Ontario Map, Canada

Map of the Canadian province of Ontario (on the right) from the Atlas of Canada Reference Map Series, Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation, printed in 2014.

Ontario is the southernmost and the country's most populous province of Canada, home to 38% of the country's population. It is the second-largest province by total area, after Quebec. Ontario is home to the nation's capital, Ottawa, and its most populous city, Toronto, which is Ontario's provincial capital.

The great majority of Ontario's residents and arable land are in Southern Ontario. Agriculture remains a significant industry of the province, but the region's economy depends highly on manufacturing. Northern Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and heavy forestation, with mining and forestry making up the region's major industries.

Indians were the first people to settle on the lands of Ontario, about 11,000 years ago, after crossing the Bering land bridge from Asia to North America between 25,000 and 50,000 years ago. During the Archaic period, which lasted from 8000 to 1000 BC, the population slowly increased, with a generally egalitarian hunter-gatherer society and a warmer climate. In southern Ontario during the 15th century, the population of some villages numbered in the thousands, with longhouses that could house over a hundred people.

A cougar (Puma concolor) in the Ontario mountains. Mountain Lion or cougar is Canada's largest and most powerful wildcat. Males can reach up to two meters in length and weigh over 60 kg. In Ontario, cougars are believed to most likely live in northern Ontario because of the remoteness of the habitat.