Ontario is known as the "Land of a Thousand lakes" which is an understatement because not only is the province bordered on the south by the Great Lakes and on the north by Hudson Bay, but one sixth of its terrain is covered by rivers and lakes. Ontario is bounded by Quebec on the east, Manitoba on the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay on the north, and the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes on the south. The land is vast and varied. It changes suddenly from the flat bogs and small trees of the Hudson Bay Lowlands to the dense forest, lakes, and rocky hills of the Canadian Shield. Although the soil of the Canadian Shield is poor and not well suited to large-scale farming, there is a wealth of minerals, forests and water power. The Canadian Shield and the Hudson Bay Lowlands cover 90 percent of the province's territory, but are home to only 10 percent of the population. Further south, is the area surrounding the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Lowlands. The five Great Lakes are the most visible results of the ice age in Ontario, and Lake Superior is the world's largest body of fresh water. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands comprise the rest of southern Ontario and contain most of the population, industry, commerce and agricultural lands. This relatively small area has more than half of Canada's best agricultural land. The beginning history of Canada was played out in Ontario and Quebec during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

The two language bases of the Aboriginal People in Ontario are Algonquian (the Ojibways, the Algonquins, and the Cree) in the north and Iroquoian (the Hurons, Tobaccos and Neutrals and the five Iroquois nations) in the central and southern areas. The Algonquian-speaking people were farmers but primarily hunted and fished. The Iroquoian-speaking tribes lived most of the year in villages where farming was more possible. Henry Hudson became the first European to touch the shores of present-day Ontario in 1610 in the bay named after him (Hudsons Bay); then in 1613, Samuel de Champlain, "the father of new France" and Étienne Brulé made the first contacts with the aboriginal people in the southern part of the province. By the time he left, Champlain and the Hurons had become allies and trading partners. In return for furs, which the Europeans wanted very much, the Hurons got European cloth, steel knives, and manufactured goods. The Hurons taught the Europeans about North American water routes, which were the best means of transport through the dense forest and a possible path to great riches in the "new world". The great North American fur trade had begun. Huge centers were established in Ontario where furs were brought to be traded. The Courier du bois (beginning of the Metis Nation) would travel by waterway throughout Rupert's Land to the west: trading furs with indigenous peoples and returning to Ontario in the fall. The Courier du bois were treated like indemptured servants, but where in fact highly independent transient individuals. The immense Hudsons Bay Company utilized these individuals as packers up until the 18th century when the company was forced to move inland and create outposts (forts) throughout the land as trading depots.

During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, France claimed what is now central Canada. They called this vast territory New France, and it included much of present day Ontario. French Jesuit priests founded the mission of Sainte Marie among the Hurons in 1639 on the southern shore of Georgian Bay (near present day Midland, Ontario). It was one of the first inland European settlements in North America. The Hurons, who lived in villages south of Georgian Bay, often fought with the Iroquois nations (who lived south of Lake Ontario, in today's New York state). These wars got more frequent after the Europeans arrived in the early 1600s. Both the French and the British explorers wanted to claim the newly-discovered lands for their countries. The tribes north of Lake Ontario sided with the French, while those south of the lake supported the British. Fighting between the Hurons and the Iroquois increased in the late 1640s. Eventually, the Iroquois successfully invaded the Huron settlements and killed many of the French missionaries. The British followed the French to North America. They formed the Hudsons Bay Company (which still exists) in 1670. The British and French became fierce rivals over the new land and by 1713 fighting had broken out between them. The Seven Years' War (1756 to 1763) ended France's rule of North America. Many native people joined in this war -- some siding with the British; others with the French. When it ended with the Treaty of Paris (1763), French possessions in North America went to the British.

In 1763 through the Royal Proclamation, King George III gave a large area of land, including part of western Quebec (present day Ontario), to the native peoples. His proclamation limited white settlement in this area and attempted to control the activities of European fur traders. The Crown was required to make treaties or "purchases" of land with the native people before it could give or sell the land to new settlers. Presently, there are disagreements about these lands and what the native peoples were to receive in terms of money, goods and property (reserves) for the title of their land. During the 1780s, the native peoples signed treaties with the Crown, which turned over many, but not all lands in what is now southern Ontario.

The United Empire Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution to remain loyal to Great Britain arrived in Canada between 1776-1783. The new settlers in British North America (the name for British colonies in North America after the American Revolution) settled along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, near the Bay of Quinte, or the Niagara River. They included people of Scottish, Irish, German, and English origins, Indian allies of the Crown and American blacks. The Treaty of Paris (sometimes referred to as the Peace of Versailles) was signed in 1783. Under this treaty, the Six Nations Iroquois lost their New York lands. To make up for this loss, the Crown gave the Iroquois land in what became Ontario, near the Bay of Quinte and the Grand River. One Iroquois group settled on the Bay of Quinte, in 1784, at the site of today's Tyendinaga Reserve. A larger group -- led by famous Mohawk war chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanega) -- chose the Grand River valley, around present-day Brantford in southwestern Ontario. The carving up on North America had begun.

