Ottawa

:This article is about the capital city of Canada. For other meanings see Ottawa (disambiguation).

Geography

Ottawa is situated on the south bank of the Ottawa River, and contains the

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mouths of the Rideau River and Rideau Canal. 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 (often just called "downtown"), which is the city's financial and commercial hub. Between here and the Ottawa River, the slight elevation of Parliament Hill is home to many of the capital's landmark government buildings, and is the Legislative seat of Canada.

Related Topics:
Rideau River - Rideau Canal - Bytown - Parliament Hill

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The City of Ottawa includes many urban areas. The main one extends a considerable distance to the east, west and south of the centre, and includes the former cities of Gloucester, Nepean and Vanier the former village of Rockcliffe Park and the suburban communities of Manotick and Orléans. Ottawa shares the area with the Quebec city of Gatineau (formerly comprised of the towns of Gatineau, Hull and Aylmer) across the Ottawa River. The combined population of the two cities exceeds one million residents. 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. In addition to the main urban area, there is the Kanata urban area consisting of the urbanised part of the former city of Kanata and the former village of Stittsville (pop. 70,320). There are also a number of satellite towns and rural communities that are also urban areas (urban fringes) that lie beyond the greenbelt but are administratively part of the Ottawa municipality. These are Constance Bay (pop. 2,327); Kars (pop. 1,539); Metcalfe (pop. 1,610); Munster (pop. 1,390); Osgoode (pop. 2,571); and Richmond (pop. 3,287).

Related Topics:
Gloucester - Nepean - Vanier - Rockcliffe Park - Manotick - Orléans - Greenbelt - National Capital Commission - Kanata - Stittsville - Constance Bay - Kars - Metcalfe - Munster - Osgoode - Richmond

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Across the Ottawa River, which forms the border between Ontario and Québec, lies the city of Gatineau. Although administered separately, the two cities both fall within the remit of the National Capital Commission and for many purposes are considered a single metropolitan area, called the National Capital Region.

Related Topics:
Québec - Gatineau - National Capital Region

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Ottawa itself is a single-tiered city, meaning it is in itself a census division and has no county or regional municipality government above it. Ottawa is bounded on the west by Renfrew County and Lanark County; on the south by the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville and the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry; on the east by the United Counties of Prescott and Russell; and on the north by the Regional County Municipality of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais and the City of Gatineau.

Related Topics:
Census division - Renfrew County - Lanark County - United Counties of Leeds and Grenville - United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry - United Counties of Prescott and Russell - Regional County Municipality of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais - Gatineau

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Ottawa is made up of 11 historic townships, 10 of which are from historic Carleton County and one from historic Russell. They are Cumberland, Fitzroy, Gloucester, Goulbourn, Huntley, March, Marlborough, Nepean, North Gower, Osgoode and Torbolton.

Related Topics:
Carleton County - Russell - Cumberland - Fitzroy - Gloucester - Goulbourn - Huntley - March - Marlborough - Nepean - North Gower - Osgoode - Torbolton

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