|
OttawaCapital of Canada, in eastern Ontario, on the hills overlooking the Ottawa River, and divided by the Rideau Canal (1832) into the Upper (western) and Lower (eastern) towns; population (2001 est) 774,100, in a metropolitan area (with adjoining Hull, Québec) of 1,063,700. Industries include engineering, hi-tech and information technology, telecommunications, biotechnology, food-processing, publishing, lumber, and the manufacture of pulp, paper, textiles, and leather products. Government, and community and health services employ a large section of the workforce. Ottawa was founded 1826–32 as Bytown, in honour of John By (1781–1836), whose army engineers were building the Rideau Canal. In 1854 it was renamed after the Ottawa River, the name deriving from the Outaouac, native Canadian Algonquin people of the area. History The site of Ottawa was explored in 1613 by Samuel de Champlain, who named the Rideau River and the Chaudière Falls, but permanent settlement was not established until the 19th century. In 1800 the lumber centre of Wrightsville (or Wright's Town, later Hull) was founded on the northern side of the Ottawa River, but the southern shore was not settled until 1826, when Bytown evolved around the headquarters of the Rideau Canal project. The town developed alongside Hull as a timber and fur-trading centre, and was renamed Ottawa on its incorporation in 1855. As capital of the United Provinces of Canada in 1858, its territory comprised parts of Québec and Ontario. On confederation in 1867, it retained its position, becoming capital of the Dominion of Canada. After the coming of the railway in 1870, it grew rapidly as a distribution centre for lumber to the expanding towns of southern Canada. Pulp and paper industries were established later to process trees unsuitable for sawn timber, using hydroelectricity generated on the Ottawa River. Features The National Art Gallery, which contains over 25,000 works of art; the Museum of Contemporary Photography (1985), with over 158,000 images; the National Archives (1872); the National Gallery of Canada (1880); the National Library (1953); the Canadian War Museum (1880); the Canadian Museum of Nature (1990); and the National Museum of Science and Technology. The Canadian Museum of Civilization (1989), which contains one of the world's largest collection of totem poles, is located in Hull, Québec, on the opposite shore of the river, a town linked to Ottawa by four bridges. |
Location Ottawa is situated at the head of navigation on the Ottawa River, between the Chaudière and Rideau Falls, where the Ottawa River Valley widens out from the Canadian Shield, an ancient, highly-eroded mountain system. The Rideau Canal enables access for small vessels to Lake Ontario at Kingston, 145 km/90 mi to the south; the 200 km/125 mi-long waterway incorporates a chain of lakes. The city lies on the Trans-Canada Highway, and the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific main railway lines, 355 km/222 mi northeast of Toronto and 177 km/110 mi west of Montréal. |
Architecture Religious foundations include the Roman Catholic cathedral of Notre Dame, and Christ Church Cathedral. Rideau Hall, the residence of the governor-general, is situated in the suburb of New Edinburgh. The three neo-Gothic Parliament Buildings 1859–65, with bright green copper roofs, dominate the city from their position on Parliament Hill in Upper Town. The central building is a 1920s reconstruction of the original which was destroyed by fire in 1916, and is surmounted by the 89 m/293 ft-high Peace Tower. Ottawa's oldest building is the Commissariat (1827), originally used as an office and storehouse during the construction of the Rideau Canal, now Bytown Museum. The city is regularly laid out in rectangular blocks. In the late 1940s, it received a facelift from Parisian architect Jacques Greber, who created numerous parks and tree-lined avenues. |
Culture Ottawa has 29 museums and galleries. The National Arts Centre (1969) comprises conference halls, an opera house, theatre, and arts complex. Ottawa's Tulip Festival, held annually in May, began in 1945, when Holland sent 100,000 bulbs to show their gratitude for Canada's role in liberating their country. The Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the world's largest of its kind, has been held annually since 1993. |
| Major universities are the University of Ottawa (established 1848 as the College of Bytown) and Carleton University (which dates back to the 1942 foundation of Carleton College). |
Ottawa| Member of an American Indian people of the Great Lakes region, who originated from Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, and expanded around Georgian Bay, Canada in the 1630s. Formerly part of the Chippewa, they share an Algonquian linguistic heritage. The Ottawa were hunter-gatherers and traders, using birch-bark canoes. As middlemen to the Huron–French fur trade, they were attacked by rival Iroquois in the 17th century and pushed into Michigan and Wisconsin. Fighting against British colonization included the Pontiac Rebellion (1763–64) led by Chief Pontiac. The Ottawa now live in Michigan, Kansas, and Oklahoma, USA (population 6,400 (2000)); and Ontario, Canada (population 4,000), including Manitoulin Island. |
| The Ottawa hunted game, fished, and gathered wild rice. They lived in bark-covered wigwams in small semi-permanent settlements. They were long-established traders before European contact, travelling in their birch-bark canoes as far east as Québec and as far west as Wisconsin to trade cornmeal, furs, tobacco, and other goods. The Ottawa were divided into four or five sections, each subdivided into further bands. |
| Through the Huron, the Ottawa traded with the French in Canada, exchanging furs for European-made tools, cloth, beads, and other goods. Eventually, the Iroquois defeated the Huron (1649), then the Ottawa (1660), ending the trade circle. In response to the warring Iroquois, the Ottawa dispersed into smaller groups that fled to Wisconsin and Michigan. Many Ottawa returned to Manitoulin Island a decade later after the French promised to protect them. The Ottawa sided with the French during the French and Indian wars (1689–1763). The great Ottawa chief, Pontiac, tried to unite the various American Indian peoples of the Great Lakes to revolt against the British, while remaining friendly with the French. He managed to form a confederation between the Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, and Miami, and led a series of attacks referred to as Pontiac's Rebellion or Pontiac's Conspiracy, but although many British died, the British forces ultimately won. In the 19th century, many Ottawa were pushed west by white settlers. Some were settled in Kansas between 1831 and 1836, and many were then relocated to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma in 1867. |
Ottawa| River in eastern Canada; length 1,271 km/790 mi. It rises in the Candian Shield and flows east through southern Québec and into the St Lawrence River near Montréal. During its course it widens into numerous Large lakes, and is fed by many tributaries. Hydroelectric schemes along its course supply energy for Québec and Ontario. |
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
?Sign in  |
|---|
|
|
|