Situated in the beautiful province of Ontario, Toronto is the most populated city in the country of Canada. The city sits on the north western edge of Lake Ontario. It has a population of nearly 2.7 million people. This in turn makes it the fifth most populated city in all of North America.
The greater metro area of Toronto has a population of over 54.5 million. Toronto sits in the centre of the Greater Toronto Area, and the region of Southern Ontario that it occupies is often referred to as the Golden Horseshoe. The city is an extremely multi culturally rich environment, and it has been a destination that welcomes immigrants from all over the world. Approximately 49% of the population of Toronto were born outside Canada.
Subsequently, it has a very cosmopolitan culture that flows through in all areas. According to the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, the city is categorised as an alpha city, and the city is ranked year in and year out as one of the most liveable cities in the world.
Toronto certainly has had its share of bad luck during its establishment. It was originally purchased by the British in the late 18th Century from the native Indian Mississaugas of the New Credit. The early settlers of the area referred to the region as York. Then it was basically trashed during the War of 1812, funnily enough, during the Battle of York. It was then in 1834 that York was proclaimed a city, and they changed the name to Toronto. The city was then damaged badly in two massive fires in 1849 and 1904. Is that a run of bad luck or what?
The city has more than 50 ballet and dance companies, 2 symphony orchestras and 6 opera companies, and a swag of theatres. As you can tell, the theatre and performing arts industry is booming in Toronto.
There is just an absolute overabundance of sights to take in whilst in Toronto, such as the CN Tower, Leviathon, the Harbourfront Centre, the Royal Ontario Museum, Medieval Times Toronto, the Black Creek Pioneer Village, the Toronto Zoo, the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Ontario Science Centre, the Art Gallery of Ontario, LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, the Rogers Centre, the Air Canada Centre, Historic Fort York, the Bata Shoe Museum, the Spadina Historic House and Gardens, the Yonge Dundas Square, Exhibition Place, Casa Loma, Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, Wild Water Kingdom, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, the Centreville Amusement Park, Mel Lastman Square, Nathan Phillips Square, The Second City, The Distillery Historic District, the Woodbine & Mohawk Racetracks, the African Lion Safari and Playdium Mississauga.
Then of course there are the media festivals that the city hosts such as the Toronto African Film & Music Festival, the Toronto Independent Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, Commffest, the AGH BMO World Film Festival and the Toronto Palestine Film Festival.
Then just to add some spice to the mix the following are some of the other major festivals that the city hosts such as the Waterfront Festival, World Pride, the Junction Summer Solstice Festival, the Fusion of Taste, the Taste of Asia Festival, the Taste of Lawrence Festival, the Franco Fete, Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto aka, Caribana, Salsa on St. Clair, BIG on Bloor, the Chinatown Festival, the Beaches Jazz Festival, the Taste of the Danforth, the Festival of South Asia, Scotiabank Buskerfest, the Taste of the Kingsway, the Cabbagetown Festival of the Arts, the Toronto Ukranian Festival and the Roncesvalles Polish Festival.