2010 Olympic Games flame lands in Canada

The flame for the 2010 Winter Olympics has arrived in Canada for the beginning of a journey that will be the longest domestic torch relay in Olympic history.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson carried the flame, burning in a miner's lantern, out of the aircraft that arrived on Friday from Greece, where the flame was lit by the rays of the sun on the site of the ancient games.

The torch relay will cover nearly 45,000km, reaching the most extreme corners of the country.

It will pass through more than 1,000 communities and be carried by 12,000 torchbearers on a journey by plane, boat, bike, dogsled, skateboard and other modes of transportation.