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(bold)Ontario (/ɒnˈtɛərioʊ/ (About this soundlisten) on-TAIR-ee-oh; French: [ɔ̃taʁjo]) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.[9][10] Located in Central Canada, it is Canada's most populous province, with 38.3 percent of the country's population, and is the second-largest province by total area (after Quebec).[11][12] Ontario is Canada's fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included.[3] It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto,[13] which is also Ontario's provincial capital.

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s bordered by the province of Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the north, and Quebec to the east and northeast, and to the south by the U.S. states of (from west to east) Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Almost all of Ontario's 2,700 km (1,678 mi) border with the United States follows inland waterways: from the westerly Lake of the Woods, eastward along the major rivers and lakes of the Great Lakes/Saint Lawrence River drainage system. These include Rainy River, Pigeon River, Lake Superior, St. Marys River, Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, Lake Erie, Niagara River, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River from Kingston, to the Quebec boundary just east of Cornwall. There is only about 1 km (0.6 mi) of land border, made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border.[14]

Ontario is sometimes divided into two geographic regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontario's population and arable land is in the south. In contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and heavy forestation.[15]


Contents
1 Etymology
2 Geography
2.1 Climate
3 History
3.1 Indigenous societies
3.2 European contact
3.3 Upper Canada
3.4 Canada West
3.5 Provincehood
3.6 Territorial evolution
4 Demographics
4.1 Religion
4.2 Language
5 Economy
5.1 Agriculture
5.2 Energy
6 Government, law and politics
6.1 Law
6.2 Politics
6.3 Administrative divisions
6.4 Urban areas
7 Education
7.1 Higher education
8 Culture
8.1 Songs and slogans
8.2 Professional sports
8.3 Notable residents
8.4 Museums
9 Transportation
9.1 Air travel
9.2 Railways
9.3 Roads
9.4 Waterways
10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
12.1 Citations
12.2 Sources
13 Further reading
14 External links
Etymology
Ontario is a term thought to be derived from Indigenous origins, either Ontarí:io, a Huron (Wyandot) word meaning "great lake",[16] or possibly skanadario, which means "beautiful water" or "sparkling water" in the Iroquoian languages.[17] Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes.[18] The first mention of the name Ontario was in 1641, when "Ontario" was used to describe the land on the north shore of the easternmost part of the Great Lakes.[19] It was adopted as the official name of the new province at Confederation in 1867.[19]

Geography
Main article: Geography of Ontario
See also: List of census divisions of Ontario, Geography of Canada, and List of parks and protected areas of Ontario
[File:BlackRiver1.JPG|thumb|Typical landscape of the Canadian Shield at Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, located in Central Ontario]] The province consists of three main geographical regions:

The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals, partly covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, and studded with lakes and rivers. Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions: Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario.
The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the extreme north and northeast, mainly swampy and sparsely forested.
Southern Ontario, which is further sub-divided into four sub-regions: Central Ontario (although not actually the province's geographic centre), Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe and Southwestern Ontario (parts of which were formerly referred to as Western Ontario).
Despite the absence of any mountainous terrain in the province, there are large areas of uplands, particularly within the Canadian Shield which traverses the province from northwest to southeast and also above the Niagara Escarpment which crosses the south. The highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres (2,274 ft) above sea level in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m (1,640 ft) are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands and in hilltops near the Madawaska River in Renfrew County.

The Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. The temperate and fertile Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south is part of the Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests ecoregion where the forest has now been largely replaced by agriculture, industrial and urban development. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment. The Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario covers approximately 87% of the province's surface area; conversely Southern Ontario contains 94% of the population.

Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario (near Windsor and Detroit, Michigan) that is the southernmost extent of Canada's mainland. Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the northern border of California.

Climate
See also: Climate of Ontario

Köppen climate types of Ontario
Ontario's climate varies by season and location.[20] Three air sources affect it: cold, dry, arctic air from the north (dominant factor during the winter months, and for a longer part of the year in far northern Ontario); Pacific polar air crossing in from the western Canadian Prairies/US Northern Plains; and warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.[21] The effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief.[21] In general, most of Ontario's climate is classified as humid continental.[21]

Ontario has four main climatic regions:

