Canada is by size, the largest country in North America, second in the world overall (behind only Russia). Renowned worldwide for its vast, untouched landscape, its unique blend of cultures and multifaceted history, Canada is one of the world's wealthiest countries and a major tourist destination.
Canada is a land of vast distances and rich natural beauty. Economically and technologically, in many ways she resembles her more famous neighbour to the south, the United States, although there are significant differences between the two countries. One should not make the common and embarrassing mistake of assuming everything is more or less the same in the two countries. Canada for one is perfectly happy with its British heritage and most Canadians are proud of this. Moreover, Canada has always composed of two main European immigrant nations, the English and the French. This dual nature is very different than the United States. Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 by an act of the British parliament (making it younger by nearly 100 years), and is still a proud member of the Commonwealth of Nations. By 1931 it was more or less fully independent of the United Kingdom. Though a medium sized country by its population (35 million), Canada has earned respect on the international stage for its strong diplomatic skills as a kind of "Switzerland of North America" with the exception of its strong allegiance to Israel. Domestically, the country has displayed success in negotiating compromises amongst its own culturally and linguistically varied populations, a difficult task considering that language, culture, and even history can vary significantly throughout the whole country. In contrast to the United States' traditional image of itself as a melting pot, (now also falling out of use), Canada prefers to consider and define itself a mosaic of cultures and peoples. Canadians are used to living and interacting with people of different ethnic backgrounds on a daily basis and will usually be quite friendly and understanding if approached in public. The country is largely urban-based, where peoples of all backgrounds rub elbows with one another (although this will be less so in rural areas).
