As July 4th rolls around again, Americans’ thoughts likely turn to stars and stripes, U.S. history, and, of course, a long weekend. Most Americans are pretty familiar with the origin story of the United States. But how about the origin story of their upstairs neighbor, which also hosts a national celebration, Canada Day, in early July? The Great White North The country now known as Canada is—generally—the land between the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans, plus 52,455 islands , and minus the state of Alaska. Canada’s southern border is usually said to be the 49th parallel. Though a July weather map might say that it’s 30 degrees in Vancouver and 86 in Seattle, that’s because Canada uses Celsius rather than Fahrenheit for temperature. While Canada’s nickname is the Great White North, it’s not because it’s always snowing north of the border; as in Seattle, it’s pretty rare for Vancouver to ever see snow. Here are another 20 facts you never knew about Canada . Take a closer look at