Geography of Toronto

Geography Of Toronto

The city of Toronto, Canada, covers an area of 630 km2 (243 sq mi) and is bounded by Lake Ontario to the south, Etobicoke Creek and Highway 427 to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north, and the Rouge River to the east. In addition to Etobicoke Creek and the Rouge River, the city is trisected by two minor rivers and their tributaries, the Humber River in the west end and the Don River east of downtown. Both flow southward to Lake Ontario at Humber Bay and Toronto Harbour respectively, which are part of the longer Waterfront.

The concentration and protection of Toronto's ravines allows for large tracts of densely forested valleys with recreational trails within the city. 17.5% of Toronto is covered with trees, a fairly high percentage within a large city in North America and there are ambitious proposals to double the coverage.

The shoreline of the former Lake Iroquois is a major west−east geological feature which was formed at the end of the last glacial period. In the west end, Davenport Road follows the ancient shoreline with the steps to Casa Loma rising above and downtown skyscrapers clearly visible to the southeast. It merges with current Lake Ontario shoreline at the Scarborough Bluffs promontory.

Toronto's immediate neighbours are Mississauga and Brampton within the Regional Municipality of Peel, Vaughan and Markham within the Regional Municipality of York, and Pickering within the Regional Municipality of Durham. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) includes the regional municipalities of Halton, Peel, York and Durham.

The GTA is part of a larger, natural ecosystem known as the Greater Toronto Bioregion. This ecosystem is bounded by Lake Ontario, the Niagara Escarpment, and the Oak Ridges Moraine, and includes many watersheds that drain into Lake Ontario. Some parts of Toronto, such as High Park and the lower Humber River are located in the most northern parts of the Carolinian forest zone found in North America.

In March 2005, the Government of Ontario unveiled the boundaries of a greenbelt around the Greater Toronto Area, a 7,200 km2 (2,800 sq mi) area stretching from Niagara Falls to Peterborough. The green belt is designed to curb urban sprawl and to preserve valuable natural areas and farmland surrounding the city. However, some types of development including detached single residential, quarries and commercial facilities continue to get approved, exerting pressure and population growth on the Greebelt. Toronto is the latest in a line of cities that have implemented growth boundaries of some kind as a method of restricting urban growth, including Ottawa, Portland, Oregon, Frankfurt, Melbourne, Seoul and London, UK.