Ottawa

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Ottawa: Rideau Canal and Parliament Buildings

Ottawa, city, capital of Canada, located in southeastern Ontario. In the eastern extreme of the province, Ottawa is situated on the south bank of the Ottawa River across from Gatineau, Quebec, at the confluence of the Ottawa (Outaouais), Gatineau, and Rideau rivers. The Ottawa River (some 790 miles [1,270 km] long), the principal tributary of the St. Lawrence River, was a key factor in the city’s settlement and development; its watershed, covering more than 57,000 square miles (148,000 square km), facilitated the transport of resources such as furs, timber, and minerals from the region. The river’s Chaudière Falls, just west of the Rideau Canal, while initially a navigational hazard for the fur trade and later for the transport of logging rafts, ultimately proved to be an asset in the production of hydroelectric power for the city and a boon to the growth of industry.

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Parliament Buildings

Originally a trading and lumbering community that grew into a town of regional significance, Ottawa was named the capital of the Province of Canada in 1857 and retained that status when Canada became a dominion within the British Commonwealth in 1867. Because of its location on the boundary between English-speaking Ontario and French-speaking Quebec and its position as national capital, Ottawa is one of the most bilingual cities in the country. Area, 1,077 square miles (2,790 square km); Ottawa-Gatineau metro. area, 2,427 square miles (6,287 square km). Pop. (2011) 883,391; Ottawa-Gatineau metro. area, 1,254,919; (2021) 1,017,449; Ottawa-Gatineau metro. area, 1,488,307.