Provinces and territories of Canada

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

Canada's land is composed of thirteen parts: ten provinces and three territories. Canada is governed on the principles of a federation: the Provinces' governments share power with the Government of Canada (the federal government). The territories' governments have a more limited set of powers versus the federal government than that of the provinces'.

The provinces are located in the south of Canada, and the territories are in the north, where fewer people live.

Here is a list of the provinces, and their standard abbreviations, with their capitals (the cities where their governments have their offices).

Pacific Coast or West Coast

• BC is British Columbia (its capital is Victoria)

The Prairies

• AB is Alberta (its capital is Edmonton)
• SK is Saskatchewan (its capital is Regina)
• MB is Manitoba (its capital is Winnipeg)

Central Canada

• ON is Ontario (its capital is Toronto)
• QC is Quebec (its capital is Quebec City) (the abbreviation 'PQ' is still used in place of the more commonly accepted 'QC')

Atlantic Canada

The Maritimes

• NB is New Brunswick (its capital is Fredericton)
• NS is Nova Scotia (its capital is Halifax)
• PE is Prince Edward Island (its capital is Charlottetown)

and

• NL (formerly NF) is Newfoundland and Labrador (its capital is St. John's)

The three territories are:

• YT is Yukon (its capital is Whitehorse)
• NT is Northwest Territories (its capital is Yellowknife)
• NU is Nunavut (its capital is Iqaluit).