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Similarities & Differences between Canada & the United States

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The following is a table consisting of facts about Canada and the United States, as recent as Jan 1, 2001 (unless otherwise indicated).

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Canada

United States

Difference

Total Area

9,976,140 sq km
------------------------
3,851,788 sq mi

9,629,091 sq km
------------------------
3,717,792 sq mi

Canada has 3.5% more land.

Population

31,592,805

278,058,881

US has 8.8 times greater population.

Age Structure

0-14 years: 19%
15-64 years: 68% 65 years +: 13%

0-14 years: 21%
15-64 years: 66% 65 years +: 13%

US has a slightly younger population.

Population Growth Rate

0.99% growth

0.90% growth

Canada is growing in population by a slightly higher rate.

Birth rate

11.21 births/1,000 population

14.2 births/1,000 population

US has slightly higher birth rate.

Death Rate

7.47 deaths/1,000 population

8.7 deaths/1,000 population

US has slightly higher death rate.

Net migration rate

6.13 migrants/1,000 population

3.5 migrants/1,000 population

Canada has 1.8 times as many migrants as the US, per capita.

Sex Ratio

0.98 male/female

0.96 male/female

Canada has slightly more males per capita.

Life expectancy

79.56 years

77.26 years

Canada has slightly higher life expectancy.

Ethnic groups (1992)

White: 82.4%

Asian: 11.2%

Amerindian: 3.8%

Black: 2.7%

White: 83.5%

Black: 12.4%

Asian: 3.3%

Amerindian: 0.8%

US has a slightly higher White population, and 4.6 times as many Blacks. Canada has 3.4 times as many Asians, and 4.8 times as many Amerindians. All per capita. (see below for interpretation of results)

Religions (1989)

Roman Catholic 42%

Protestant 40%

Jewish 1%

Other 17%

Protestant 56%

Roman Catholic 28%

Jewish 2%

Other 14%

US has 1.4 times more Protestants than Canada. Canada has 1.5 times more Roman Catholics than US. US has 2.0 times more Jews than Canada. All per capita.

Literacy (1986)

97.0%

97.0%

None.

GDP (2000)

$774.7 billion

$9.963 trillion

US has 12.9 times greater GDP.

GDP per capita (2000)

$24,800

$36,200

US has 1.5 times greater GDP per capita.

Unemployment Rate (2000)

6.8%

4.0%

Canada has 1.7 times more unemployed persons, per capita.

Trading Partners - Exports / Imports (2000)

US:
86% / 76%

Japan:
3% / 3%

UK:
<1% / <1%

Canada:
23% / 19%

Mexico:
14% / 11%

Japan:
8% / 11%

US is Canada's largest trading partner. Canada is US's largest trading partner.

External Debt

$253 billion (1996)

$862 billion (1995)

US has 3.4 times more debt in total.

External Debt per capita

$8,088 (1996)

$3,128 (1995)

Canada has 2.6 times more debt per capita.

Highways (paved)

318,371 km
------------------------
197,836 mi

3,732,757 km
------------------------
2,329,614 mi

US has 11.7 times more highway miles.

Military expenditure as % of GDP 1.3% 3.2% (1999) US spends 2.5 times more money on the military as expressed in % of GDP.
ODA Economic AID expenditure as % of GDP (1999) 0.28% 0.10% Canada publicly spends 2.8 more money on economic AID as expressed in % of GDP.
Environment (Pollution Control) expenditure as % of GDP (1999) 1.1% 1.6% US spends slightly more money on pollution control as expressed in % of GDP.
Health Care expenditure as % of GDP (1998)

Public: 6.6%

Private: 2.9%

Total: 9.5%

Public: 6.1%

Private: 7.5%

Total: 13.6%

Canada spends slightly more money publicly. US spends 2.6 times more privately, and 1.4 times more in total as expressed in % of GDP.
Average Minimum Wage $4.49 US
------------------------
$6.72 CDN
$5.15 US
------------------------
$7.71 CDN
US has a 13% higher minimum wage than Canada, on average, taking into consideration currency exchange.
Representatives of Government (Legislative)

Parliament Members: 301

Senators: 105
------------------------ Total per 1 million pop: 13.0

House Members:
435

Senators: 100
------------------------
Total per 1 million pop: 1.9

Canada has 6.8 more representatives per capita.

United Nations rating

3rd

6th

An arbitrary ranking based on some statistics and a rating system. (see below for more information)

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Sources:


Published on: 2004-08-05 (67202 reads)

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