Windsor, Ontario

Windsor (ⁱ/ˈwɪnzər/), Ontario is the southernmost city in Canada. It is located on the southern shore of the Detroit River, directly across the river from Detroit, Michigan. Windsor is a major contributor to Canada's automotive industry and has much to offer by means of a storied history and a diverse culture.

History

Prior to European exploration and settlement, the Windsor area was inhabited by the First Nations and American Indian people. Windsor was settled by the French in 1749 as an agricultural settlement. It is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Canada west of Montreal. The area was first named Petite Côte ("Little Coast" – as opposed to the longer coastline on the Detroit side of the river). Later it was called La Côte de Misère ("Poverty Coast") because of the sandy soils near LaSalle.

Windsor's French Canadian heritage is reflected in many French street names, such as Ouellette, Pelissier, François, Pierre, Langlois, Marentette, and Lauzon. The current street system of Windsor (a grid with elongated blocks) reflects the Canadien method of agricultural land division, where the farms were long and narrow, fronting along the river. Today, the north-south street name often indicates the name of the family that at one time farmed the land where the street is now located. The street system of outlying areas is consistent with the British system for granting land concessions. There is a significant French-speaking minority in Windsor and the surrounding area, particularly in the Lakeshore, Tecumseh and LaSalle areas.

Ontario

Ontario (ⁱ/ɒnˈtɛərioʊ/) is one of the ten provinces of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province by a large margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians, and is the second largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, 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. All of Ontario's 2,700 km (1,678 mi) border with the United States follows inland waterways: from the west at Lake of the Woods, eastward along the major rivers and lakes of the Great Lakes/Saint Lawrence River drainage system. These are the Rainy River, the Pigeon River, Lake Superior, the St. Marys 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.