Sometimes one may come across the following question: what is it, Ontario? This name has several meanings and is known to almost everyone in North America. Ontario is the name of a lake and province in Canada. These values will be discussed in more detail in the article.
What is Ontario?
As mentioned above, one of the meanings of the word is a Canadian province. It is located in the central part of Canada and stretches from the Hudson Bay, located in the north of the country, to the Great Lakes in the south.
For Canada, the importance of Ontario is difficult to overestimate, because this province is the second largest after the province of Quebec. Despite the fact that it is the second largest in size, the largest number of people live here. Also, this province is the most economically developed in the whole country.
Considering the meaning of the word "Ontario", or rather, the province in Canada bearing this name, it is worth noting that its capital is the city of Toronto. An interesting fact is that the capital of the country, also located in this province, is smaller than the capital of the province itself. According to statistics from 2016, more than 14 million people lived in Ontario, which is 40% of the total population of the entire country. In the provincial capital, there is a world famous team - Toronto Maple Leaves. After all, as you know, maple is considered a symbol of Canada, it is found in the names quite often.
One of the Great Lakes
Continuing consideration of the question of what Ontario is, one should pay attention to the lake, which is located in Canada, as well as the province mentioned above. However, this reservoir is located in the United States. It belongs to the so-called Great Lakes and is the smallest in area and volume of water among them. However, this lake is the fifth largest in North America.
What is Ontario in the sense of its original meaning? The name of the lake comes from the Indian language of the Huron tribe. Ontario, translated from their language, means "lake of shining waters." In fact, the Canadian province owes its name to the lake. On ancient maps that have been preserved in museums in Canada, this lake is called Ondiara. On later maps, it is already called Frontenac.
The lake has an area of 19.6 thousand km 2 , its length is about 312 km, and its width is almost 86 km. On average, the depth of the pond is 86 m, and the maximum is 245 m. The Niagara River flows into Ontario, which is also famous for forming a famous waterfall.
In the 19th century, Lake Ontario became an important shipping artery of the USA and Canada. Thanks to the development of the transport system, people began to inhabit the lake shore and the birth of industry began. However, gradually the ecological system not only of Ontario, but also of other Great Lakes, began to rapidly deteriorate. This was due to the large volume of wastewater that was discharged into water bodies by various industrial enterprises and urban sewers.
Ontario Lake in the 20th Century
In the 80s of the XX century, the level of pollution became critical, the lake once with clear water became unrecognizable. Its surface was overgrown with algae, which prevented the penetration of light and oxygen into the reservoir, as a result of which the mass death of fish began.
Realizing the scale of the disaster, the US and Canadian authorities drastically reduced the level of wastewater and industrial waste. It was at that time that people came to realize what Ontario was. In addition to being a very important transport artery for the two countries, first of all it is a lake from which drinking water is taken.
Lake revival
After reducing emissions into the sewage lake, the environmental situation gradually improved. Also, the legislation of both countries influenced its improvement, which significantly limited industrial activity not only in the water body of the reservoir, but also in the adjacent territories.
The population of fish of various breeds gradually recovered in the lake, which immediately attracted numerous fishing enthusiasts here. It is worth noting that commercial fishing on Lake Ontario is prohibited both in the waters of Canada and the United States.
Today, the lake is protected by the state; several nature reserves and natural parks are located on its coastal territories. There is also a museum of ancient ships and the Singer Castle.
We hope that our article answered the question of what Ontario is and helped to find out not only about the meaning of this word, but also about the world around us.