This is the outline of the

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

of the city of Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Ottawa's current borders were formed in 2001, when the former city of Ottawa amalgamated with the ten other municipalities within the former

Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton The Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton was a Regional Municipality and Census Division in Ontario, Canada, that existed between January 1, 1969, and January 1, 2001, and was primarily centred on the City of Ottawa. It was created in 1 ...

. Ottawa is now a single-tiered census division, home to 1,017,449 people. The city centre is located at the confluence of the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers. The Ottawa River forms the entire northern boundary of the city which it shares with the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Quebec's municipalities of

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

and Gatineau. The northern boundary begins in the west at

Arnprior Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Downtown Ottawa, at the confluence of the Madawaska River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Arnprior has experienced sig ...

and continues east to Rockland. The boundary then turns south in a straight line, separating the former Township of Cumberland (now in Ottawa) and the City of

Clarence-Rockland Clarence-Rockland is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell on the Ottawa River. Clarence-Rockland is located immediately to the east of Ottawa and is considered part of the Prescott and Russell Count ...

. It then turns west in another straight line separating the former Township of Cumberland with the municipalities of

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

and Russell. It then turns south separating Russell from the former Township of Osgoode (now in Ottawa). That boundary runs south in a straight line, then turns west separating Osgoode from the municipality of North Dundas. That boundary runs west in a straight line before turning north separating Osgoode from the municipality of

North Grenville North Grenville is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville on the Rideau River. It is located just south of Ottawa in Canada's National Capital Region. It was established on January 1, 1998, through ...

. This is another straight line, running north until the Rideau River near

Kemptville Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of Ottawa and s ...

. The boundary follows the river upstream until almost reaching Merrickville. The boundary then runs in a northwest direction in a straight line with a number of jogs. It separates the municipalities of Montague, Beckwith and Mississippi Mills from the former townships of

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

Goulbourn Goulbourn Township, Ontario, was formed in 1818, roughly 20 km southwest of downtown Ottawa, with the first major settlement occurring in Richmond. Other communities in the township include Stittsville, Munster, and Ashton. Stittsville i ...

, Huntley and

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

Former townships

What is now Ottawa was once divided geographically into 11 townships. Ten of them in the former Carleton and one (Cumberland) in the former Russell County. The ten townships of Carleton were Fitzroy,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, Goulbourn, Huntley,

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

, Marlborough,

Nepean Nepean may refer to: Places Australia *Nepean Bay, a bay in South Australia, **Nepean Bay Conservation Park, a protected area in South Australia, **Nepean Bay, South Australia, a locality *Nepean Highway, Victoria *Nepean Island (Norfolk Island) ...

North Gower North Gower () is a small village in eastern Ontario, originally part of North Gower Township, now part of the city of Ottawa. Surrounding communities include Richmond, Kemptville, Kars and Manotick Manotick ( ) is a community in Rideau-J ...

, Osgoode, and Torbolton.

Physical geography

The highest point in the city is above sea level, and is located SSE of Manion Corners (). The lowest point in the city is the Ottawa River, at above sea level.

Highest points by ward

Geology

Many features of geologic interest are found in Ottawa.

Climate

Classification

Recent data

Notes

Historical data

Rivers and creeks

Tributaries of the Ottawa River (from east to west): * Becketts Creek * Cardinal Creek * Taylor Creek * Bilberry Creek * Green's Creek ** Mud Creek ** Borthwick Creek *** Nicolet Drain ** Ramsay Creek ** McEwan Creek * Rideau River *'' Rideau Canal'' (artificial) ** Brown's Inlet **

Patterson Creek Patterson Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the North Branch Potomac River in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, in the United States. ...

* Graham Creek * Still Water Creek *

Watts Creek Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' *Watts family, six chara ...

