Kitchener
City in southwestern Ontario, Canada, 96 km/60 mi west of Toronto and 145 km/90 mi northwest of the Niagara Falls; population (2001 est) 190,400; population of metropolitan area (with Waterloo) 414,300. It lies at an altitude of 335 m/1,099 ft in the fertile valley of the Grand River, and is twinned with the neighbouring city of Waterloo. Formerly seat of Waterloo County, Kitchener became part of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in 1973. Kitchener is the centre of a rich agricultural district; industries, which were stimulated by cheap electricity from the Niagara Falls after 1910, include the manufacturing of agricultural machinery, tyres, processed food, textiles, and electrical equipment.
History
Kitchener was settled by Germans from Pennsylvania in the 1800s, who purchased land here in 1805. It was first known as the Sand Hills in a community called Ebytown (after a Mennonite bishop, the Reverend Eby, who founded it). The name Berlin was adopted in 1826. Berlin was incorporated as a town in 1871 and as a city in 1912; in 1916 the name was changed in commemoration of Lord (Horatio)
Kitchener of Khartoum.
| Kitchener was the birthplace of William Lyon MacKenzie King who was several times prime minister of Canada in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. King's home is a National Historic Site. |
