To find how the name Canada came about we must go back to the 16th century. At that time, the French dreamed of disclosing and controlling more land, of expanding trade beyond   their borders and of spreading their faith  across the world .In 1535, Francois I ,King of France, ordered a navigator   named Jacques Cartier to explore  the New World and search for a passage to India. Cartier first arrived at the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, which he wanted to explore. He did not know what to expect but he hoped that this Gulf was just an arm of the ocean between two islands. If it was, he would soon be on his way to the Far East. So he sailed upstream along the St. Lawrence River. However, instead or reaching Asia he arrived at Quebec or Stadacona, as the Indians called it. It was at this point that the term " Canada" entered the country's history. Apparently the word "Canada" came from an Indian work "Kanata", which means community or village. Cartier first used it when he referred to Stadacona or Quebec. What a huge " village" Canada is! In the early sixteenth century , Quebec was only   _  .
an Indian village a little town in southern Canada a village at the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence the place which we call Canada now