* Shirley's Brook * Constance Creek * Carp River *

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

** Cartwrights Creek ** Cody Creek * Madawaska River (mouth not in Ottawa) Jockriver

Tributaries of the Rideau River (from north to south): * Sawmill Creek *

Nepean Creek Nepean may refer to: Places Australia *Nepean Bay, a bay in South Australia, **Nepean Bay Conservation Park, a protected area in South Australia, ** Nepean Bay, South Australia, a locality *Nepean Highway, Victoria * Nepean Island (Norfolk Islan ...

* Black Rapids Creek * Mosquito Creek * Jock River ** Mahoney Creek ** Nichols Creek ** Kings Creek * Mud Creek * Stevens Creek * Cranberry Creek * McDermot Drain (mouth not in Ottawa) * Brassills Creek * Rideau Creek Other rivers and creeks within City of Ottawa: * Bear Brook ** South Indian Creek ** Shaws Creek ** McKinnons Creek * North Castor River ** Black Creek * Middle Castor River * South Castor River

Features of the Ottawa River

(from east to west)

Features of the Rideau River

(from north to south)

Waterfalls

Chaudière Falls , image = Ottawa Chaudiere Falls.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Chaudière Falls in June 2006, at summer water levels , map_image = , map_size = , coordinates = , coords_ref = , location ...

Hog's Back Falls The Hog's Back Falls, officially known as the Prince of Wales Falls, but rarely referred to by this name, are a series of artificial waterfalls on the Rideau River in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The falls are located just north of Mooney's Bay and th ...

* Princess Louise Falls * Rideau Falls

Lakes

* Brewer Park Pond (Ottawa) * Constance Lake (Kanata) *

Lac des Chats Lac des Chats (English: Lake of Cats), commonly known as Chats Lake, is a lake on the Ottawa River that forms the boundary between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec (Canada). It is formed by the Chats Falls Dam and serves as the reservoir for t ...

(West Carleton) *

Dow's Lake Dow's Lake in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is a small man-made lake on the Rideau Canal, situated two kilometres north of Hog's Back Falls in the middle of Ottawa. It is at the south end of Preston Street, just south of Carling Avenue, and just to th ...

(artificial, Ottawa) * Lac Deschênes (Nepean) * Lake Madawaska (West Carleton) * McKay Lake (Rockcliffe Park) * Mud Lake (Britannia) * Mud Pond (Kanata) *

Sand Pits Lake Sand Pits Lake, better known as The Pond or McKay Pond is an artificial lake located next to McKay Lake in the Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The lake is a popular location for swimming, but it does not have any beach ...

(Rockcliffe Park)

Other geographical features

* Beaver Island (West Carleton) *The Burnt Lands (West Carleton) * Canaan Hill (Cumberland) * Carlington Hill (

Carlington Carlington is a neighbourhood located in River Ward in the west-end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The community association boundaries are Clyde Avenue to the west, Carling Avenue and the Queensway to the north, Fisher Avenue to the east and th ...

) *

Carp Hills The Carp Hills (also known as Carp Ridge) are a small range of rocky hills between the shallow valleys of the Carp River and Constance Creek, entirely within the West Carleton-March Ward of Canada's capital, Ottawa, Ontario. It runs roughly fr ...

(also known as Carp Ridge) (West Carleton) *

Colonel By Valley The Colonel By Valley, also known as Entrance Valley is a valley located at the confluence of the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River, in the heart of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The valley is flanked on the west by Parliament Hill and on the east by t ...

(Ottawa) *

Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

(Nepean/Gloucester) **

Mer Bleue Mer Bleue Bog is a protected area in Gloucester, Ontario, an eastern suburb of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Its main feature is a sphagnum bog that is situated in an ancient channel of the Ottawa River and is a remarkable boreal-like e ...

(Cumberland/Gloucester) ** Pine Grove Forest ** Stony Swamp * LeBreton Flats (Ottawa) * Marlborough Forest ( Rideau-Goulbourn Ward) * Nanny Goat Hill (Ottawa) * Quigley Hill (Cumberland)

Sources

*National Resources Canada Topographic Maps *MapArt map of Ottawa * Ontario Base Survey

References

External links

Take a Virtual Cruise on the Ottawa River
{{Ottawa landmarks