Ontario
Province of southeast-central Canada, the country's second largest.
It is separated from the USA by the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence
River, bounded by Hudson Bay to the northeast, by Québec to the east,
and by Manitoba to the west
Area:
1,068,600 sq km/412,480 sq mi
Capital:
Toronto
Towns and Cities:
Hamilton, Ottawa (federal capital), London, Windsor, Kitchener, St
Catharines, Oshawa, Thunder Bay, Sudbury
Physical:
Canadian Shield; lakes Erie, Huron, Ontario, Superior; rivers Ottawa,
Albany, St Lawrence; Georgian Bay; Niagara Falls; James Bay
Features:
Upper Canada Pioneer Village; Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, a Roman
Catholic mission (1639-49); richest, chief manufacturing, most populated,
and leading cultural province of English- speaking Canada
Industries:
Nickel, iron, gold, copper, uranium, pulp, paper, cars, aircraft, iron,
steel, high tech products, oil, chemicals
Agriculture:
Livestock, dairy produce, peaches, cherries, tobacco, sugar beet, market
gardening, cereals
Population:
(1996) 11,252,400
History:
First explored by the French in the 17th century, it came under British
control 1763 (Treaty of Paris). An attempt 1841 to form a merged
province with French- speaking Québec failed, and Ontario became
a separate province of Canada 1867. Under the protectionist policies
of the new federal government, Ontario gradually became industrialized
and urban. Since World War II, more than 2 million immigrants,
chiefly from Europe, have settled in Ontario.
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