What is the capital of Canada?

Ottawa was picked in 1857 by Queen Victoria, who was asked to arbitrate because the Province of Canada could not agree. The capital had been rotating between Kingston, Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City, an arrangement that satisfied nobody and meant hauling the legislature's records back and forth. Ottawa, then a rough lumber town called Bytown, had several advantages: it sat on the boundary between Canada West and Canada East, so it was acceptable to both English and French speakers, it was far enough from the American border to be defensible at a time when invasion was a live worry, and it was connected by the Rideau Canal. The choice was widely mocked at the time. Parliament was built on a bluff above the Ottawa River, and the city grew into the role, with the French-speaking city of Gatineau directly across the water in Quebec.

The original Parliament building's centre block burned in 1916 and was rebuilt, which is why the Peace Tower dates from after the First World War.