Canada
A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care and education services, as well as responding to the particular concerns of predominantly francophone Quebec. Canada also aims to develop its diverse energy resources while maintaining its commitment to the environment.[1]
Economical characteristics
- Currency: Canadian Dollar (ISO code: CAD)
- Central bank discount rate: 1.75% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Commercial banks lending rate: 4.73% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Stock of money (M1): $356.2 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
- Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $1.299 trillion (31 December 2008)[1]
Statistics
| Statistic / Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (million USD)[2] | 661 265 | 724 919 | 715 424 | 734 662 | 865 873 | 992 242 | 1 132 720 | 1 278 640 | 1 429 700 | 1 501 330 |
| Govt. debt (% of GDP)[3] | 65.980 | 59.922 | 57.828 | 54.670 | 51.865 | 48.573 | 45.174 | |||
| Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[4] | 21.359 | 20.873 | 20.392 | 19.754 | 19.764 | 19.726 | 19.642 | 19.255 | 19.578 | |
| Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[5] | 20.195 | 19.044 | 18.725 | 18.577 | 18.617 | 18.415 | 18.073 | 17.863 | 17.762 | |
| Debt to revenue (years) | 3.089 | 2.871 | 2.836 | 2.768 | 2.624 | 2.462 | 2.300 |
References
Note: statistical data was rounded. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedCIA_CA - ↑ World Bank. "Canada: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
- ↑ World Bank. "Canada: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
- ↑ World Bank. "Canada: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
- ↑ World Bank. "Canada: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
External links
- Canada on Wikipedia
- Central bank of Canada
- BBC country profile
- Libertarian Outsider Edgar Z. Friedenberg by Jeff Riggenbach, September 2010 (about Canadian society)