a province in Canada. Area, 1,068,600 sq km; population, 7,988,000 (1973). The capital and largest city is Toronto. Canada’s capital, Ottawa, is located in the province.
Most of Ontario is part of the Canadian Shield (or Laurentian Plateau; maximum elevation, 646 m). Part of the St. Lawrence Lowlands is found in the extreme southeast of the province. The climate is moderate. Average January temperatures range from –6° to – 24°C; average July temperatures, from 12° to 20°C. Annual precipitation measures 500–750 mm. The province has a dense network of rivers, with vast (more than ten gigawatts) waterpower resources. The Great Lakes lie to the south. Much of the land area is forested.
Ontario is Canada’s most economically developed province. Most of the inhabitants live in cities (82.4 percent) and industrial settlements (12.9 percent). The province accounts for more than half of the total output of Canada’s manufacturing industry and a quarter of the total output of the mining industry. Among Ontario’s industries are general machine building and transportation machine building (Toronto), ferrous metallurgy (Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie), the chemical industry (Sarnia), the automobile industry (Windsor, Oshawa, Oakville), and the aircraft industry (Monkton). Ontario is the leading region in Canada for nickel mining (Sudbury basin). It is also one of the country’s principal regions for uranium mining (Blind River). Iron ore, copper, gold, platinum, lead, and zinc are also mined. Agriculture, which is intensive and market-oriented, is concentrated in the south and in the St. Lawrence valley.
L. N. KARPOV
a city in southern California, USA. Population, 64,100; together with the nearby cities of San Bernardino and Riverside and the total suburban population, 1.1 million (1970). The city has plants producing aircraft parts, electrical equipment, tile, and plastics. Wine-making is also important. Ontario is the trading center of an agricultural region (citrus fruits, grapes, dairy cattle, poultry).
the lowest lake in the Great Lakes system of North America, in the USA and Canada. It is approximately 310 km long, with a maximum width of 90 km; it has an area of 19,500 sq km. The maximum depth is 236 m. The lake has a drainage basin of 90,000 sq km.
Lake Ontario receives the flow from the higher lakes by way of the Niagara River. The lake’s outlet is the St. Lawrence River, which is navigable to the Atlantic Ocean. Navigable canals link Lake Ontario with Lake Erie (the Welland Canal) and the Hudson River (the Oswego and Erie canals). The lake freezes over from December through April. On the lake’s shoreline, which is primarily low and smooth, are situated the large cities and ports of Toronto, Hamilton, and Kingston in Canada and Rochester in the USA.