Windsor, Ontario

Windsor is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city is across the Detroit River from the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. It is the most southern city in Canada. In 2021, Statistics Canada said the city has 229,660 people living in it. It is inside Essex County, but it is independent from the county.

 History 
The land first was from Native Americans. Then in 1749, the French got the land and made it a farm. The land was named la Petite Côte, meaning "Little Coast". It was later called La Côte de Misère, meaning "Poverty Coast" because of the sandy soil near LaSalle. In 1797, after the American Revolution, the British made the city "Sandwich". It was later renamed Windsor, after the town in Berkshire, England. 

Windsor was part of a battle in the Upper Canada Rebellion. It was attacked by Detroit rebels who burned a steamboat and 2-3 houses. They were kicked out by the police. Windsor was also part of the Patriot War. 

In 1846, Windsor had 300 people. They had ferries that would go from Detroit to Windsor. The city being close to the US border made it a stop for slaves along the Underground Railroad. People said there were 20,000 to 30,000 refugees in Canada.  Most of them stop at Essex County.

Windsor was incorporated as a village in 1854,. The village was then connected to the Canadian National Railway. In 1858, it turned into a town. In 1892 when Windsor tried to become a city, they let people decide the name. Some names are South Detroit, The Ferry, Windsor, and Richmond. Windsor was chosen to promote English people in the city. It was also for Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England. But, Richmond was used until World War II. 

The Windsor Police Service was created on July 1, 1867.

A fire burned a lot of downtown Windsor on October 12, 1871, destroying more than 100 buildings.

In 1935, the towns Sandwich, Ford City and Walkerville were merged into Windsor. 

On October 25, 1960, a explosion destroyed the Metropolitan Store on Ouellette Avenue. 10 people were killed and at least 100 injured. It was featured on History Television's Disasters of the Century.

In 1966, the nearby villages of Ojibway and Riverside were also merged into Windsor.

 Climate 
Windsor has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa). Windsor has the hottest climate in Ontario due to hot summers. The yearly temperature is . The coldest month is January and the hottest month is July. The coldest temperature ever was  on January 29, 1873,  and the hottest was  on June 25, 1988.

 Emergencies 
Windsor had historic flooding in 2016, 2017 and 2019. In 2016, the mayor of Windsor, Drew Dilkens, declared a state of emergency because of the really bad flooding that occurred. In spring of 2019 Windsor asked for money following a lot of flooding.

In 2013 a fire broke out at a plastic recycling warehouse. This state of emergency was called due to bad air quality caused by the fire.

In 2017, Windsor faced a storm that left  of rain in 32 hours.

Windsor had a lot of tornadoes. The worst tornado to touch down Windsor was an F4 in 1946.

 Demographics 
In the 2021 Census of Population by Statistics Canada, Windsor had  living in  of its  total houses in the city.

At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Windsor CMA had a population of  living in  of its  total houses, a change of  from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of  in 2021.

Windsor has a lot of immigrants. In 2016, 17.7% of the people are foreign-born in the metropolitan area, 22.9% of the population was foreign-born. Visible minorities make up 25.7% of the people, making it the most diverse city in Ontario outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
Twin towns 
Windsor has 12 twin towns:
 Changchun, China (1992)Changchun City, China website . Retrieved July 2, 2009.
 Coventry, UK (1963)
 Fujisawa, Japan (1987)
 Granby, Quebec, Canada (1956)L'Association socioculturelle Granby et ses villes jumelées . Retrieved July 2, 2009.
 Gunsan, South Korea (2005)Gunsan City Worldwide Sisterhood Cities. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
 Lublin, Poland (2000)Lublin's Partner and Friend Cities . Retrieved July 2, 2009. Mannheim, Germany (1980)
 Las Vueltas, El Salvador (1987)City of Windsor, Our Twin Cities (Las Vueltas) . Retrieved July 2, 2009.
 Ohrid, North Macedonia (1981)
 Saint-Étienne, France (1963)
 Saltillo, Mexico (1994)
 Udine, Italy (1975)Città gemellate (Windsor) . Comune.udine.it, Retrieved October 10, 2014.

References

Category:Cities in Ontario