Canada covers the northern half of the continent of North America. Its land surface measures 9,967,139 square kilometres.

Although Canada has a vast land mass, it has relatively little border with another country. With only one neighbour, the USA, it shares a border of 8,893 kilometres. )

All but 2,477 km of Canada's border with the USA lies to the south; the rest lies to the northwest, between the USAmerican state of Alaska and either the province of British Columbia or the Yukon Territory.

However, Canada has 243,791 km of coastline, compared to the USA's 19,924 km. Much of Canada's coastline results from the intricate grouping of islands in the Arctic. These are collectively known as the Arctic Archipelago.

Only 4% of Canada's land mass is arable (as compared to 19% in the USA).

Following is a breakdown of Canada's area by provinces and territories east to west, together with two columns of percentages which, when compared, show how area relates to settlement:

	Total Area	Land in square kilometres	Freshwater in square kilometres	Percent of Canada	Area Rank	Percentage of Population
Canada	9,970,610	9,215,430	755,180	100.0	--	--
Newfoundland	405,720	371,690	34,030	4.1	9	1.8
Prince Edward Island	5,660	5,660	150	0.1	12	0.5
Nova Scotia	55,490	52,840	2,650	0.6	11	3.1
New Brunswick	73,440	72,090	1,350	0.7	10	2.5
Quebec	1,540,680	1,356,790	183,890	15.5	2	24.1
Ontario	1,068,580	891,190	177,390	10.7	3	37.8
Manitoba	649,950	548,360	101,590	6.5	6	3.7
Saskatchewan	652,330	570,700	81,630	6.5	6	3.4
Alberta	661,190	644,390	16,800	6.6	5	9.7
British Columbia	947,800	929,730	18,070	9.5	4	13.2
Yukon Territory	483,450	478,970	4,480	4.5	8	0.1
Northwest Territories	3,426,320	3,293,020	133,300	34.4	1	0.2

The population of Canada has gradually shifted westward. In 1900, more than 90% of Canadians lived in Atlantic Canada, Québec, and Ontario. In 2000, it is about 70%.

Even though Canadians define themselves as a northern people, 90% of the Canadian population lives within 300 km of the USA border. That is to say, most Canadians live as far south in the country as the availability of employment permits. Historically, Canadians had to live where they could grow their own food, and most land in Canada is simply beyond the northern limits of agriculture. A sufficiently long growing season (that is, number of days in a year without frost) is available only towards the USAmerican border.

This historical factor still makes its presence felt in the distribution of population today. Edmonton AB is the only city of more than 500,000 people that lies more than 300 km from the USA border.

Even more concentrated is the population in southern Ontario and southern Québec. About 60% of the country's entire population lives in these two subregions.