In 1774 the British ruled over southern Ontario, then part of the British colony of Quebec. Under the Constitutional Act (or Canada Act) of 1791, "Quebec" was divided in two and Ontario was renamed Upper Canada. This became necessary with the tremendous influx of Loyalist refugees after the American Revolution. In 1840, the Act of Union saw the territories of Upper and Lower Canada reunited with the name Canada. The two regions, Canada West and Canada East, took part in the 1864 Confederation debate in Charlottetown, Nova Scotia and, when the Dominion of Canada was created in 1867, became the separate provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

From 1779 on, waves of English, Scottish and Irish immigrants followed one another to Ontario: moving up the St. Lawrence and populating the country. Britain and the United States didn't get along with each other after the Revolution. In 1812, the U.S. declared war and invaded Upper Canada. Although the Americans occupied parts of Upper Canada in 1812, 1813, and 1814, the British military held on to the province. In 1832, Colonel John By completed construction of the 200 kilometre (125mile) Rideau Canal from Bytown (present day Ottawa) to Kingston. Considered an engineering marvel, the canal had 47 locks. It was created as a strategic/military route that could be used if the Americans attacked Ontario again. Fortunately, it wasn't needed for this purpose. The canal carried passengers and freight for over a century. It helped Bytown to grow and is still in use today. The Welland Canal was also of great importance to the economic development of Ontario. Opened in 1833, this canal stretched between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and greatly increased trade with the American states.

In 1838, the British government appointed Lord Durham as Governor General of British North America. It told him to report on the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada. He recommended a union of the two colonies. They were united in 1841 and called the Province of Canada. The new province had one government, but both colonies were represented equally in the assembly, forming the basis of the modern Canadian state. The two geographic areas became known as Canada East (later called Quebec) and Canada West (later called Ontario). Unification didn't work. Assembly members from Canada East and Canada West often disagreed, and it soon became clear that the Province of Canada needed a new political structure. After much discussion, representatives of Canada East and Canada West and two other geographic areas to the east -- Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick -- formed a federal government. However, the individual governments of each area (province) continued to exist. This arrangement was called Confederation, which was a compromise for dealing with cultural differences and the economic and political problems of these provinces. The British North America Act -- renamed the Constitution Act (1867) in 1982 -- established the Confederation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867. The national government was based in the new capital of Ottawa. The first Canadian prime minister was Sir John A. Macdonald.

Today, immigration continues to be important to Ontario, and there are large numbers of people with Italian, German, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, Indian and Polish origin. In 1991, Ontario had almost 250,000 people of Aboriginal (Indian, Metis or Inuit) origin. With over 10 million people, Ontario is Canada's most heavily populated province. English is the only official language, but Ontario's Francophones play an essential part in the province's cultural life and are the largest language minority. Northern Ontario's towns were built around the railroad and today rails and roads carry the products of the mines and mills southward. Further north, travel is often limited to air and water. Half of Ontario's population lives along the western end of Lake Ontario between St. Catharines and Oshawa. Ontario's other major cities are Hamilton in the south, London, and Windsor in the southwest; Kingston and Ottawa in the east; and Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay in the north. The 1991 census showed that over 80 per cent of Ontarians live in towns and cities, while under 20 per cent live in rural areas. Most people live in southern Ontario, with the greatest number in Toronto and its surrounding regions of Peel, York, Halton, and Durham. This area is called the "Greater Toronto Area". Toronto, Ontario's capital and Canada's largest city, with a regional population approaching four million, is Canada's leading producer of manufactured goods and headquarters of a large number of Canadian companies. Ottawa, the bilingual, bicultural national capital, sits at the junction of the Gatineau, Rideau and Ottawa rivers with the province.

Ontario is Canada's most productive province, having generated some 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 1992. Its manufacturing industries lead the way ($85 billion in 1992). Ontario's competitive advantages include its natural resources, modern transportation system, large, well-educated labour force, reliable and relatively inexpensive electrical power, and proximity to key U.S. markets: less than a day's drive puts Ontario's products within reach of 120 million American consumers.

Automobiles are Ontario's major manufacturing industry and most important export. Ontario is one of the world's top 10 mineral producers. It produces more than 30 different minerals. Eighty per cent of Ontario's mineral production is exported around the world. Extraction of gold, copper, uranium, iron, platinum, cobalt, amethyst, silver and zinc; Ontario provides 15 per cent of the world's nickel. While northern Ontario yields mostly metallic minerals, most non-metallic minerals like salt, gypsum, lime, and structural materials (sand, gravel, stone) come from southern Ontario. The south also has deposits of oil and natural gas. Many Ontario towns have at least one industry connected to forestry. Three quarters of Ontario is forested. The forest industry accounts for 5.8 percent of Ontario's exports. Toronto is the world's fourth- largest capital market; its stock exchange is North America's second-largest by volume and third-largest by value traded. Tourism is also important to the Ontario economy. Ontario manages its wildlife, including game animals, through regulations and volunteer programs. There are hunting quotas, including a selective harvest program for large game.