Toronto is a Canadian city located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, and is the provincial capital of Ontario. Toronto is a global city, exerting significant regional, national, and international influence, and is one of the world's most multicultural and ethnically diverse cities. It is Canada's financial centre and economic engine, as well as one of the country's most important cultural, artistic, and health sciences centres. Toronto was named the world's most livable city in 1994 by The Economist. It was displaced in 2005 by Vancouver, but is still ranked among the top ten. [1] The city of Toronto proper has a population of 2,481,494 inhabitants (2001 census) and is the most populous city in Canada. The population of the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) is estimated at 5,304,100 inhabitants in 2005[2]. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA), slightly larger than the Toronto CMA, is defined by provincial authorities for urban planning purposes. Toronto is at the centre of the Golden Horseshoe, a densely populated region in Ontario which is home to roughly eight million people, or one quarter of the Canadian population.