Interesting Facts About Ontario - Fun Facts About Ontario

Ontario is one of the largest provinces of Canada, in terms of population, and stands divided into four main geographical regions. Ontario is bordered by Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay and Quebec to the north, by the American states of Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania to the south. The official headquarters of the provincial government is at Queen’s park in Toronto. Ontario has been blessed with unbound natural reserves, with plentiful water and forest resources. Moreover, the province experiences three different climatic conditions. Majority of the people in Ontario are of British and Irish ancestry. The major religious group in the province is that of Protestants, followed by Catholics. The official language of the region is English. Ontario is an important center in terms of manufacturing and agricultural industries. For some more interesting and fun facts about Ontario, read on.

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Fast facts

Country: Canada

Continent: North America

Area: 1,076,395 sq. km

Population: 13,505,900

Capital: Toronto

Official Languages: English

Fun Facts About Ontario

The French were the first Europeans to land at Ontario. Before the arrival of the Europeans, the northern and the western part of the regions were inhabited by Algonquian and the southern and the western parts were inhabited by Iroquois and Wyandot (Huron) tribes. Following the French exploration of the region, the British explorer Henry Hudson arrived here in 1611 and annexed the area into British territory.
By population, Ontario is the largest province of Canada and by area the province of Ontario is France and Spain combined and is almost one-third the size of India.
Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is the largest city in Canada.
The capital of Canada, Ottawa is also located in Ontario.
Ontario is the only Canadian province that borders the Great Lakes.
Four out of five Great Lakes, which Ontario borders, are Lake Superior, Erie, Ontario and Huron.
Lake Superior is the biggest of the all the five Great lakes and is the world’s largest body of fresh water.
The province of Ontario is said to take its name from Lake Ontario, which in turn is believed to have derived its name from ontarí:io, a Huron word meaning ‘great lake’.
Ontario is the leading manufacturing province of Canada, accounting for more than 50% of the total national manufacturing shipments.
The world renowned geographic feature, Niagara Falls is also located in Ontario.
Toronto, the capital city of Ontario, is the center of Canada’s financial services and banking industry.
Highway 401, running through Ontario, is the busiest highway in entire North America.
The official flower of Ontario is white Trillium.
Henry Hudson was the first European to touch the shores of present-day Ontario in 1610, after whom the Hudson Bay was named.
The official gem of Ontario is Amethyst, which is a rich purple semi-precious stone.
The official tree of Ontario is the Eastern White Pine.
The official bird of Ontario is the Common Loon.
The highest point in Ontario is Timiskaming district, while the lowest point: is Hudson Bay shore.
The largest rivers flowing through Ontario are St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River.
Water covers about one-sixth of the total province area of Ontario.
Two-thirds of the provincial area of Ontario is covered by forest cover.
Ontario is Canada’s largest producer of fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products.
Yonge Street in the Province of Ontario is the longest street in the world which covers a distance of 1896 kilometers and was included in the Guinness Book of World Record in 1998.
Wasaga Beach near Tornto, Ontario on Georgian Bay is longest freshwater beach in the world that runs across a distance of 14 km.
There are several world renowned celebrities from Ontario, such as Alanis Morrisette, Jim Carrey, Avril Lavigne, Mike Myers, Shania Twain, Matthew Perry, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Christopher Plummer and Justin Bieber.
Amethyst is the official gem of Ontario whereas, The Eastern White Pine is the official tree, The Common Loon is the official bird and trillium is the official flower of Ontario.

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