Canadian Citizenship Test: Geography practice questions

Fix the map first: second-largest country by area, bordered by the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic, with the United States along the south. Ottawa was chosen as capital in 1857. Mount Logan, in Yukon, is the highest mountain. The Mackenzie is Canada's longest river.

Question 1

By land area, Canada is

  1. the second-largest country in the world
  2. larger than the continent of Asia
  3. the smallest country in North America
  4. an island with no land border

Answer: the second-largest country in the world

Canada is the second-largest country by area, after Russia. It is not larger than Asia. It shares North America with larger and smaller countries and is not the smallest. It has a long land border with the United States, so it is not an island without a land border.

Question 2

The Mackenzie River is

  1. a short stream on Prince Edward Island
  2. Canada's longest river
  3. the river that forms the border with Mexico
  4. the canal built through Ottawa in 1832 only

Answer: Canada's longest river

The Mackenzie system, flowing to the Arctic Ocean through the Northwest Territories, is Canada's longest river, about 4,200 kilometres for the system as a whole. Prince Edward Island has no river of that scale. Canada does not border Mexico. The Rideau Canal runs through Ottawa and is a different waterway, built as a military route after the War of 1812.

Question 3

Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada, stands in

  1. Alberta, among the Rockies near Banff
  2. British Columbia, on Vancouver Island
  3. Yukon
  4. Newfoundland and Labrador, in the Torngat Mountains

Answer: Yukon

Mount Logan is in the St. Elias Mountains of Yukon, and it is the highest peak in the country. Peaks in the Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia are lower. Vancouver Island and the Torngat Mountains have high ground and do not contain Mount Logan.