Happy Canada Day, Eh...?

I may be just slightly biased, but I think Canada is the greatest country in the world in which to live. Well, apparently the United Nations Human Development Index agrees with me, and says that Canada has the highest quality of life in the world. Well ... I knew that. Around the world, we are known as that little country just north of That Other Big Country across the border, but I'll bet there are a lot of things about Canada that you didn't know. Right? Well, here are a few little facts about Canada that just might surprise you:

1.  Canada is the largest exporter of total petroleum to the United States.

2.  Crude Oil Imports by the U.S. (Thousand Barrels per Day).  Year to date so far in 2001:
Canada         2142
Saudi Arabia 1102
Mexico         1097
Venezuela       923

3. Canada is the second largest country in the world at 9,984,670 square kilometers. Russia is the largest at 17,075,200 square kilometres.

4. Canada has over two million lakes and the most fresh water of any country in the world.

5. Albert Einstein once lived in a small town called Canwood Saskatchewan for a short period of time so he could have some solitude, and he played goalie for the Canwood Canucks hockey team. He had played hockey in his younger years in Germany.

6. The Trans-Canada Highway is over 7604 kilometres in length and is the longest national highway in the entire world.

7. Canada has the ninth biggest economy of the world and is the world's eighth biggest trader.

8. Canada is the home of many great inventions, including: basketball, the electric light bulb, ice hockey, the baseball glove, the electric range, the electron microscope, insulin, standard time, the television, the telephone, Trivial Pursuit and the zipper. Oh, and botox.

9. Canada has the world's highest tertiary education enrolment, and the residents of Toronto hold more university degrees than any other city in the world.

10. Canada has the largest polar bear population of any country.

11. Canada has ten provinces and three territories, and the total population of Canada is 34,278,400 which is less than the State of California.

12. Della Falls, which is located on Vancouver Island, is the tallest waterfall in Canada, at 1443 feet in height. In comparison, Niagara Falls is only 180 feet in height.

13. Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 151,600 miles.

14. The literacy rate in Canada is over 99%.

15. There are more donut shops per capita in Canada than any other country.

16. Justin Beiber is Canadian.

17. Canada produces so much energy, that it provides to the U.S. as well.

18. In 1967, the IMAX film system was invented by Canadian Ivan Grame Ferguson to premier at Expo 67.

19. The average life expectancy at birth for a Canadian is 81.16 years, the eighth highest in the world. The United States ranks 46th, at 78.14 years.

20. The Moosehead Brewery in Saint John, New Brunswick, turns out 1,642 bottles of beer per minute.

21. The world's strongest current is found in the Nakwakto Rapids at Slingsby Channel, British Columbia. The current has been measured at speeds up to 18.4 miles per hour.

22. Canada is also home to the longest street in the world. Yonge Street in Ontario starts at Lake Ontario, and runs north through Ontario to the Minnesota border, a distance of almost 2000 kilometres.

23. Actor Leslie Nielsen was Canadian and his brother Erik was the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada for two years, from 1984 to 1986.

24. Actor Raymond Massey was Canadian and his brother Vincent was the Governor General of Canada for seven years, from 1952 to 1959. Their father was the owner of Massey Harris which later became Massey Ferguson, the manufacturer of agricultural equipment.

25.  Famous Canadians include:  Nelly Furtado, Keanu Reeves, Pamela Anderson, Jim Carrey, Dan Aykroyd, Lorne Michaels, Neil Young, Avril Lavigne, Kim Cattrall, Guy Lombardo, Peter Jennings, Shania Twain, Sarah McLachlan, Jennifer Tilley, Alanis Morisette, Gordon Lightfoot, Bryan Adams, Wayne Gretzky, Lorne Greene, David Foster, Martin Short, Howie Mandel, Ryan Reynolds, Paul Anka, Mary Pickford, Rich Little, John Kenneth Galbraith, Hayden Christensen, Diana Krall, Joni Mitchell, Oscar Peterson, Lucy Maude Montgomery, Raymond Burr, Eric McCormack, Michael Bublé, James Cameron, John Candy, Matthew Perry, Jason Priestly, Art Linkletter, Morley Safer, Paul Shaffer, Cirque de Soleil, k.d. lang, Christopher Plummer, Celine Dion, Monty Hall, Hank Snow, both Scotty and Captain Kirk, Michael J. Fox, Frank Gehry (architect), James Gosling (author of Java computer language), Rick Moranis, W.P. Kinsella ("Field of Dreams"), Alex Trebek, Robert MacNeil (The MacNeil/Lehrer Report), Rachel McAdams ("The Notebook"), Mike Myers, Joe Shuster (creator of "Superman"), Donald and Kiefer Sutherland.  I'll bet you didn't know some of those folks were Canadian, did you?

26.  I have never seen a dog sled, snow shoes or an igloo.  I have, however, ridden on a skidoo.  I do say, "eh?"  A lot.

Great list, eh?