Coordinates: 60°N 95°W / 60°N 95°W / 60; -95

Canada (ⁱ/ˈkænədə/; French: [ka.na.da]) is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area. Canada's border with the United States is the world's longest land border. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra and the Rocky Mountains; about four-fifths of the country's population of 35 million people live near the southern border. The majority of Canada has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer.

The land now called Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the 15th century, British and French colonies were established on the Atlantic coast, with the first establishment of a region called "Canada" occurring in 1537. As a consequence of various conflicts, the United Kingdom gained and lost territories within British North America until left, in the late 18th century, with what mostly geographically comprises Canada today. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia joined to form the autonomous federal Dominion of Canada. This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. In 1931, Canada achieved near total independence from the United Kingdom with the Statute of Westminster 1931, and full sovereignty was attained when the Canada Act 1982 removed the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the British parliament.

The Ecclesiastical Province of Canada was founded in 1860 and is one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada. Despite its name, the province covers only the former territory of Lower Canada (i.e., southern and eastern Quebec), the Maritimes, and Newfoundland and Labrador (Ontario was split off as a separate province in 1913). There are seven dioceses in the province:

Provinces of the Anglican Church of Canada are headed by a Metropolitan, elected from among the province's diocesan bishops. This bishop then becomes Archbishop of his or her diocese and Metropolitan of the Province. The current Metropolitan of the Province of Canada is the Most Rev. Percy D. Coffin, Archbishop of Western Newfoundland.

The Northwind is Canada's national Australian rules football team that represents the clubs and teams of AFL Canada.

Northwind players are selected from the best Canadian-born players from the club teams across Canada.

The team plays in international tournaments, including the Australian Football International Cup and the 49th Parallel Cup.

Identity

The Northwind's guernsey has the Maple leaf, the floral emblem of Canada, in the national colours of red and white.

History

The team formed to participate in the Australian Football International Cup in 2002 (finishing 9th) 2005 (finishing 7th) and 2008 (finishing 6th) as well as exhibition matches against other countries.

Between 1993–1995, the Northwind were undefeated in tests against the British Australian Rules Football League.

Notable players

Stefan Leyhane, Northwind's Captain (2003–2009) was also the only Canadian recipient of the 2002 International All Star Team.

Northwind's best and fairest player (from the 2005 International Cup) was Paul Loughnane.