The Answer:

Canada borrows its name from the Huron-Iroquois Indian word, "kanata," which means village or settlement.

Indian youths traveling with French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535 used the word to describe the village of Stadacona (the site of present-day Quebec City).

Soon the name was used to describe all of the French settlement in Canada, and as early as 1547 maps labeled the area north of the St. Lawrence River as "Canada."

For more information about the history of Canada, follow this link to the Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion web site.

—The Editors