Toronto, Ontario, is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth-most populous city in North America. With a population of 2,794,356 in 2021, Toronto is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario and the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people. The city is an international center of business, finance, arts, sports, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.
The Toronto area has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples for more than 10,000 years. The site of Toronto was of strategic importance from the beginning of Ontario's recorded history. In the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto. By 1701, the Mississaugas had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars.
In 1750, French traders founded Fort Rouillé, but it was abandoned in 1759 during the Seven Years' War. The area became part of the British colony of Quebec in 1763. During the American Revolutionary War, an influx of British settlers arrived in Toronto as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario. The Crown granted them land to compensate for their losses in the Thirteen Colonies.
In 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands. York was incorporated as the City of Toronto on March 6, 1834, and was designated as the capital of the province of Ontario in 1867 during Canadian Confederation.
In 1813, during the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the town's capture and plunder by United States forces. The town was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834. It was designated as the capital of the province of Ontario in 1867 during Canadian Confederation.
The city's population grew rapidly through the remainder of the 19th century. The first significant wave of immigrants were Irish, fleeing the Great Irish Famine. By 1851, the Irish-born population had become the largest single ethnic group in the city.
