Barry Cavill, age 10, of Sarasota, Fla., for his question:

How did Canada get its name?

The region around what is now the city of Quebec was long ago settled by tribes of Iroquois Indians. Then the French arrived and claimed the land in the name of their king. English travelers and traders also came and claimed the vast lands for the king of England. For a long time, the French and English warred and fought for the wide, rich territories, which were to become the Canada of today.

We are not certain who named this country Canada or why the name was chosen. Most experts suspect it was taken from a word of the Iroquois who long ago lived in the province of Quebec. The name most likely came from an Iroquois word, which meant ‘a group of huts’.