Canadians in Afghanistan

The internet searches using the Google search engine about Afghanistan by Canadians present an interesting spatial trend that is not consistent with the population distribution in Canada.  Given the large difference in population sizes, one would assume that the Afghanistan related searches conducted from within Canada should be higher for provinces with large populations and lower for provinces with smaller populations.  Thus, Ontario with the largest population in Canada should have the highest searches conducted about Afghanistan followed by Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta.

The reality is rather different.  While Ontario accounts for the largest searches conducted about Afghanistan, the second place goes to Manitoba, which is a much smaller sized province in terms of its population than the ones listed above.  Similarly, two other small provinces namely New Brunswick and Nova Scotia take the third and fourth positions for Afghanistan searches on Google in Canada.

 
Internet searches about Afghanistan using Google from computers located within Canada.

This anomalous trend may have to do with the home base of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan who often belong to smaller towns and provinces.  It is hard to determine if these trends are reflective of the Canadian soldiers' population stationed in Afghanistan or otherwise.