Canada is bounded by the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans. Beyond the urban areas, narrow roads that are unblemished by billboards or strip malls wind through rolling farmlands, endless woods, Celtic seascapes, and snowcapped mountains.

In the harsh northlands of forest, tundra, and arctic ice are unnamed islands, forsaken rivers, and the sound of the wind. This contrasts sharply with Toronto's sophisticated crowds and culture, Québec's joie de vivre, and the lost-in-time ambience of the Maritimes, where you'll sooner hear a fiddle tune than a siren.

Canada claims a quarter of the world's fresh water. Lakes, waterfowl, picturesque coves, and islands are a big part of the Canadian picture. So are battalions of mosquitoes and black flies.

For some reason Canada has been dismissed in the tourist rating system as boring, bland, and freezing cold. But visitors are discovering Canada's spectacular scenery, limitless recreational activities, friendly people, safe towns, and the exciting cities of Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver.

Lying north of the United States along the world's longest unpatrolled border, Canada stretches to the Arctic. The rugged, enormous country—second largest in the world after the former Soviet Union—encompasses an astounding variety of climates, vegetation, people, and physical features.

More than 730,000 square kilometers (282,000 square miles) of natural wilderness areas are preserved in federal and provincial parks, well-served by roads, airfields, trails, and campgrounds. Summer resorts and top-rated skiing areas are plentiful. Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, bordering the Northwest Territories, is larger than Switzerland.

Wildlife far outnumbers people—at less than 30 million, Canada has one of the world's lowest population densities. If you don't leave the city and explore the wilderness, coasts, rural villages, and lake districts, you'll miss the whole point of Canada.

Hearty Canadians endure summers that can be humid and blazing hot, and bone-numbing winters that freeze eyelashes. Big cities build underground shopping complexes, but there's no escaping the realities of Canada's harsh climate. Canadians just bundle up and cope by celebrating with winter festivals.

Canadian cities are known for their cleanliness, the result of frequent garbage pickup paid for with tax dollars. Downtown areas are vibrant and interesting, with efficient transportation systems, preserved historical districts, and inner-city residential neighborhoods.

Few Canadians carry guns—it's not part of the culture or the Canadian Bill of Rights, and strict gun registration laws are in effect. Canada does have violent crime. But high-quality, inexpensive education, universal health care, and a decent welfare system (now experiencing erosion from conservative provincial governments) have resulted in a stable, safe society.

Government support for the arts and a thirst for high-quality Canadian culture has helped produce a dynamic theater, literary, and music scene. A culturally sensitive national broadcasting network reaches the hinterlands. An influx of immigrants from all over the world creates a United Nations atmosphere in large cities, where ethnic groups are encouraged to maintain their culture while integrating.