Everyone on earth knows that the United States has four hardcore little brothers in the world: Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, that is, the famous Five Eyes Alliance, that is, the Anthony.
France and Germany only know the second-class allies of the United States, and as for Japan and South Korea, the allies are not counted, that is, they see the door of the (western Pacific) for the United States. The United States covers an area of 9.37 million square kilometers (including the enclaves of Alaska and Hawaii), and the area of the United Kingdom and Australia is smaller than that of the United States, of course, Australia also has more than 7 million square kilometers. Canada is the second largest country in the world, larger than the United States, why has Canada become the little brother of the United States, rather than the United States being covered by Canada?
This question is not difficult to answer, and it lies in the comprehensive national strength. The United States is the world's only superpower, and Canada is at most a moderately developed country. Why is this happening? It has to do with population. To become an influential country in the world, in addition to comprehensive strength, it is also necessary to look at the area and population. The United States, the great powers of the East, and Russia all have vast areas, and Russia has a small population, but it also has 146 million, which is enough to support a big country.
The United States covers an area of 9.37 million square kilometers (including the enclaves of Alaska and Hawaii) and has a population of about 333 million as of August 2021. What about Canada? It has an area of 9.98 million square kilometers, second only to Russia, but the population is only more than 38 million, almost a fraction of the United States.
Also in North America, why is the United States more populous and Canada less populous? This is closely related to geographical conditions and latitude. The eastern part of the United States is an endless plain, where rivers run wide, arable land is vast, and it is stuck between 30 degrees north latitude and 48 degrees north latitude, and the climate is humid, which is very suitable for large-scale population settlements.
Compared with the United States, Canada's small population has two major factors: first, there are fewer plains and more lakes, and second, the latitude is relatively high. Although Canada also straddles the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, to the west are the majestic Coast Mountains and Rocky Mountains.
There are millions of square kilometers of area here, mostly from the ground and bays, there are many gorges, coupled with latitude reasons, the population can not be large-scale settlement. You can refer to the western United States, which is also a highland area with a small population, such as Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and other states. Like the United States, the western population of the two countries is mainly concentrated in the coastal plains, such as Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the United States, and Vancouver in Canada.
North-central Canada, including the east of the Magensch River and the east coast of Hudson Bay, is not a plateau and is relatively low and flat. However, here the latitude is high, the lakes are dense, not counting the big bear lake, the big slave lake, the Winnipeg lake, the Athabasca lake and other large lakes, the small and medium-sized lakes are dense, can not form a traffic advantage.
In high-latitude areas, once the transportation network cannot be built, it is impossible to achieve large-scale population concentration. In particular, the north, as well as those super huge islands, such as Baffin Island, Victoria Island, and Ellesmere Island, are basically in the Arctic Circle, which can be called a small Number Antarctica and cannot be inhabited. With an area of 507,500 square kilometers, Baffin Island is the fifth largest island in the world, with only a few small towns on the island, and some islands are simply uninhabited islands.
The Labrador Peninsula in eastern Canada is geographically similar to that of the north-central region, with dense lakes and inaccessible areas. The Labrador Peninsula covers an area of 1.4 million square kilometers and has a population of only a few tens of thousands. In fact, this can be understood by referring to the fact that the Russian-controlled siberia region cannot form a densely populated area.
Canada's population of more than 30 million is basically concentrated on the line with the United States, basically in a chain distribution.
From the west, the major cities are Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, London, Hamilton, Toronto, the capital Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Halifax and so on. In particular, the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan is exclusive to the United States), such as Toronto, the largest city, with a population of more than 13 million. Montreal, which hosted the 1976 Olympic Games, has a population of more than 4 million and is the most populous French-speaking city in the world. Canada and Australia are two very similar countries, while Toronto is Sydney, Canada, Montreal is Melbourne, Canada, and Vancouver is the equivalent of Brisbane (both are the third largest cities in the country).
In addition, Canada is one of several major industrial countries in the world, which is slightly different from Australia, which only sells indigenous resources to make money.
As we all know, countries with strong economic strength have relatively low fertility rates, but countries with poor economic foundations have high fertility rates. Although there are still some places in Canada that are suitable for large-scale populations, such as the Great Lakes region, there is not much problem with ten montreals.
Canada is sparsely populated, there are only a few cities, and the comprehensive strength naturally cannot match the actual area and cannot become a superpower. Coupled with Canada's special relationship with the United States, it is understandable to become the little brother of the United States.