What Americans Should Know About Canada
Crypt Lake, Alberta
How well do you know your neighbor?
Most Americans know that Canada is a cold and scenic landmass north of the United States but what else do they know about their friendly neighbor to the North?
Here are some interesting facts about Canada that all Americans should know.
Canada is the largest trading partner with the United States and exports more oil to the U.S. than any other country. The Province of Alberta (just North of Montana) is Canada's largest oil and gas producer.
Canada has a great sense of humor and has produced some of the finest comedians including the likes of Jim Carrey,Mike Myers,John Candy, Leslie Nielsen, Howie Mandel, Tommy Chong, and Brent Butt.
Canadian athletes have earned MVP awards in major professional sports other than hockey. The most recent Canadian MVP is Cincinnati Red's first baseman Joey Votto who won the 2010 National League award in Major League Baseball. Prior to Votto, Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins won the American League MVP in 2006 and placed second in the voting in 2008. Canada's first MVP in major league baseball was Larry Walker who, in 1997, put up impressive numbers with a .366 batting average along with 49 home runs, 130 runs batted in and 409 total bases. Other notable Canadian major leaguers include Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal, Jason Bay, Russell Martin and Jeff Francis. While playing for the Phoenix Suns, Canadian Steve Nash earned MVP honors in the 2005 and 2006 NBA seasons.
Canada is the world's largest producer of ice wine.
Canada's Sir Frederick Banting, a Nobel prize winner for medicine, discovered insulin which has saved the lives of millions of diabetics worldwide.
Canada's armed forces participated in World War I and World War II sending 600,000 and 1 million Canadians respectively which represented nearly 10% of Canada's population at the time of each war. Canadian forces are currently deployed in Afghanistan.
While there are many other interesting facts about Canada. By far the number one thing that some Americans need to know about Canada is: Most Canadians do not live in igloos!
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