Toronto

Toronto is Canada's largest city and the provincial capital of Ontario. Toronto's population is 2,518,772 (Statistics Canada, 2004); that of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is 5,203,686 (Statistics Canada, 2004). Residents of Toronto are called Torontonians (in French: torontois). The city is part of the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario--a densely populated region of around 7 million people. Approximately 23% of the Canadian population live within the Golden Horseshoe region, and about one-sixth of all Canadian jobs lie within the city limits.

Demographics

:Main article: Demographics of Toronto

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Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There is an urban legend among Torontonians that UNESCO has proclaimed the city as the world's most multicultural city, but ranking or proclaiming cities as the most multicultural is not a practice that UNESCO has ever undertaken.

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According to the metropolitan census, the majority of Torontonians claim their ethnic origin to be from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, either in whole or in part. However there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese, Italian, Asian, French, and German populations. Almost half of Canada's Black population lives in Toronto, creating a significant fraction of the total population.

Related Topics:
England - Ireland - Scotland - Wales - Chinese - Italian - Asian - French - German - Black

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Due to the variety of the ethnic origins of Torontonians, there are enclaves of Italian, Irish, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Russian, Asian, and Chinese peoples, creating a unique combination of communities that are often strikingly different from one another. Because of the diversity in the city, some 1.6 million non-Whites or 40% of Canada's minority population live in Toronto alone. Out of the 1.6 million non-Whites, almost 1.2 million originate from the Asian continent alone.

Related Topics:
Irish - Portuguese - Greek - Polish - Russian

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Racial Makeup of Metropolitan Toronto which includes Mississauga and Toronto's 5 boroughs, including the city centre:

Related Topics:
Metropolitan Toronto - City centre

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• White: 2,892,515 or 63.8%
• Asian: 467,475 or 10.3%
• Chinese: 400,210 or 8.8%
• Black: 292,210 or 6.4%
• Filipino: 129,620 or 2.8%
• mixed race: 127 295 or 2.8%

(based on single responses)

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Toronto has 79 ethnic publications.

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Almost 20% of the population is under 14 years of age, whereas those who are over 65 constitute 11.2% of the population. The annual population growth rate is 1.9%. Roman Catholicism is the largest faith in the city, followed by the Anglican Church, but the city has well established Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, and Sikh communities.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholicism - Anglican - Muslim - Hindu - Jewish - Buddhist - Sikh

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While English is the predominant language, Statistics Canada reports that there are several other languages with a large number of speakers, such as Chinese and Italian. Fewer than 2% of Torontonians claim French (Canada's other official language) as their mother tongue.

Related Topics:
English - Statistics Canada - Chinese - Italian - French

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Toronto has a population density of 3,939.4 residents per km2. Its total land area is 629.91 km2. Toronto's population grew 4.0% between 1996 and 2001. The St. James Town community of Toronto is also the most densely populated area in Canada, with over 30,000 people in only a few blocks.

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