介绍加拿大首都 ottawa．全英文

Ottawa (i/ˈɒtəwɑː/ or /ˈɒtəwə/) is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country.[3] The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, located on the north bank of the Ottawa River; together they form the National Capital Region (NCR).[6]

The 2006 census had the city's population as 812,129,[3] and the metropolitan population as 1,130,761.[5] In 2009, Ottawa-Gatineau's population was estimated at 1,220,674, fifth among census metropolitan areas in Canada.[7] Mercer ranked Ottawa with the second highest quality of living of any in the Americas, and 14th highest in the world.[8] It was also considered the second cleanest city in Canada, and third cleanest city in the world.[9]

Founded in 1826 as Bytown and incorporated as "Ottawa" in 1855, the city has evolved into a political and technological center of Canada. Its original boundaries were expanded through numerous minor annexations and ultimately replaced by a new city incorporation and major amalgamation in 2001 which significantly increased its land area.

The name "Ottawa" is derived from the Algonquin word adawe, meaning "to trade".[10] Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley was home to the Algonquin people prior to the arrival of Europeans during the fur and subsequent lumber trade eras. Initially an Irish and French Christian settlement,[11] Ottawa has become a multicultural - bilingual city with a diverse population.[12]

History

Étienne Brûlé, the first European to travel up the Ottawa River, passed by Ottawa in 1610 on his way to the Great Lakes.[13] Samuel de Champlain three years later on his trip wrote about the waterfalls of the area, and about his encounters with the Algonquins, a people who have been using the Ottawa River for centuries.[14] They called the river Kichi Sibi or Kichissippi' meaning "Great River" or "Grand River".[15] These early explorers were later followed by many missionaries.[13][16][17]

Philemon Wright, a New Englander, created the first settlement in the area on March 7, 1800, on the north side of the river, across from Ottawa in Hull.[18][19] He, with five other families and twenty-five labourers,[15] set about to create an agricultural community[20] called Wrightsville and Wright pioneered the Ottawa Valley timber trade (soon to be the most significant economic activity) by transporting timber by river from the Ottawa Valley to Quebec City.[21]

Bytown (Ottawa's early name) came about because of the Rideau Canal, on which preliminary work began in 1826,[22] the year of Bytown's founding. Its construction was overseen by Colonel John By, and was intended to provide a secure route between Montreal and Kingston on Lake Ontario, bypassing the stretch of the St. Lawrence River bordering New York State.[23] Colonel By set up a military barracks on the site of today's Parliament Hill. He also laid out the streets of town with its "Upper Town" and "Lower Town" separated by the canal. Bytown's population grew to 1,000 as the Rideau Canal was being completed in 1832.[24][25] Bytown was renamed Ottawa in 1855, when it was incorporated as a city.[26]

On December 31, 1857, Queen Victoria was asked to choose a common capital for the Province of Canada and chose Ottawa.[27] The Queen's advisers suggested she pick Ottawa for several reasons:[28] Ottawa's position in the back country made it more defensible, while still allowing easy transportation over the Ottawa River. Ottawa was at a point nearly exactly midway between Toronto and Quebec City (500 kilometres (310 mi)),[29] and that the smaller size of the town made it less likely that politically motivated mobs could go on a rampage and destroy government buildings, as had happened in the previous Canadian capitals.[30]

The Centre Block on Parliament Hill under construction in 1863.
Starting in the 1850's large sawmills began to be erected by entrepreneurs, known as lumber barons, and would become some of the largest in the world.[31] Rail lines erected in 1854 connected Ottawa to areas south, and to the transcontinental rail network via Hull and Lachute, Quebec in 1886.[32] Between 1910 and 1912, the Chateau Laurier, and a downtown Union Station would be constructed.[33] Public transportation began in 1870 with a horsecar system.[34], overtaken in the 1890s by a vast electric streetcar system that would last until 1959. The Hull-Ottawa fire of 1900 destroyed two thirds of Hull, including 40 per cent of its residential buildings and most of its largest employers along the waterfront.[35] The fire also spread across the Chaudière Bridge and destroyed about one fifth of Ottawa from the Lebreton Flats south to Booth Street and down to Dow's Lake.[36] The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings were destroyed by fire on February 3, 1916.[37] The House of Commons and Senate were temporarily relocated to the recently constructed Victoria Memorial Museum, now the Canadian Museum of Nature[38] until the completion of the new Centre Block in 1922, the centrepiece of which is a dominant Gothic revival styled structure known as the Peace Tower.[39]

Urban planner Jacques Greber was hired in the 1940s to work on a master plan for the National Capital Region (the Greber Plan).[40] Jacques Greber was the creator of the National Capital Greenbelt, the Parkway System, as well as many other projects throughout the NCR.[41] He was also responsible for the removal of the streetcar system and closing down historic downtown Union Station (now Government Conference Centre) in favour of a suburban station several kilometres to the east.[42] In the 1960s through 1980s, the National Capital Region experienced a building boom.[43] This was followed by large growth in the high-tech industry during the 1990s and 2000s.[44] In 2001, in an amalgamation legislated by the Province, all twelve existing municipalities in the area were terminated and replaced by a new incorporation of the City of Ottawa.[

Geography
In view from left to right: Gatineau the Ottawa River and Downtown Ottawa
Ottawa is situated on the south bank of the Ottawa River, and contains the mouths of the Rideau River and Rideau Canal.[46] The oldest part of the city (including what remains of Bytown) is known as Lower Town, and occupies an area between the canal and the rivers. Across the canal to the west lies Centretown and Downtown Ottawa, which is the city's financial and commercial hub. As of June 29, 2007, the Rideau Canal, which stretches 202 km (126 mi) to Kingston, Fort Henry and four Martello towers in the Kingston area was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[47]

