- published: 11 Oct 2013
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Ontario /ɒnˈtɛərioʊ/ is one of the provinces of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province or territory and fourth largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa.
Ontario is bordered by the province of Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay to the north, Quebec to the east, and to the south by the U.S. states of Minnesota, Michigan (portions to the west), New York (portions to the east), Ohio and Pennsylvania. All but a small part of Ontario's 2,700 km (1,677 mi) border with the United States follow inland waterways: from the west at Lake of the Woods, eastward along the major rivers and lakes of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River drainage system. These are the Rainy River, the Pigeon River, Lake Superior, the St. Mary's River, Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and along the St. Lawrence River from Kingston, Ontario to the Quebec boundary just east of Cornwall, Ontario.
Franco-Ontarians (French: Franco-Ontariens or Franco-Ontariennes if female) are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as "Ontarois".
According to the 2006 Canadian census, there were 488,815 francophones in Ontario (declaring one mother tongue), comprising 4.1 per cent of the province's total population. A further 44,040 Ontarians declared French to be one of multiple mother tongues. Franco-Ontarians constitute the largest French-speaking community outside of Quebec, as well as the largest minority language group within Ontario.
The francophone population is concentrated in Eastern Ontario, in Ottawa, Cornwall and many rural farming communities, and in Northeastern Ontario, in the cities of Sudbury, North Bay and Timmins and a number of smaller towns. Other communities with notable francophone populations are Toronto, Windsor, Penetanguishene and Welland. Most communities in Ontario have at least a few Franco-Ontarian residents.