Canada, a monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and federal democratic system Government mainly comprises of ten provinces and three territories. It is one of the biggest countries in the world comprising of around 7% of the surface area and touching three major oceans; Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Besides its rich economy, peaceful society, discrimination free society, what also adds charm to Canadian dream, is that it shares its borders with another beautiful country; United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest. A truly multilingual and multicultural country, some major languages spoken here are English, French, Chinese, German, Hindi and Punjabi. Canada has more than 30 ethnic groups with largest of them being “Canadian” comprising of 39 percent of the population followed by English, French, Scottish, Chinese and Indians. There are other ethnic groups too as Ukrainians, Italians etc. One of the world’s wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, Canada is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group Eight (G8). Canada is a free market with slight government intervention, much less than most of the European countries. Canadians adhere to a wide variety of religions, as people in Canada have the freedom of religion as one of their rights. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). In Canada, the provinces and territories are responsible for education; thus Canada has no national department of education. The mandatory school age varies across Canada but generally ranges between the ages of 5-7 to 16-18, Canadian culture has historically been heavily influenced by British, French and aboriginal culture and traditions, and over time has been greatly influenced by American culture because of the proximity between the two countries. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by more recent immigration of people from all over the world. Canadian official national sports are ice hockey (ice hockey) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is the national pass-time and also the most watched sport in the country. After hockey, other popular watched sports include Canadian football and curling.