From 004ffbe26deb7635978d854180d4415e5b9e3999 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Nao Pross Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2016 11:03:25 +0100 Subject: renamed 'docs' to 'doc' --- doc/tex/introduzione.tex | 180 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 180 insertions(+) create mode 100644 doc/tex/introduzione.tex (limited to 'doc/tex/introduzione.tex') diff --git a/doc/tex/introduzione.tex b/doc/tex/introduzione.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..871dc1e --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/tex/introduzione.tex @@ -0,0 +1,180 @@ +\chapter{Introduction} + +\section{History and culture of Canada} + +% [nao] +\subsection{Foundation} \label{foundation} +Canada is one of the largest countries on the planet, in fact, it is the fourth +largest country by land area with approximately 9 million square kilometers +\cite{statscan:statarea}. Located in the northern hemisphere of the American +continent, was first discovered by Europeans in 1497 with the expedition of +John Cabot. The name ``Canada'' seems to have appeared first in the 16th century +when Jacques Cartier, during his 3 voyages to the new world, heard a groups of +natives speaking the Iroquoian language referring to a village as +``Kanata''\cite{history}. During the following centuries both French and British +colonies were established which led to numerous conflicts the two between +empires and the natives. The government of Canada was created with the +proclamation of the Constitution Act in 1867, but the present the nationals +were established only in 1999 because after since its first foundation the +dominion had expanded multiple times. + +\subsection{The Flag of Canada} +\begin{figure}[h] + \centering + \begin{subfigure}[h]{.3\textwidth} + \includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/flag_of_canada.pdf} + \caption{Current flag of Canada} + \end{subfigure} + \qquad\qquad + \begin{subfigure}[h]{.3\textwidth} + \includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/canadian_red_ensign.pdf} + \caption{Canadian Red Ensign} + \end{subfigure} + \caption{Canadian Flags} +\end{figure} +The current flag of Canada was created in 1964, when the government had an +all-party parliamentary committee that prepare multiple designs. Before then +Canada didn't have its own official flag but instead used either the English +Union Jack or the Canadian Red Ensign, a red flag with a smaller Union Jack on +the top left and an ensign on the right side. +The simplest design was chosen by the parliament and the current flag was +adopted the 15 December 1964, just in time for the centennial celebration of +the confederation 3 years later. + +\subsection{Canadian Natives} \nocite{firstnations} +Before the arrival of the Europeans the northern American continent was +populated by various groups of indigenous peoples which today are referred as +First Nations (Premières Nations in French) or sometime incorrectly a +`Indians'.Within what today are Canadian borders there were 6 major tribes and +each one of them lived in a particular area of the continent. +\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{.4\textwidth} + \centering + \includegraphics[height=6cm]{res/photos/first_nations.jpg} + \caption{A group of First Nations People from the area known as Qu'Appelle + Lakes} +\end{wrapfigure} + +Each tribe had developed a particular culture based on the environment in which +they lived, for example on the west coast the Pacific Coast First Nation gave +thank to the sea because they lived mostly off fishing whereas the Iroquian +First Nation on the south organized many ceremonies during spring as they +gathered most of their food from agriculture. But there were some things that +all populations had in common, with the most important being their deep cult of +respect for resources offered by nature; everything from hunting to farming had +a ritual to honor the harmony between them, the world and the Creator. Another +cultural aspect that common among all First Nations was a complex social +organization system built around hunting developed over thousands of years. +Every tribe lived and hunted in a well defined territory in order to not +interfere with other clans and communal hunts took place on every summer. These +routines were especially practiced by northern populations that lived in +semi-desert cold environments, a few examples are the Mackenzie and Yukon River +Basins First Nations that lived where today is Alaska. + +\subsection{Colonization} +The colonization of the `new world' began shortly after its discovery, +Europeans started to build settlements in the new continent to explore the new +land and get its resources. The beginning of the economic growth of Canada +started with the birth of the `New France'. In the early 17th century King Henry +IV of France ordered to a group of colonists to build the first French +settlement on the continent, so the village of `Port Royal' was created. +Shortly after in 1608 a new settlement called Quebec Fortress was also built. +With these new colonies the French dominion had planned to colonize the +continent, but the harsh environment prevented any expansion. +\begin{wrapfigure}{l}{.5\textwidth} + \centering + \fbox{\includegraphics[width=8.5cm]{res/images/canada_settlements.png}} + \caption{Map of European settlements in 1702. Territories under the French + dominion are in blue while territories under the British Empire are in red.