Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located on the southern part of the Ottawa River and the eastern part of Southern Ontario. According to the 2016 population estimate, Ottawa has a city population of 964,743. The Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) has a population of 1,323,783. This makes Ottawa the fourth largest city in Canada as well as the fifth largest CMA in the country. Moreover, Ottawa is the second largest city in Ontario, after Toronto.
The city was formerly known as Bytown when it was founded in 1826. However, it was incorporated as Ottawa in 1855. The city was named after the Ottawa River; the River’s name was derived from the Algonquin Odawa which means “to trade”.
Ottawa has the most educated population among all the Canadian cities. It has a high standard of living and low unemployment. The city was ranked by Mercer with the third highest quality of living of any large city in America and 16th highest in the world. Most Ottawa residents are employed in high tech industries and public service sectors. A sizable number of the population is employed in healthcare and tourism.
The city is an important technology center with an enormous concentration of technology industries which has earned it the name “Silicon Valley North”. It has the regional locations for HP, Bell Canada, Nokia, Adobe, 3M and so forth. The city also has several national museums such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian War Museum, the Canadian Museum of Nature and so forth.
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