Canoe wooden boat Low-poly 3D model

A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.[1]

In British English, the term canoe can also refer to a kayak, while canoes are called Canadian, or open, canoes to distinguish them from kayaks.

Canoes were developed by cultures all over the world, including some designed for use with sails or outriggers. Until the mid-19th century, the canoe was an important means of transport for exploration and trade, and in some places is still used as such, sometimes with the addition of an outboard motor. Where the canoe played a key role in history, such as the Northern United States, Canada, and New Zealand, it remains an important theme in popular culture.

Canoes are now widely used for competition and pleasure, such as racing, whitewater, touring and camping, freestyle and general recreation. Canoeing has been part of the Olympics since 1936. The intended use of the canoe dictates its hull shape, length, and construction material. Historically, canoes were dugouts or made of bark on a wood frame, but construction materials evolved to canvas on a wood frame, then to aluminum. Most modern canoes are made of molded plastic or composites such as fiberglass or those incorporating kevlar, or graphite. Many peoples made dugout canoes, by carving out a single piece of wood; either a whole trunk, or a slab of trunk from particularly large trees.

Constructed between 8200 and 7600 BC, and found in the Netherlands, the Pesse canoe may be the oldest known canoe. Excavations in Denmark reveal the use of dugouts and paddles during the Ertebølle period, (c. 5300–3950 BC).[6]

One of the oldest canoes in the world is the Dufuna canoe in Nigeria. It is the oldest boat to be discovered in Africa, and the third oldest known worldwide. The canoe is currently in Damaturu, the state capital.

Canoes have also played a vital role in the colonisation of the Pre-Columbian Caribbean as they represented the only possibility of reaching the Caribbean Islands from mainland South America. Around 3500 BC ancient Amerindian groups colonised the first Caribbean Islands using single-hulled canoes. Only very few Pre-Columbian Caribbean canoes have been uncovered.There are several families of trees that could have been used to construct Caribbean canoes. These include woods of the mahogany family (Meliaceae) such as the Cuban mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), that can reach heights of 30–35 m, the ceiba family (Malvacae) such as Ceiba pentandra, than can grow up to 60–70 m tall and the cedar family such as the Red Cedar (Cedrela odorata) that can grow up to 60 m in height. It is likely that these canoes were built in a variety of sizes. Ranging from fishing canoes, holding one or a few individuals, to larger ones able to carry as many as a few dozen people that could have been used to reach the Caribbean Islands from the mainland. Reports by historical chroniclers claim to have witnessed a canoe containing 40 to 50 Caribs when it came out to trade with a visiting English ship. There is still much dispute regarding the use of sails in Caribbean canoes. Some archaeologists doubt that oceanic transportation would have been possible without the use of sails as winds and currents would have carried the canoes off course. However, no evidence of a sail or a Caribbean canoe that could have made use of a sail has been found. Furthermore, no historical sources mention Caribbean canoes with sails. One possibility could be that canoes with sails were initially used in the Caribbean but later abandoned before European contact. This, however, seems unlikely, as long-distance trade continued in the Caribbean even after the prehistoric colonisation of the islands. Hence, it is likely that early Caribbean colonists made use of canoes without sails.

The indigenous people of the Amazon commonly used Hymenaea trees.

Native American groups of the north Pacific coast made dugout canoes in a number of styles for different purposes, from western red-cedar (Thuja plicata) or yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), depending on availability.Different styles were required for ocean-going vessels versus river boats, and for whale-hunting versus seal-hunting versus salmon-fishing. The Quinault of Washington State built shovel-nose canoes, with double bows, for river travel that could slide over a logjam without portaging. The Kootenai of British Columbia province made sturgeon-nosed canoes from pine bark, designed to be stable in windy conditions on Kootenay Lake. In recent years First Nations in British Columbia and Washington State have been revitalizing the ocean-going canoe tradition. Beginning in the 1980s, the Heiltsuk and Haida were early leaders in this movement. The paddle to Expo 86 in Vancouver by the Heiltsuk, and the 1989 Paddle to Seattle were early instances of this. In 1993 a large number of canoes paddled from up and down the coast to Bella Bella in its first canoe festival – 'Qatuwas.[16] The revitalization continued – and Tribal Journeys began with trips to various communities held most years.

Australian Aboriginal people made canoes from hollowed out tree trunks, as well as from tree bark.