Canada is a country located in North America, to the north of the United States, and consists of ten provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa. It is the world’s second-largest country by area. Indigenous peoples have inhabited Canada for thousands of years before European colonization. The Norwegians landed in Canada in 1000 CE; part of the Atlantic Coast was claimed for England in 1497; and Jacques Cartier explore the Gulf of St. Lawrence, claiming territory for France in 1534. Canada was under British rule until is independence in 1931. Though formerly a colony, Canada is still part of the Commonwealth of Nations.