Toronto, Ontario

Toronto is Canada's largest city and the capital of the province of Ontario.

It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario.

The city is the financial capital of Canada, with its financial district referred to as Bay Street.

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.

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 current borders of the City of Toronto were established on January 1, 1998 when the province of Ontario amalgamated the former City of Toronto with five suburban municipalities: Etobicoke, York, North York, East York and Scarborough. Despite amalgamation, these names are still in common use.

Before 1998 the former City and its suburbs had formed a municipal federation known as Metropolitan Toronto or Metro for short. Each municipality had its own mayor and council, but also sent representatives to Metro council, which in turn elected a chair. 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). In speaking about the GTA, local residents often refer to the 416 and 905 areas. These are telephone area codes. The 416 is used as colloquial shorthand for the city proper, while the 905 refers to the surrounding suburbs. These terms are also widely used by local media.