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PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
Part of the Teaching & Learning About Canada Website |
In the language of the Iroquois, "Ontario" means sparkling or beautiful water.
Ontario is the only province, state, or territory that borders all 4 Great Lakes that touch Canada (Lake Michigan is entirely within the U.S.).
Ontario
click to enlarge
Relief map
© 2000, 2002 Government of Canada with permission from Natural Resources Canada.
Mount Pelion
Photo by Peter Bennett, 2004
See: http://www.city.quintewest.on.ca/explore/qtmtpeln.htm
92% of Allophones live in Ontario, B.C. ,Quebec or Alberta.
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| NFLD | NS | NB | P.E.I. | QUEBEC |
| ONTARIO | MANITOBA | SASK. | ALBERTA | BC |
| YUKON | NW TERR. | NUNAVUT | CANADA | CITIES |
For more information, see
Graphs and Tables Based on Canadian Statistics
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10.7 % of Canada's area |
37.5% of Canada's population |
Where the names came from
ONTARIOThe name was first applied to the lake (1641) and is traceable to Amerindian sources. It may be a corruption of Onitariio, meaning "beautiful lake", or Kanadario, variously translated as "sparkling" or "beautiful" water. Later European settlers gave the name to the land along the lakeshore and then to an ever extending area. "Old Ontario" was a term sometimes loosely applied to the southern portion of the province. |
TORONTODetails surrounding exact origin are uncertain. For many years it was thought to stem from a Huron word translated as "a place of meeting"; however, recent scholarship indicates that it may be of Mohawk origin. The Mohawk descriptive phrase tkaronto was used to indicate the fishing weirs located at The Narrows near present day Orillia. Literally translated as "where there are trees standing in the water", the name was noted by Champlain in 1615. |
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