Northern Arctic, and the Southern Arctic. Traditionally the land of the Inuit, these three zones, well known for their harsh climactic conditions, are the most sparsely populated areas of the country. But they abound in wildlife – polar bears, seals, narwhals, walruses, migratory birds like the snow goose and king eider, to name just a few – which inhabit the zones’ rugged mountains, icy waters, and wetlands.

Canada’s smallest ecozone, the Mixedwoods Plains, is the country’s most heavily settled, with almost half of the country’s population. This more temperate ecozone encompasses the stretch of the St. Lawrence River, as well as southern Ontario, taking in the shorelines of three of the Great Lakes and Canada’s two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal. The landscapes here are subdued compared to those of the ecozones of the North and the West, and much of the region’s wildlife is under constant threat from human activities or, sadly, has disappeared.