Located on a major, yet mostly dormant fault line,[48] Ottawa is occasionally struck by earthquakes. Examples include a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on January 1, 2000,[49] a magnitude 4.5 earthquake on February 24, 2006,[50] a magnitude 5.0 earthquake on June 23, 2010.[51]

Across the Ottawa River, which forms the border between Ontario and Quebec, lies the city of Gatineau, itself the result of amalgamation of the former Quebec cities of Hull and Aylmer together with Gatineau.[52] Although formally and administratively separate cities in two separate provinces, Ottawa and Gatineau (along with a number of nearby municipalities) collectively constitute the National Capital Region, with a combined population exceeding one million residents, which is considered a single metropolitan area. One federal crown corporation (the National Capital Commission, or NCC) has significant land holdings in both cities, including sites of historical and touristic importance. The NCC, through its responsibility for planning and development of these lands, is an important contributor to both cities. Around the main urban area is an extensive greenbelt, administered by the National Capital Commission for conservation and leisure, and comprising mostly forest, farmland and marshland.[53]

Canada's capital city could hardly be lovelier. Perched upon Parliament Hill are Ottawa's gothic government buildings, set against the slow-moving Ottawa River. Miles of late-Victorian brick houses dot neighborhoods. Canadian art and history are on display at museums throughout the city, including the impressive Canadian Museum of Civilization. Ottawa makes it easy to enjoy its beauty through outdoor pursuits. The tidy, hand-dug Rideau Canal has bisected this city since 1832 and remains popular with cruisers, bicyclists and ice skaters.

History

Since its founding in 1855, Ottawa has changed with the times, including how the city is governed. In 2001, the new City of Ottawa was created with the amalgamation of the Region of Ottawa-Carleton and 11 local municipalities: Cumberland, Gloucester, Goulbourn, Kanata, Nepean, Osgoode, Ottawa, Rideau, Rockcliffe Park, Vanier, and West Carleton.

What Ottawa Looks Like Now

With amalgamation, Ottawa is the fourth-largest city in Canada, with a population of 854,000. Comprising 2,760 square kilometres and spanning over 110 kilometres from east to west, Ottawa's area is a little over 8% urban and almost 92% rural. In fact, Ottawa is now the largest farming city in the country, with more farming revenue than Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary combined. Over 150 communities, from quiet rural villages to vibrant urban neighbourhoods, are part of the new Ottawa.

With amalgamation, Ottawa is the fourth-largest city in Canada, with a population of 854,000. Comprising 2,760 square kilometres and spanning over 110 kilometres from east to west, Ottawa's area is a little over 8% urban and almost 92% rural.

With the third strongest metropolitan job market in Canada, Ottawa and its employment opportunities draw a wide range of people. Ottawa's active workforce includes 78,000 in advanced technology, 73,000 in the federal government, 70,000 in health and education, and 57,000 in trades.

Population trends, however, run almost exactly inverse to Ottawa's geographical urban/rural division. Since amalgamation, rural areas have accounted for only about 7% of population growth, with urban and suburban neighbourhoods absorbing the other 93%. Approximately 30% of urban and suburban population growth occurred in the area of the city inside the 20,000-hectare swath of federally owned land known as the Greenbelt. Suburban growth nodes lying outside the Greenbelt - including Kanata, Stittsville, South Nepean (Barrhaven), South Gloucester (Riverside South), Orléans and Leitrim - accounted for the rest of the increase, and have been experiencing the greatest growth.

The People of Ottawa
Within Ottawa's communities are the most highly educated citizens in Canada. Almost 50% of residents hold a post-secondary degree, certificate or diploma. While Ottawa has the largest percentage of seniors in Ontario, and the second-largest percentage in Canada, Ottawa is also a young city. Among the nation's largest cities, Ottawa is one of the youngest, with nearly half of the population under the age of 35.
Ottawa's Economic Engine
With the third strongest metropolitan job market in Canada, Ottawa and its employment opportunities draw a wide range of people. Ottawa's active workforce includes 78,000 in advanced technology, 73,000 in the federal government, 70,000 in health and education, and 57,000 in trades.
Ottawa is a growing community. In the last five-year census period, Ottawa outstripped all Canadian cities in central city housing starts.
Ottawa is Canada's Largest farming city, with more revenue from farming than the country's five other largest cities combined.

Ottawa's Healthy, Vibrant Lifestyles

While people come to Ottawa to make a living, they stay because of the style of living the city affords. A higher percentage of people in Ottawa walk to work than in any other large city in Canada. Ottawa also has the highest percentage of those who commute by bicycle to work, and the lowest percentage of people who drive to work.

Widely recognized as one of the greenest metropolitan areas in North America, Ottawa offers citizens year-round access to an impressive number of woodlands, wildlife habitats, rivers and streams. An extensive network of recreational paths connects urban, suburban and rural residents alike to the city's abundant green space.

The city's green space is balanced by an impressive urban recreational infrastructure. Throughout all four seasons, Ottawa's wide range of recreational programs and services facilitate and encourage activity for residents of all ages and levels of ability. From summer camps to public outdoor skating rinks and tennis courts, and from Aquafitness programs to cross-country skiing classes and skate board parks, the emphasis is on healthy and active living.

Progressing Towards 2020

As Ottawa moves towards the year 2020, seven key principles will ensure that Ottawa maintains its very best qualities as it grows, building upon these core characteristics that make Ottawa the vibrant city it already is.

This annual report documents the City's progress in fulfilling these seven principles and in reaching its goals.