Markham holds a population of 208,615 as of 2001 in an area of 212.47km2 . Its exact location is on the North east side of Metropolitan Toronto. Its first settlers were brought there by the promise of free farmland. The area was primarily agricultural and rural. Shortly after World War II, the township grew and began to industrialize. It is now a significant town which is home to many electronic manufacturers and other financial companies. It is no longer home to agricultural based companies. On the other hand Dryden, Ontario is the opposite, in that it depends heavily on their land resources. The town’s population is 8198 and its area is that of only 65.31 km2. It has been this was since its inception as a town in 1894. It heavily depends on its pulp and paper industry because those resources are the economic base for the town.
Specialization of towns comes about in many ways. In the case of Markham it was as a result of the growth of Toronto and in turn transformed Markham into a suburb. After this the town’s population grew rapidly and the agricultural landscape was almost completely erased from sight. Some of its current specializations include finance (a major one), wholesale, manufacturing, retail etc. All of these help out Metropolitan Toronto to run smoother by being the mass producer of a wide range of goods. Dryden’s specialty came about due to the nature of the land and its capabilities. The land is highly forested, hence the pulp and lumber industry being the main one.
One of the major reasons that these two towns specialize in different areas is location. Markham is located on the outskirts of a major city and therefore has many more people that commute to the city to work. Dryden is located in countryside and has fewer residents in comparison to Markham. They specialize in basically one main industry as opposed to Markham which has many more because of its size and location.
Size location and population number are all factors that contribute to the way towns and cities are formed. Dryden and Markham are both important to the Canadian economy in their own way, whether it’s a big or small contribution its all counts.
. The Canadian Encyclopedia © 2005 Historica Foundation of Canada