} +\end{wrapfigure} \nocite{canadasettlements} + +As a result, they +started to trade with locals, many goods were traded with First Nations in +exchange for fur and food to protect the settlers from the cold winters. +Later on the trade grew on a bigger scale and many resources were exported to +France, which helped the development of the existing and new settlements. +At the same time British colonies were also built. Because of the strong power +of the British Colonial Empire British settlements grew faster than the other +French colonies which caused a shift in power. As the 18th century began +Great Britain was the leading power in the trading market. As a consequence of +this in many treaties that came next France lost most of its territories while +the British expanded theirs. \\ + +In the 1800s timber became the most important product for exportation. Timber +exportation had already started in the preceding years but it was only in +smaller quantities. But with the war of Napoleon (1799 - 1815) timber became +essential for the french army to build ships and to expand the railways across +France. The blooming of this industry endured until the conclusion of the +Canadian Commonwealth\footnote{The Commonwealth of Nations is made up of 53 +countries, including Canada, that were for the most part once part of the +British Empire. They worked together on international policies to cooperate in +furthering economic development.} in 1987. At the time logging depended on +waterways for transportation, for that reason the main timber base were in Saint +Lawrence and Ottawa. + +\subsection{Industrialization} +In 1867 with the establishment of the North American Act the first Canadian +confederation was born. The newly founded Canadian Confederation moved the +original economy to a radically different institutional environment. Previously +under the control of the United Kingdom the development of the economy was +focused to export cities near the Atlantic Ocean such as Nova Scotia and New +Brunswick. But after the federal formation the center of the development was +moved into Quebec and Ontario in the mainland. In the following 50 years the +Canadian economy shifted more toward agriculture and livestock production and +the industry evolved to a strong economy thanks to the introduction of a new +railway system. In the 20th century Canada enjoyed a great era of prosperity and +industrial development during the post-war period. The economical alliance with +the United Stated contributed the most to the development of a modernized +Canada. + +\subsection{Modern Canada} +Today Canada has become a powerful country with a stable social and economic +system and it is a great contributor to various international projects. +The Canadian society today is known to be open and flexible to other cultures, +because of this the Canadian population is composed of many ethnic groups. +In Canada the official languages are English and French since the original +colonial powers that brought them there were France and the United Kingdom. +As official currency Canada uses the Canadian Dollar (CAD), As 2016 one Canadian +Dollar equals +\href{http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=CAD&To=CHF}{ +0.76 Swiss Francs}. Canada's GDP (as Q2 2015) is more than twice ours +(Switzerland's)\cite{swisseconomy} with a market price at 1'996'804 millions of +Canadian dollars \cite{statscan:ecoimpexps} which roughly equals to 1.54 +millions of millions of Swiss francs. + +\section{Natural resources} +Canada's huge land area makes it one of richest countries from a natural +resources standpoint. Indeed Canada has the third largest reserve of crude oil +in the world and it is the second production of Uranium +\cite{nrcan:energyfactsbook}. But Canada is also a leader in renewable energy +production with a 18.9\% of total energy supply coming just from renewables +\cite{nrcan:renewables}. Even if most of the energy produced can be considered +eco-friendly Canada still relies heavily on non-renewable energy source as we +will see in the next paragraphs. + +\subsection{Crude Oil} +Oil has become has been increasingly become a valuable resource, since the +discovery of oil sands extraction technology. The desire for oil +independence from the USA and many other NATO states has given a lot of funds +for the development of this technology. +But for the environment this is not a good, according to a study conducted in +2014 \cite{statscan:ghgemissions}, GHGs (Greenhouse Gases) emissions caused by +oil extraction industries have increased by 63.5 millions of tonnes in the last +20 years. + +\subsection{Natural Gas} +Natural gas is the biggest energy source in Canada, mostly produced in Alta is +also a major cause of Nitrogen and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) pollution. +Even though its extractions and refinement technologies are getting better, the +level of pollution has not gone down since 2010. In 2014 56.6 mega tonnes of GHGs +were released on the atmosphere. Combined with the oil extraction this economic +sector accounts for 26\% of total nation emissions \cite{statscan:ghgemissions}. + +\subsection{Coal} +Despite it makes up half of the world's energy source (mostly in China) and +there's an abundance of it, coal represents a minor element in the national +energy production, and almost half of the final product gets exported to Japan, +China and South Korea. Currently scientists are discouraging its usage because +of its high level of pollution and CO\textsubscript{2} emissions. Nonetheless +the research in the field of coal refinement, to produce what is called ``Clean +Coal'', is still being supported by the government in order to use the enormous +quantity lying beneath the Canadian surface. -- cgit v1.2.1