Ontario (Canada)

How is the land laid out?

The Canadian Shield comprises much of Ontario and lies just east and north of the interior plains and north of the Great Lakes. Its southeasternmost point reaches the banks of the St. Lawrence not far northeast of Lake Ontario. Its most notable local hydrologic features are the lakes that mark its boundary with the interior plains, which, within this area, include Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario. These lakes are connected by waterways: part of the St. Lawrence River system. The peninsula of southern Ontario, defined by the lakes and waterways, lies entirely within the Eastern Lake Section of the Central Lowland of the Interior Plains.

On the south shores of Hudson Bay lie the northern interior lowlands, the western part of which are within this area. Lake Winnipeg's outflow, the Nelson River, passes through this band.

Who lives there?

This area is in the part of North America in which English-speakers and Christians are the majority.

Two cities of have over a million residents: Toronto is one.

Ottawa, has 1.2 million metropolitan residents,¹ and over 900 thousand within the city proper, and is Canada's capital. It is in the Saint Lawrence Valley, on the river that shares the city's name, on the ancient long distance canoe route from the Atlantic to the interior.

The metropolitan areas of the non-Canadian cities of Detroit and Buffalo spill over into the southwest and southeast of this area, respectively.

Who was there before?

Iroquoian languages--Huron, Tobacco, "Neutral" and Erie--were spoken on the province's peninsula.

The Algonquian languages occupied northern Ontario, more or less the Canadian Shield portion. Today's speakers--in all provinces--include about 70,000 Cree and 80,00 Ojibwa. Smallpox in the 17th century much reduced their original numbers.

The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the lake shores. Their few numbers were overwhelmed by English-speaking settlers who arrived in great numbers from the south after the United States won independence from Great Britain.

Within the area

Footnotes

1. World-gazetteer.com, accessed 9/12/2012.