Central Canada

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Central Canada (sometimes the Central provinces) is a region consisting of Canada's two largest and most populous provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Central Canada, with the four Atlantic provinces, form Eastern Canada. The term "Central Canada" is less often used than the names of the individual provinces.

Despite its name, Central Canada is located entirely in the eastern half of the country, with Quebec extending further east than every province, except for Newfoundland and Labrador. Longitudinally, the middle of Canada is a meridian passing just east of Winnipeg, Manitoba; the geographic centre of Canada is located near Arviat, Nunavut. They are called central Canada because the provinces on either side of it are often grouped together as distinct regions historically and politically. Historically, southern Ontario was once called Upper Canada and later Canada West, and southern Quebec Lower Canada and later Canada East. Both were made part of the United Province of Canada in 1841.

Combined, the two provinces have approximately 20 million inhabitants which represents 62% of Canada's population. They are represented in the Canadian House of Commons by 181 MPs (Ontario: 106, Quebec: 75) out of a total of 308. The southern portions of the two provinces — particularly the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor — are the most urbanized and industrialized areas of Canada, containing the country's two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal, and the national capital, Ottawa.

Major population centres in Central Canada

Census Metropolitan Areas, 2007 population estimates

Toronto: 5,406,300
Montreal: 3,666,300
Ottawa-Gatineau: 1,158,300
Quebec City: 723,300
Hamilton: 716,200
London: 465,700
Kitchener: 463,600
St. Catharines–Niagara: 396,800
Oshawa: 344,400
Windsor: 332,100
Sherbrooke: 218,700
Sudbury: 162,000
Kingston: 155,000
Saguenay: 152,100
Trois-Rivières: 142,600
Thunder Bay: 125,400

Central Canada

Major population centres in Central Canada

References

See also