Know Thy Country

Thanks to a with-it Canadian friend, I know quite a bit about Canada. Like how many provinces it has (10) territories (3) or how many languages they have official (2).

So I was surprised (in a bad way) today when a guy in my spanish class announced that Canada is a republic and the head of state is the Prime Minister.

Wrong. Canada is (and has been for ages) a constitutional monarchy (it is worth noting they are also democratic parliament). As in, they have a queen, who calls herself Elizabeth II, who is the head of government. Don't believe me? Pull out your wad of Canadian money, and check out who is beaming back at you (no, I don't mean the beaver). Still don't believe? Check out wikipedia, the site which never lies.

It is important to know thy country as well, lest some obnoxious foreigner correct you (I kept my mouth shut guys...for once). For example, my country is a ______ (insert type of government) with ______ (number) branches, called ______________. We rank _______ on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

My answers:

1st) Federal constitutional republic (unsure how to order this in english... my wikipedia is permanently in french), 3, Judicial, Legislative, Executive, 24.

2nd) Parliamentary monarchy, Unclear... at least a couple. Methinks legislative and monarchial, 16.

That was an interesting experiment. While some answers were easy, I haven't the foggiest how to codify Britain's government. I get the chamber system and MPs and PMs and the weird relationship with the Queen. But they don't have a constitution, so it is rather challenging to name the branches.

Meh, better hope I don't get quizzed tomorrow.