plaster, potash, sulfur, aluminum, gold, copper and iron ore.

67% of all electricity in Canada is produced by hydroelectric power stations. Canadian rivers contain 10% of the world stock of river water. The country is also the leader in development of hydroelectric power stations, transformers and distributive system constructions. It is the third country in the world in production of natural gas and electric power and one of the mail suppliers of uranium in the world and completely provides itself with coal.

Canada is the fourth country in the world in the sphere of power resources production. Due to its geographical and economic reasons the country not only sells the electric power, but also exports petroleum. The main Canadian gas and petroleum stocks are situated in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These provinces deliver them to all the areas westwards from Quebec as well as to the USA.

Due to its mineral resources and geographical position Canada has always been one of the leaders in the sphere of science and technology. With support of the government and assistance of business people Canadian researchers have made progress in developing and improving new vehicles, communication technique and equipment for mining, wood, nuclear power and food-processing industries and for hydraulic engineering.

The greatest achievements of the last century were made in the sphere of transport and communication. During last 25 years Canada has been playing a very important role in space research and the development of space technology.

Two Canadian scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize. They were Dr. Gerhard (1971, for the research in the sphere of molecular spectrum analysis) and John Polagni (1986, for the research in the sphere of chemical kinetics).

Canada has a vast network of highways, that is very necessary for the large continental country with the population of millions people. Two coasts of the country are connected by the Trans - Canadian highway which is 9600 km long. All the main load transportation is made by railway as well as river and sea cargo ships. Buses, subway and private cars dominate in the sphere of passenger transportation on short distances and planes - on long distances. "The Nervous System" of the country is the most complicated system of telecommunications. The first telephone system that enables having very distant conversations was invented in Canada.

Notes on the text:

UNO – (от United Nations Organization) Организация Объединённых Наций, ООН

Trans - Canadian highway – трансканадская магистраль