The surrounding Great Lakes greatly influence the climatic region of southern Ontario.[20] During the fall and winter, the release of heat stored by the lakes moderates the climate near the shores.[22] This gives parts of southern Ontario milder winters than mid-continental areas at lower latitudes.[22] Parts of Southwestern Ontario (generally south of a line from Sarnia–Toronto) have a moderate humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), similar to the inland Mid-Atlantic states and the Great Lakes portion of the Midwestern United States. The region has warm to hot, humid summers and cold winters. Annual precipitation ranges from 750–1,000 mm (30–39 in) and is well distributed throughout the year. Most of this region lies in the lee of the Great Lakes, making for abundant snow in some areas. In December 2010, the snowbelt set a new record when it was hit by more than a metre of snow within 48 hours.[23]
The next climatic region is Central and Eastern Ontario, which has a moderate humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). This region has warm and sometimes hot summers with colder, longer winters, ample snowfall (even in regions not directly in the snowbelts) and annual precipitation similar to the rest of Southern Ontario.[21]
The smallest climatic region is located at the most northeastern part of the Niagara Peninsula, which has a temperate humid climate (Köppen Cfa), due to moderating effects by Lake Ontario, the Niagara River and battling air masses from the Gulf of Mexico during the winter months.[24] It is one of the most temperate regions in the entire province.
In the northeastern parts of Ontario, extending south as far as Kirkland Lake, the cold waters of Hudson Bay depress summer temperatures, making it cooler than other locations at similar latitudes. The same is true on the northern shore of Lake Superior, which cools hot, humid air from the south, leading to cooler summer temperatures.[21] Along the eastern shores of Lake Superior and Lake Huron winter temperatures are slightly moderated but come with frequent heavy lake-effect snow squalls that increase seasonal snowfall totals to upwards of 3 m (10 ft) in some places. These regions have higher annual precipitation, in some places over 100 cm (39 in).


Cold northwesterly wind over the Great Lakes creating lake-effect snow. Lake-effect snow most frequently occurs in the snowbelt regions of the province.
The northernmost parts of Ontario – primarily north of 50°N – have a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with long, severely cold winters and short, cool to warm summers with dramatic temperature changes possible in all seasons. With no major mountain ranges blocking sinking Arctic air masses, temperatures of −40 °C (−40 °F) are not uncommon; snow remains on the ground for sometimes over half the year. Snow accumulation can be high in some areas.[20] Precipitation is generally less than 70 cm (28 in) and peaks in the summer months in the form of rain or thunderstorms.[20]
Severe thunderstorms peak in summer. Windsor, in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, has the most lightning strikes per year in Canada, averaging 33 days of thunderstorm activity per year.[25] In a typical year, Ontario averages 11 confirmed tornado touchdowns. However, over the last 4 years,[when?] it has had upwards of 20 tornado touchdowns per year, with the highest frequency in the Windsor-Essex – Chatham Kent area, though few are very destructive (the majority between F0 to F2 on the Fujita scale). Ontario had a record 29 tornadoes in both 2006 and 2009. Tropical depression remnants occasionally bring heavy rains and winds in the south, but are rarely deadly. A notable exception was Hurricane Hazel which struck Southern Ontario centred on Toronto, in October 1954.

Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected locations in Ontario
City July (°C) July (°F) January (°C) January (°F)
Windsor (Windsor International Airport)[26] 28/18 82/64 0/−7 31/19
Niagara Falls (NPCSH)[27] 27/17 81/63 0/−8 30/18
Toronto (The Annex)[28] 27/18 80/64 −1/−7 30/20
Midland (Water Pollution Control Plant)[29] 26/16 78/61 −4/–13 25/8
Ottawa (Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport)[30] 27/16 80/60 −6/−14 22/6
Sudbury (Sudbury Airport)[31] 25/13 77/56 −8/−19 18/0
Emo (Emo Radbourne)[32] 25/11 77/52 −9/–22 15/–9
Thunder Bay (Thunder Bay International Airport)[33] 24/11 76/52 −9/−21 18/−5
Kenora (Kenora Airport)[34] 24/15 76/59 −11/−21 12/−5
Moosonee (UA)[35] 23/9 73/48 −14/–26 8/–15
History
Main articles: History of Ontario and Upper Canada

A 1755 map of the Pays d'en Haut region of New France, an area that included most of Ontario
Indigenous societies
The region of Ontario is inhabited by Algonquian (Ojibwe, Cree and Algonquin) in the northern/western portions, and Iroquois and Wyandot (Huron) people more in the south/east.[36] During the 17th century, the Algonquians and Hurons fought the Beaver Wars against the Iroquois.[37][38]

European contact
The French explorer Étienne Brûlé explored part of the area in 1610–12.[39] The English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay in 1611 and claimed the area for England.

Samuel de Champlain reached Lake Huron in 1615, and French missionaries began to establish posts along the Great Lakes. French settlement was hampered by their hostilities with the Iroquois, who allied themselves with the British.[40] From 1634 to 1640, Hurons were devastated by European infectious diseases, such as measles and smallpox, to which they had no immunity.[41] By 1700, the Iroquois had been driven out or left the area that would become Ontario and the Mississaugas of the Ojibwa had settled the north shore of Lake Ontario. The remaining Huron settled north of Quebec.

The British established trading posts on Hudson Bay in the late 17th century and began a struggle for domination of Ontario with the French. After the French of New France were defeated during the Seven Years' War, the two powers awarded nearly all of France's North American possessions (New France) to Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, including those lands of Ontario not already claimed by Britain. The British annexed the Ontario region to Quebec in 1774.[42]