
The name ‘Canada’ derives from the First Nations word kanata, meaning settlement. The territory has been inhabited by indigenous people, including the Inuit, for thousands of years. French and British trappers and merchants explored and colonised the land from the 15th and 16th centuries onwards, followed later by missionaries and other colonists. In 1867, four British colonies formed the original Dominion of Canada, which in time has grown to encompass ten provinces and three territories. Canada patriated its constitution in 1982, gaining formal independence from Great Britain.