Niagara Peninsula

The area was originally inhabited by a First Nations people called the "Neutrals", so named for their practice of trading goods such as flint arrowhead blanks with both of the feuding regional powers, the Wyandot and Iroquois.

[citation needed] The Neutrals were wiped out by the Iroquois c. 1650 as the latter sought to expand their fur-trapping territory as part of the Beaver Wars.

[2] From this point until the arrival of United Empire Loyalists following the American War of Independence, the region was only sporadically inhabited,[citation needed] as the Iroquois did not establish permanent settlements in the area.

While agriculture – especially fruit farming along the shore of Lake Ontario – remains important to this day, it was joined in the 19th century by industrial developments.

Today, more than 10 million guests[citation needed] visit the peninsula annually to see the beauty of the Falls and the Niagara Parks.

Ecotourism has become more popular with more people finding and exploring out of the way places such as the Niagara Escarpment, named a world Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1990.

A few Niagara Peninsula wineries have won the most prestigious international awards[citation needed] for their ice wine products, many of which are only available from the vintner.

The region's moderate year-round climate, in addition to its close proximity to the United States for easy road and air access to the southern U.S., makes it a popular[citation needed] retirement destination.

[citation needed] During the early 1990s a major telecommunications highway between metropolitan Toronto and the U.S. was upgraded to become one of North America's fastest fiber backbones.

Compared with the cities of Toronto, Hamilton and most Ontario municipalities with populations similar in size to the whole of the Niagara Peninsula, the average cost of living is very reasonable.

It is one of the major thoroughfares for the North American trucking industry and is responsible for supporting the carriage of nearly one third of all goods imported and exported.

[citation needed] The second major roadway is Highway 406 which begins at the QEW in west St. Catharines and ends approximately 30 km south in the city of Welland.

It begins at the QEW in Niagara-on-the-Lake, just east of St. Catharines, and ends about 9 km away at Queenston, Ontario, where it connects to an international bridge that crosses into the United States at Lewiston, New York.

All cities and some towns in the peninsula have taxi services while St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland all have a local transit commission.