Ontario is Canada's most populous province, home to over 38.5% of the national population, and the second-largest by total area. Centrally located, it encompasses both the nation's capital, Ottawa, and its own bustling provincial capital and most populous city, Toronto. The name "Ontario," officially adopted at Confederation in 1867, originates from Indigenous terms meaning "great lake" or "beautiful water," fittingly for a province boasting approximately 250,000 freshwater lakes.
The province exhibits a striking regional divide: densely populated Southern Ontario thrives on manufacturing, while the vast, forested Northern Ontario (covering 87% of the land) relies heavily on mining and forestry. Bordered to the south by the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River, connecting it to several U.S. states, Ontario features iconic natural wonders like Niagara Falls, the mineral-rich Canadian Shield, and the navigable Saint Lawrence Seaway.