Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,603,625 in 2006) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It shares water boundaries with Quebec to the north and New York State to the east and south, as well as a small land boundary with the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region of Quebec to the east.
It includes the census divisions of the following: the counties of Prescott and Russell, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Lanark, Renfrew, Leeds and Grenville, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington; and the single-tier municipality of Ottawa.
Some sources may also include Hastings, Prince Edward, and sometimes even Northumberland in the definition of Eastern Ontario, but others classify them as Central Ontario.
The region may also be referred to as Southeastern Ontario to differentiate it from the Northern Ontario secondary region of Northeastern Ontario.
History
French explorers and fur traders were the first Europeans to pass through this region. Samuel de Champlain, explorer, traversed the Ottawa River in 1615 on his way westward to the Great Lakes. The largest city in the region is the city of Ottawa, capital of Canada, which accounts for roughly 60% of Eastern Ontario's population. Kingston, itself once capital of the Province of Canada, is the other major city in the region outside of the National Capital Region.