Consisting of 10 provinces and three territories, Canada extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles) in total, making it the world’s second-largest country by total area. Canada shares the world’s longest border with the United States. Though sparsely populated overall, Canada is home to bustling mega-cities and large expanses of wide-open country ranging from mountains, to prairie, to ancient hardwood forests. Canada enjoys a high quality of life, and a strong and stable economy.