For other uses of "Ottawa", see Ottawa (disambiguation).
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, located in the province of Ontario. The population as of 2001 was approximately 822,600 people. The Ottawa region has a population of approximately 1,110,498. The mayor of the city today (2003) is Bob Chiarelli.
Ottawa sits on the Ottawa River, which divides Quebec from Ontario. It is a bilingual city. The majority of its residents speak English and a significant minority speak French. A majority of the residents of the Quebec city of Gatineau, directly across the river from Ottawa, speak French.
The Rideau Canal, which starts in Kingston, Ontario, wends its way through the city.
The final flight of locks on the canal are adjacent to the Parliament Buildings.
Location
The changing of the guards in front of the Parliament of Canada. |
Some of the notable buildings in Ottawa include the Parliament Buildings, where Canada's government resides; 24 Sussex Drive, the home of the Prime Minister of Canada; and Rideau Hall, the home of the Governor-General of Canada. Ottawa also has several museums, including the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian War Museum, Canada Science and Technology Museum, and Canadian Museum of Nature. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is located across the Ottawa River in Gatineau, Quebec. It is also the proud home of the University of Ottawa and Carleton University.
Ottawa is served by Macdonald-Cartier International Airport.
Every spring, Ottawa receives a gift of several hundred thousand tulips from the royal family of the Netherlands. This is in gratitude for the city's having hosted the royal family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during the Second World War. In particular, Queen Juliana gave birth to her daughter Princess Margriet in the city, in a hospital whose maternity ward was temporarily declared to be officially part of the Netherlands so that the princess might be born on Dutch soil. The tulips are considered a welcome harbinger of spring in the capital region, and a tulip festival permits residents to see them at their best advantage.
Ottawa's primary employers are the Canadian federal government and high technology. Many publicly traded companies such as Nortel, Alcatel, JDS Uniphase, Mitel and Corel have offices in the city.
Ottawa is home to two major league sports team, the Ottawa Senators (established 1992) of the National Hockey League and the Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League. It is also home to the AAA farm team of the Baltimore Orioles, the Ottawa Lynx of the International League, and the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League.
The Ottawa region was long home to First Nations peoples who were part of the Algonquin. The first European settlement in the Ottawa region was that of Philemon Wright who started a community on the Quebec side of the river in 1800. Wright discovered that trasnporting timber by river from the Ottawa Valley to Montreal was possible and Ottawa was soon booming based almost entirely off timber. The city grew even further in importance when the Rideau Canal was constructed by Colonel John By. The city was then known as Bytown, but it was incorporated as Ottawa in 1855.
On December 31, 1857 Queen Victoria, asked to settle a dispute between Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, Kingston and Ottawa, chose Ottawa to be the capital of Canada. This decison was made because it was midway between the centres of French and English population. The city was also far further from the American border and was thus safer from attack than the other options.
The original Parliament Buildings in Ottawa were burned down on February 3, 1916.
In 2001, the city of Ottawa was amalgamated with the suburbs of Nepean, Kanata, Gloucester, Rockcliffe Park, Vanier and Cumberland, and the rural townships of West Carleton, Osgoode, Rideau and Goulbourn, to become one municipality.
See also: List of Ottawa mayors
Notable buildings and institutions
Tulip festival
Primary industries
Sports
History
''The dramatic rear view of Parliament Hill, with the
Library of Parliament perched atop the deep gorge of the
Ottawa
River''
