Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

Canada is the second largest country in the world in area (after Russia), measuring more than 3.8 million square miles (nearly 10 million square kilometers). It consists of 10 provinces and 3 territories that vary greatly in size. The combination of vast area and discontinuous settlement has led to a strong sense of regionalism in Canada, and popular regional terms often overlap. The Atlantic Provinces include all of the Appalachian region except the Quebec portion. If the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is excluded, the three remaining east-coast provinces are called the Maritime Provinces, or the Maritimes. Quebec and Ontario are usually referred to separately but sometimes together, as Central Canada. The West usually means all four provinces west of Ontario, but British Columbia may be referred to alone and the other three collectively as the Prairie Provinces, or the Prairies. Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut are referred to as the North.

Alberta
  • • Capital: Edmonton
  • • Population: (2021) 4,262,635; (2025 est.) 5,029,346
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œFortis et liberā€ (ā€œStrong and freeā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1905
British Columbia
  • • Capital: Victoria
  • • Population: (2021) 5,000,879; (2025 est.) 5,697,536
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œSlendor sine occasuā€ (ā€œSplendor without diminishmentā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1871
Manitoba
  • • Capital: Winnipeg
  • • Population: (2021) 1,342,153; (2025 est.) 1,509,702
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œGlorious and freeā€
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1870
New Brunswick
  • • Capital: Fredericton
  • • Population: (2021) 775,610; (2025 est.) 869,682
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œSpem reduxitā€ (ā€œHope was restoredā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1867
Newfoundland and Labrador
  • • Capital: St. John’s
  • • Population: (2021) 510,550; (2025 est.) 549,911
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œQuaerite prime Regnum Deiā€ (ā€œSeek ye first the Kingdom of Godā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1949
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
  • • Capital: Halifax
  • • Population: (2021) 969,383; (2025 est.) 1,093,245
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œMunit haec et altera vincitā€ (ā€œOne defends and the other conquersā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1867
Nunavut
  • • Capital: Iqaluit
  • • Population: (2021) 36,858; (2025 est.) 41,830
  • • Territorial motto: ā€œNunavut saginivutā€ (ā€œNunavut, our strengthā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1999
Ontario
  • • Capital: Toronto
  • • Population: (2021) 14,223,942; (2025 est.) 16,258,260
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œUt incepit fidelis sic permanetā€ (ā€œLoyal it began, loyal it remainsā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1867
Prince Edward Island
  • • Capital: Charlottetown
  • • Population: (2021) 154,331; (2025 est.) 182,657
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œParva sub ingentiā€ (ā€œThe small under the protection of the greatā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1873
Quebec
  • • Capital: Quebec
  • • Population: (2021) 8,501,833; (2025 est.) 9,058,297
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œJe me souviensā€ (ā€œI rememberā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1867
Saskatchewan
  • • Capital: Regina
  • • Population: (2021) 1,132,505; (2025 est.) 1,266,959
  • • Provincial motto: ā€œMultis e gentibis viresā€ (ā€œFrom many peoples, strengthā€)
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1905
Yukon
  • • Capital: Whitehorse
  • • Population: (2021) 40,232; (2025 est.) 48,278
  • • Territorial motto: none
  • • Year admitted to the confederation: 1898
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.