Niagara Falls

With over 19 million visitors per year, Niagara Falls is one of the most popular tourist attractions in North America. The Falls have dual citizenship, split as they are by Goat Island to create the Canadian Horseshoe Falls in Ontario and the American Falls in New York. The Horseshoe Falls are spectacular, spanning 670 metres (2,200 feet) and dropping approximately 56 metres (180 feet) at a rate of 155 million litres per minute. The American falls span 305 metres (1,000 feet) and drop at around 57 metres (188 feet), flowing at a rate of 14 million litres of water per minute.

It is believed "Niagara", a derivative of the Iroquoian word "Onguiaahra" which is accepted to mean "the strait", was anglicized by missionaries and appears on maps as early as 1640.

The Niagara Parkway from Niagara-on-the-Lake through the Falls to Fort Erie takes you through prime wine country, past War of 1812 sites including Fort George National Historic Park and the Brock Monument, the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory, Laura Secord Homestead, Mackenzie Heritage Printery & Newspaper Museum, Casino Niagara and the historic town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, the home of the Shaw Festival.

The city's population exceeds 82,000 and if you include the surrounding population centres of St. Catharines, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Welland, the total population exceeds 427,000.

Visit websites for the City of Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls Tourism and Niagara Parks Commission.