You've probably seen this viral map of Canada: 50% of the country's...

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You've probably seen this viral map of Canada: 50% of the country's population lives under the red line

Here's a quick explainer🧵

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Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world by landmass (as a Canadian, this fun fact was oft-repeated in elementary school):

1. Russia (17 million Km²)
2. Canada (10 million Km²)
3. USA (9.8 million Km²)
4. China (9.6 million Km²)
5. Brazil (8.5 million Km²)

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But Canada is only the 37th most-populous country in the world. And it has a very low population density (at 39m people, Canada has about the same population as California).

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Here is a map with the land masses for the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France and Spain all fitting inside Canada.

Those European countries have a combined 352 million people, nearly 10x Canada's population.

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Why is Canada so sparsely populated?

Because most of the country's landmass is largely uninhabitable: 8 million Km² is made up of The Canadian Shield, a large area of exposed rock with very little top soil.

And that little soil is usually frozen from long winters.

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Now, let's go back to the 1500s.

When European explorers — in this case France — crossed the Atlantic, they entered what is now the Canadian land mass through the St. Lawrence Seaway, one of world's largest and deepest estuaries.

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In the following centuries, English explorers also went through the St. Lawrence.

The colonial powers established settlements in Quebec and then Ontario. Crucially, land in the region — particularly near The Great Lakes — is very fertile (especially vs. The Canadian Shield).

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While Canada expanded West in late-1800s and early-1900s (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, BC), population centers around Toronto and Montreal remain the largest.

Also, metropolitan areas around Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa and Quebec are 1/3rd of the country's population.

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Now, add up *all* the population centres from Quebec City, Quebec to Windsor, Ontario (it's known as the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor and is 1,150km long).

This region tracks to the European St.Lawrence sailing path and contains 50% of Canada's current population.

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So, ~50% of Canada's population is concentrated under the red line (Quebec-City - Windsor Corridor). And the major population centres in the West are near the US border.

One last fun fact: 85%+ of Canada's entire population lives within 160km (or 100 miles) of the US border.

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If you enjoyed that, follow me — a very Canadian dude — for other interesting threads. And subscribe to my business newsletter including previous issues on:

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Australia has a similarly interesting map: 50% of the country's population lives in these three major centres (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane).

In fact, Australia's population (3.4 people per Km²) is among the world's lowest and less dense than Canada (4 people per Km²).

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x.com/markmcan/statu…

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Credit to @DaniMermelstein for completely wrecking me lol

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Creddit to Ross for wrecking me for fixating on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor and ignoring Nova Scotia
x.com/TheCoolestCool…

You've probably seen this viral map of Canada: 50% of the country's...

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