tlement of
Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of
Guinea, however, implementation of the decision is delayed due to
imprecisely defined coordinates, the unresolved Bakasi allocation,
and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon
over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River; Nigeria initially
rejected cession of the Bakasi Peninsula; Lake Chad Commission
continues to urge signatories Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to
ratify delimitation treaty over the lake region, which remains the
site of armed clashes among local populations and militias

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 39,261 (Chad), 16,983 (Nigeria),
9,634 (Cote d'Ivoire) (2004)

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Canada

Introduction Canada

Background:
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's paramount political problem is
meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care and
education services after a decade of budget cuts. The issue of
reconciling Quebec's francophone heritage with the majority
anglophone Canadian population has moved to the back burner in
recent years; support for separatism abated after the Quebec
government's referendum on independence failed to pass in October of
1995.

Geography Canada

Location:
Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the
east, North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the
north, north of the conterminous US

Geographic coordinates:
60 00 N, 95 00 W

Map references:
North America

Area:
total: 9,984,670 sq km
land: 9,093,507 sq km
water: 891,163 sq km

Area - comparative:
somewhat larger than the US

Land boundaries:
total: 8,893 km
border countries: US 8,893 km (includes 2,477 km with Alaska)

Coastline:
202,080 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:
varies from temperate in south t