Some people mistakenly think Toronto is the capital of Canada. The mistake is quite acceptable - in terms of population, Toronto surpasses the capital, the city of Ottawa, three times, being the largest city in the country. No wonder so many people would love to know more about this amazing place.
City location and status
First, let's figure out where Toronto is located. The city is located in Ontario, Canada's southernmost province. Nearby is a lake, also called Ontario, which many North American writers have sung about in their books. Despite the fact that the city is located at the same latitude as Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, the climate here is more severe. Toronto is surrounded by numerous lakes - in addition to Ontario, Michigan, Huron, Erie and others are located here. And the Atlantic Ocean is within easy reach. Because of this, the humidity is quite high, and there is a lot of precipitation. However, summer is still hot - the average July temperature is 22 degrees Celsius, but there are also hot days - up to 40 degrees. Winter is quite harsh. In January, the average temperature is about -7 degrees, but it can get as cold as -33 - with high humidity.it is very difficult to endure such a frost.
The city, although not the capital of Canada, is the administrative center of the province. No wonder - it is not in vain called the economic engine of the country. The modern city is one of the most influential cities in the country and even the world. In addition, the area of the city of Toronto exceeds 630 square kilometers - a rather large size.
Located in the time zone -5. Therefore, the time difference between Moscow and Toronto is 8 hours. When people are already returning from work in Moscow, the working day is just beginning in this Canadian city.
History of the city
In the seventeenth century, when there was no city yet, the name Toronto belonged to a vast area. It is believed that the term itself came from the language of the Mohawk Indians and means "a place where trees grow from the water".
At the end of the eighteenth century, the British bought this land from the French - about 1000 square kilometers - and founded a city here, called York. But just twenty years later, in 1813, during the Anglo-American War, the city was almost completely destroyed. When it was rebuilt, they decided to rename it after the name of the area. This is how the future metropolis of Toronto was born.
Toronto's population grew rather slowly, and it would hardly have become any significant if not for the problems in Quebec. Some hotheads demanded that the province gain independence from Canada. It could have escalated into a real civil war.so many people fled from there to the nearest city - it turned out to be Toronto. A sharp jump in population, combined with increased capital (many Quebecers did not run with empty pockets at all) allowed Toronto to break into the lead and gradually consolidate success.
How many people live in Toronto?
As already stated, in terms of population Toronto is the largest city in Canada. According to the 2016 census, 2,731,571 people lived here. Quite a lot, considering that even the capital, Ottawa, boasts only 934,000 inhabitants.
The large population and relatively small area have led to the fact that the population density here is very significant - there are 4,334 people per square kilometer.
Also, many people wonder what language is spoken in Toronto. Predominantly in English, although French is the main official language of Canada. But this is easy to explain - this area, as mentioned above, was bought from the French by the British. And it was populated precisely by people from Foggy Albion. Therefore, there is nothing strange that most of the population here speaks the language of their ancestors - English.
However, every year the proportion of people who prefer English is rapidly declining. It's all about the complex ethnic composition. This is worth talking about in more detail.
Ethnic composition
If we talk about the population of Toronto, it is worth noting its heterogeneity. Back in the mid-1950s, the city was exclusively English - allmigrants who arrived here had to speak it to deal with the locals.
But a lot has changed over the next half century. For example, today every tenth resident of Toronto is a native of India. About 8% of the population are Chinese. Almost 6% of Italians and Filipinos. Canada's largest Muslim community is also located here - about 425,000 people - almost one-sixth!
Moreover, many migrants prefer to live on welfare, not intending to learn the language. In recent years, this has increasingly become the cause of serious conflicts between visitors and natives.
Main Attractions
Learning where Toronto is located and how many people live here, many readers will be interested to read about the sights - there are plenty of them here!
For example, the CN Tower is a 553-meter-high TV tower with a revolving restaurant and high-speed elevators at the top.
Very beautiful mansion Casa Loma, built in the early twentieth century in neo-Gothic style - a real castle in a modern city!
RATH is a real underground city. To save space on the surface, many skyscrapers have several underground floors, where restaurants, shops, even fountains and small parks are located. Under the ground, the buildings are interconnected by underground passages, the total length of which exceeds 30 kilometers. It will really be interesting for any tourist to visit here.
Conclusion
This concludes the article. You have learned a lot of interesting things about Canada's largest city. Now you know about the population of Toronto, the history of this city, as well as the most attractive tourist attractions.
