Ten fun facts about Canada

Fact 1
The name Canada has been derived from “ Kanata”, the Iroquoian word meaning settlement or village.

Fact 2
Close to 800,000 sq kilometers of land in Canada is covered by fresh-water bodies like rivers and lakes. This makes the country the world’s largest fresh water source.

Fact 3
It has the world’s longest coastline which stretches approximately 244,000 kms.

Fact 4
The world’s largest lake within a lake is on Manitoulin Island which stands on Lake Huron. The 41.1 square mile wide Manitou Lake sits snugly on this island.

Fact 5
Toronto’s Henry Woodward and his fellow inventor, Matthew Evans first patented the electric light bulb in 1875. These two inventors did not have the finances to commercialize their incredible invention and ended up selling the patent to Thomas Edison.

Fact 6
The world’s first frozen food, “Ice Fillets’ is said to have been invented by a marine scientist, Archibald Huntsman, in 1929. Fish fillets are now a popular food the world over.

Fact 7
The very first dividing lines were painted on a segment of the Ontario/Quebec border. An engineer who worked for the Ontario Department of Transport thought of this idea in 1930. Soon roads everywhere across the globe started sporting painted dividing lines.

Fact 8
Basketball was invented by a Canadian sports coach and innovator, James Naismith. He invented when he was a faculty member of the YMCA. He was originally a farm boy who hailed from Ontario.

Fact 9
The electron microscope, the electronic organ, Kerosene, the snowmobile, the IMAX film system and the electric cooking range are all Canadian inventions.

Fact 10
The world’s strongest rapids, the Nakwakto, are found at Slingsbury Channel in Canada.