<P> The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of Paleo - Indians thousands of years ago to the present day . Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present - day Canada were inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples, with distinct trade networks, spiritual beliefs, and styles of social organization . Some of these older civilizations had long faded by the time of the first European arrivals and have been discovered through archaeological investigations . </P> <P> Starting in the late 15th century, French and British expeditions explored, colonized, and fought over various places within North America in what constitutes present - day Canada . The colony of New France was established in 1534 and was ceded to the United Kingdom in 1763 after the French defeat in the Seven Years' War . The now British Province of Quebec was divided into Upper and Lower Canada in 1791 and reunified in 1841 . In 1867, the Province of Canada was joined with two other British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia through Confederation, forming a self - governing entity named Canada . The new dominion expanded by incorporating other parts of British North America, finishing with Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949 . </P> <P> Although responsible government had existed in Canada since 1848, Britain continued to set its foreign and defence policies until the end of the First World War . The passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 recognized that Canada had become co-equal with the United Kingdom . After the Constitution was patriated in 1982, the final vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament were removed . Canada currently consists of ten provinces and three territories and is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state . </P> <P> Over centuries, elements of Indigenous, French, British and more recent immigrant customs have combined to form a Canadian culture that has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic and economic neighbour, the United States . Since the conclusion of the Second World War, Canadians have supported multi-lateralism abroad and socioeconomic development domestically . </P>

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