Ontario is one of the ten provinces of Canada, located in east-central Canada.  It is Canada's most populous province, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians, and is the second largest province in total area.

 

Ontario is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa.  The nation's most populous city is Toronto.

 

Ontario is bordered by the province of Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the north, and Quebec to the east, and to the south by the US states of (from west to east) Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

​

The province is named after Lake Ontario, a term thought to be derived from Ontarí:io, a Huron (Wyandot) word meaning "great lake", or possibly skanadario, which means "beautiful water" in the Iroquoian languages. 

 

Despite the absence of any mountainous terrain in the province, there are large areas of uplands, particularly within the Canadian Shield which traverses the province from northwest to southeast and also above the Niagara Escarpment which crosses the south. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands.

​

The climate of Ontario varies by season and location. It is affected by three air sources: cold, dry, arctic air from the north; Pacific polar air crossing in from the western Canadian Prairies/US Northern Plains; and warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. In general, most of Ontario's climate is classified as humid continental. 

​

Toronto experiences particularily hot conditions during the summer months, and moderate to cool temperatures during the winter.  

​

​