A Briefing of CanadaCanada is located in the north of North America.It occupying forty one percent of the continent.Canada is the world's second largest country(9,984,670 k㎡) . It extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean.Canada has a small population ,which is only thirty-three million one hundred and forty-three hundred (2008),and more over 70% people live in near the southern of the United States. The population growth rate is moderate,although the positive growth rate is chiefly due to immigration.Canada has a liberal immigration policy that goes to great lengths to accept refugees and asylum seekers from around the world.Canada is the multicultural society which results from the diversity of its people.English and French are the two important languages spoken in Canada with diversity of people.Such as the United States of America which has turned into an ethic melting pot,for Canada not only contains a variety of cultures but promotes and preserves them.Many laws are set up to protect the various cultures from becoming extinct.Canada has taken action to stop racism.The Canadian government was the first to manage a campaign commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.Canada helps the rest of the world unite and experience a variety of different ethnic backgrounds trying to eliminate racism.The living standard in Canada is very high.The welfare state has developed a wide range of health and social services intended to promote health and well-being.The ownership at home in Canada is in its most unaffordable state since the "housing recession "in 1990.The constitutional arrangement for education in Canada is a provincial responsibility because there is no Department of Education at the federal level and no integrated national system of education,either.Canada is a multi-ethnic country.Therefore,it has colorful and interesting wedding customs.Most Canadians are Catholic or Protestant and their wedding practice is similar to other Western Christian countries.But in the northern part ofCanada ,the Eskimo area,"bride theft" of the age-old custom has been popular with Eskimos.Canadians love sports.The widespread sports are ice hockey,golf baseball,swimming,basketball and tennis.Universities in Canada have self-contained field and facilities,which can provide for not only the professional teams,but also for students.All above are just the general situation of Canada.Now I want to indicate the relationship between Canada and America.Canada common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world. They share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partner.When Canada was under the British colonial rule, its foreign relations were controlled by the British government.Although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in 1909,the foreign policy was still influenced by the United Kingdom.In 2003,the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was separated from the Diplomatic and International Trade Department and functioned as an independent department,which aimed to promote cooperation between Canada and countries.In order to maintain its development and prosperity ,Canada has taken positive attitude in the international and regional affairs.Canada has contributed a lot to promote North-South dialogue,world peace and stability and to assist the poor.In the Canadian value the world order is ruled by law not by the military force.Like the United States, Canada is one of the most religiously divers countries in the world.Canada has no official church ,"God "is mentioned in the preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,but no specified.Religious pluralisms an important part of the Canadian worship.Relations between Canada and the United States have spanned more than two centuries. This includes a shared British colonial heritage, warfare during the 1770s and 1812, and the eventual development of one of the most successful international relationships in the modern world. Each is the other's chief economic partner andlarge-scale tourism and migration between the two nations has increased the similarities.The most serious breach in the relationship was the War of 1812, which saw an American invasion of then British North America and counter-invasions from British-Canadian forces. The border was demilitarized after the war and apart from minor raids has remained peaceful. Canada and the United States of America officially established diplomatic relations in 1927,nevertheless two countries have contracts with each other long before.After its independence,the United States of America once attempted to invade the British North America but was defeated by the British Canadian forces.After that the borders between two countries have remained peaceful despite of minor conflict.After the Second World War,the rise of the United States of America in the world makes the Canadian economic,political and diplomatic focus shift from the United Kingdom to the United States.Military collaboration began during World War II and continued throughout the Cold War on both a bilateral basis and through NATO. A high volume of trade and migration between the United States and Canada has generated closer ties, especially after the signing of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994.The bilateral relationship is extremely important for both countries.Currently Canada and the United States are the primary trade partners for each other.Canada's economy heavily relies on the United States.They have signed more than one hundred and ninety cooperative agreements involving border,military defense, tariff,labour arbitration,education,environmental protection,fishery and forest protection.Canada also carries out multilateral cooperation with the United States under NATO,APEC,and OAS(Organization of America States).Although two countries have common long-term interests,there are minor conflicts because they are so close to each other.Their repeated trade disputes in fishery and forestry have always existed and Canada's grain export to the United States is charged a dumping duty.The close relationship between Canada and the United States is like brothers.They may quarrel sometimes,but their relationship is tooimportant to be seriously damaged by disagreement over short-term issues.Canada and the United States are currently the world's largest trading partners,share the world's longest unmilitarized border,and have significant interoperability within the defence sphere. Recent difficulties have included repeated trade disputes, environmental concerns, Canadian concern for the future of oil exports, and issues of illegal immigration and the threat of terrorism.The foreign policies of the neighbours have been closely aligned since the Cold War and after. Canada has disagreed with American policies regarding the Vietnam War, the status of Cuba, the Iraq War, Missile Defense, and the War on Terrorism. A serious diplomatic debate is whether the Northwest Passage is in international waters or under Canadian jurisdiction.There are close cultural ties between modern day Canada and the United States, advanced in large part because both nations predominately speak English. There are also historical ties between the respective Francophone populations. Pop culture has depicted and parodied the efforts of both nations to solidify their cultural uniqueness-- primarily by Canada, as its population is roughly one tenth that of the United States'-- to deter international perception that Americans and Canadians are virtually identical. Canada remains Americans' favorite foreign nation according to a recent Gallup poll.Nevertheless there remain Canadian fears of being overwhelmed by its neighbour, which is ten times larger in terms of population and economy. James Tagg reports that Canadian university students have a profound fear that "Canadian culture, and likely Canadian sovereignty, will be overwhelmed."The two economies have increasingly merged since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994.From the above,Canada and the United States of America have the long-time friendly relationship.But Canada just like dances with wolves,and must independent rather than depend on America.References1,《大陆的分界：美国与加拿大的价值与制度》，西摩.马丁.利普森，鲁特埃奇出版公司，1990年（Seymour Martin Lipeset,Continental Divide:the Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada ,Routledge,1990）2，《加拿大社会》，鲁迪.芬威克，美国加拿大研究学会，1989年(Rudy Fenwick,Canada Society,The Association for Canadian Studies in the United States,1989)3，《加拿大文化与现代论》，高鉴国，沈阳辽海出版社，1999年4，《英语国家概况》，隋铭才，高等教育出版社，2009年5，.。
