Canada • Ottawa
Canal
Canals are waterways that are built by
people and used for shipping, travel, and
irrigation. Canals have been an important
way to move goods and carry
people for more than 5,000 years.
Some canals make it possible for boats
to travel inland from oceans and lakes. A
canal may also serve as a shortcut
between two bodies of water. Other
canals carry drinking water to cities or
irrigation water to farms.
Building a Canal
To make a canal, builders dig a long
channel in the ground and fill it with
water. The water usually comes from a
connecting river, lake, or ocean. Builders
often line the canal with stone, concrete,
or steel to make it stronger. The lining
also prevents the water from leaking out.
Locks
Locks are an important part of many
canals, especially in areas where the land
is not completely flat. A lock is a stretch
of canal blocked off at each end by
strong gates. These gates can be opened
or closed to allow water to fill or to
drain from the lock.
Locks allow boats to travel between
lower and higher areas of a canal. When
Three young people celebrate Canada Day,
the national holiday of Canada.
The Saint
Lawrence
Seaway in
North
America
includes several
canals.
They were
built to open
the Great
Lakes to
oceangoing
ships.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Canal 27
a boat enters a lock, the gates close
behind it.Water then fills or empties
from the lock through small openings
called sluice gates. When the water in
the lock reaches the level of the next part
of the canal, the gates in front of the
boat open. The boat then passes out of
the lock.
Famous Canals
The world’s oldest canal still being used
today is the Grand Canal in China. It is
also the world’s longest canal, with a
length of about 1,085 miles (1,747 kilometers).
The Erie Canal connects the Hudson
River in New York with the eastern
shore of Lake Erie, near Buffalo, New
York. The Erie Canal was an important
shipping route in the 1800s.
The Suez Canal in Egypt connects the
Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.
This major shipping canal is the shortest
water route between Europe and the
Indian Ocean.
The Panama Canal is an important
shortcut between the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans. Before this canal was
built, ships had to travel around the tip
of South America to get from one ocean
to another.
In Venice, Italy, people use canals as
roadways. In the oldest parts of the city,
people travel by special boats called gondolas
instead of cars. A gondola is
pushed with a long pole.
#More to explore
Erie Canal • Irrigation • Panama Canal
• Suez Canal
Canary
The canary is a small bird known for its
singing. Canaries are found wild in the
Canary, Azores, and Madeira islands off
the coast of northwestern Africa. Hundreds
of years ago people caught these
wild birds and began breeding them.
In Venice, Italy, people travel on canals
instead of roads.
Locks allow boats to travel between lower
and higher areas of a canal.
28 Canary BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Over time they have bred hundreds of
different kinds of canaries that are sold
as pets.
Several other small songbirds, such as
the American goldfinch, are sometimes
called wild canaries. But they are different
types of birds. The canary is a species,
or type, of songbird that is closely
related to goldfinches, siskins, and redpolls.
It is also related to other finches,
cardinals, and sparrows.
In the wild, canaries measure about 5.5
inches (14 centimeters) in length. They
are dull greenish brown with yellowish
breasts. Pet canaries differ in size, form,
feather color, and song. Breeders work to
develop different characteristics in the
different kinds of pet canaries. Many pet
canaries have bright yellow feathers.
Canaries have short, cone-shaped bills.
They use their bills to crack open seeds
to get at the parts that are good to eat.
They may also eat fruits.
..More to explore
Cardinal • Pet • Songbird • Sparrow
Canberra
Population
(2006
estimate), urban
area, 328,441
Canberra is the capital of the country of
Australia. The city is also the center of a
district called the Australian Capital
Territory. Canberra lies at the foot of the
Australian Alps mountain range. The
Molonglo River flows through the city.
Many people in Canberra work for the
Australian government or in tourism.
Native Australians, called Aborigines,
have lived in the Canberra region for
thousands of years. Europeans founded a
settlement there in the 1820s. The government
selected Canberra to be the
new capital of Australia in 1908. A competition
was held to choose the design
for the new city. The American architect
Walter Burley Griffin created the winning
design. Canberra officially became
the capital in 1927.Wildfires damaged
the city in 2003.
..More to explore
Australia
The Australian Parliament House is built into
a hill.
The canary is one of the most popular pet
songbirds in the world.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Canberra 29
Cancer
Cancer is a disease that causes certain
cells in the body to grow out of control.
The human body contains billions of
cells. Most of these cells reproduce, or
duplicate themselves, over and over. The
