Ontario is one of the ten provinces of Canada, the country’s southernmost province and the largest by population and second largest by area (after Quebec).

Commonly called the Heartland Province, Ontario is the most urbanized Canadian province, with four-fifths of its people living in urban areas, and is the center of Canada’s industry and agriculture.

As of the 2007 census, residents from diverse cultural backgrounds drawn to this vibrant province account for 38.5% of the national population.

Its farmers and producers have access to excellent transportation facilities, especially the St. Lawrence Seaway, which connects Lake Superior in the west to the Atlantic Ocean and is a vital trade link.

Toronto, on Lake Ontario, is the provincial capital and Canada’s most populous city. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is situated in Ontario as well.

Modern Ontario has its roots in the British colony of Upper Canada, which was created from the British province of Québec by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The area was named Upper Canada because its boundaries lay along the upper reaches of the Ottawa River; the name Lower Canada was given to the part of the British province of Québec that, until being conquered by the British in 1763, had been the heart of New France, the French colony in North America.

Upper Canada and Lower Canada were joined from 1841 to 1867 into a single administrative unit within the British Empire called the United Province of Canada. Upper Canada became known as Canada West, and Lower Canada became known as Canada East.

Along with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec, Ontario is one of the four original provinces of the Dominion of Canada, when the nation was formed on July 1, 1867 by the British North America Act.