Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General Prime minister: Stephen Harper
Population
29,549,517
34,300,083
Life Expectancy
72.730 years
81.480 years
Capital City
Lima
Ottawa
Largest city
Lima (population: 7,737,000)
Toronto (population: 4,612,190)
Human Development Index
0.788
0.967
GDP per capita
$10,200 US
$41,100 US
Literacy Rate
87.7%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
3.6
8.7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
29.2%
24.9%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
David Thomson & family ($13.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
7.900%
7.500%
Death Penalty
Abolished except for special circumstances
Abolished
Political System
constitutional republic
constitutional monarchy that is also a parliamentary democracy and a federation
Independence date
28 July 1821 (from Spain)
1 July 1867 (union of British North American colonies); 11 December 1931 (recognized by UK)
Religions
Roman Catholic 81%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.4%, other Christian 0.7%, other 0.6%, unspecified or none 16.3% (2003 est.)
Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census)
Languages
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages
English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%
nuevo sol (PEN) per US dollar - 2.9322 (2008 est.), 3.1731 (2007), 3.2742 (2006), 3.2958 (2005), 3.4132 (2004)
Canadian dollars (CAD) per US dollar - 1.0364 (2008 est.), 1.0724 (2007), 1.1334 (2006), 1.2118 (2005), 1.301 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.500%
1.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
18
Location
Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador
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
Area
1,285,216 km sq
9,984,670 km sq
Coastline
2,414 km
202,080 km
Climate
varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes
varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north
