Fish catch per year: 1.12m tonnes

Oil production and reserves: 2.88m b/d (reserves 6.9bn barrels)

Estimated livestock resources: 14.4m pigs, 13.7m cattle, 5.9m turkeys, 160m chickens

Main mineral resources: Coal, oil, gas, gold, zinc, uranium, nickel, potash, asbestos, gypsum

ELECTRICITY GENERATION

Canada is a country of enormous natural resources. It is the world's largest exporter of forest products and a top exporter of fish, furs, and wheat. Minerals have played a key role in Canada's transformation into an urban–industrial economy. Alberta, British Columbia, Québec, and Saskatchewan are the principal mining regions. Ontario and the Northwest (NWT) and Yukon Territories are also significant producers. Canada is the world's largest producer of uranium and potash, the third-largest of asbestos, gypsum, and nickel, and the fourth-largest of zinc. Oil and gas are exploited in Alberta, off the Atlantic coast, and in the northwest – huge additional reserves are thought to exist in the high Arctic. Most exports go to the US. Canada is also one of the world's top hydroelectricity producers.

From "The Financial Times World Desk Reference" © Dorling Kindersley 2004