Toronto Observes Its 175th Anniversary

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Wintry sunset over the city of Toronto in January, 2009
Photo © Ujjal Peter D'Costa

The City of Toronto, capital of Ontario Province, is celebrating its 175th anniversary with free weekend visits to its historic museums, song and poetry festivals, photography exhibits, films, theatrical performances, book festival, and historical exhibits and re-enactments, reports the Toronto Star.

At the city location first there were a series of aboriginal settlements followed by a French fort in 1720. At the time its name was the Town of York, which later on March 6, 1834 got incorporated as the City of Toronto, with about 10,000 people from Britain. At present it is the largest city in Canada with a population of over 2.48 million. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA), comprising of Toronto with its suburban towns, has a population of 5.5 million. It is the fifth largest city in North America after the cities of Mexico, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

It is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, where, besides the common language of English, more than 140 languages and dialects are spoken. Immigrants from all over the world have a field day here. Large financial institutions make this city one of the most powerful financial and industrial hubs in North America.

The top five visible minority groups in Toronto are: the South Asians (people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), Chinese, Blacks, Filipinos, and Latin Americans.

On this anniversary, the city's historical events will be commemorated in different ways.