Toronto

Toronto is Canada's largest city and the capital of the province of Ontario. In 2006, it had a population of 2.5 million while 5.1 million people lived in the census metropolitan area.

The city is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario.

It is the financial capital of Canada. Its financial industry is referred to as Bay Street after the former location of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Landmarks include the CN Tower, one of the world's tallest structures, as well as its provincial legislature Queen's Park.

The city is home to three universities, the University of Toronto, York University and Ryerson University. Other major cultural institutions include the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

Toronto is also a media center. It is home to four major English-language dailies: the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun and the National Post. The Canadian Broadcasting Centre is located in the city.

The city's current borders were established on January 1, 1998 when the province of Ontario amalgamated the former City of Toronto with its five nearest suburbs: Etobicoke, York, North York, East York and Scarborough.

Before 1998 the former city and these suburbs participated in a regional government known as the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (Metro). The first mayor of the newly amalgamated city was Mel Lastman, the former mayor of North York. The current mayor is David Miller. His term ends in 2010.

The amalgamated City of Toronto is part of a larger region known as the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).