About OntarioOntario is named after “Lake Ontario” which could be derived from the Huron word Ontarí:io meaning “great lake”. It is also thought to be derived from the Iroquoian word skanadario meaning "beautiful water". The province is Canada’s most highly populated and the 2nd biggest province in terms of area. The provincial capital of Ontario is Toronto, which is the most populated city in the whole country. The province also hosts the national capital Ottawa. Ontario is one of the 1st few provinces to join the Canadian federation, it joined the federation on July 1st 1867.The other provinces to join federation with Ontario were Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
According to the floral emblem act of 1937 the white trillium is the floral emblem of the province. The amethyst has been stated to the provincial mineral by the mineral emblem act of 1975.The arboreal emblem act of 1984 declared “the eastern white pine” the official tree of the province. Finally the Common loon or the Great Northern Loon has been declared to be the bird symbol of Ontario.
Ontario is a large province with an area of 1,076,395 sq/km or 415,598 sq/miles. The province has a land area of 917,741 sq/km and the remaining area of 158,654 sq/km is covered by water, in fact there are over 250,000 fresh water lakes in the province. Ontario is bounded by Manitoba to its west, to its north lies Hudson Bay, Quebec lies to its east. On the southern side in a west to east direction lie the US states of Minnesota, Michigan, and New York, while Ohio and Pennsylvania lie straight across Lake Erie.
The climate of Ontario varies from continental humid to south. The southern climate is chill in winters and warm in summers with high humidity. Ontario receives a high amount of rain and snow mainly due to the chilly northern polar winds mixing with moisture laden southern warm air. The province’s large water bodies which lie in north and south help regions moderate climatic conditions by minimizing the summer and winter extreme conditions and reduce the difference between day and night temperatures.
Ontario had a population of 13,210,667 as of July 1st 2010 constituting 38.7% of the total population of Canada. 1 out of every 3 residents of Ontario is born in Canada which equals 70.8% of the population. Foreign born residents constitute another 29.2% of the resident population. Temporary residents form just 1.0 % of the resident population. The province experiences population growth of 1.2% from 2000-2010 and its population density in year 2010 was 13.8 per sq/km or 36 per sq/mile.
In the first quarter of 2011 The GDP of the province grew by 0.8% in real terms, against GDP of $613,767 billion as recorded in 2010. The province contributes 37.8% of the national GDP of Canada. In 2010 the province had personal per capita income of 37,969 which was higher than the personal per capita income of the whole country which stood at 37,525. In 2010 the province recorded unemployment rate of 8.7% and a CPI inflation rate of 2.5%. As of 2010 the Ontario’s service industry shares 23.5% of GDP and comprised of financial services, real estate, and insurance is the most dominant sector in economy. Other sectors include manufacturing industries (aerospace, automobile parts, food processing), retail & whole trade, and healthcare & education. |