Sarnia, Canada

Sarnia is a city in Southwestern Ontario with a population of around 72,000 (2016). It is at the south end of Lake Huron. It includes Point Edward, a village in the northwest corner of the city.

In a natural harbour, the Sarnia port remains an important centre for lake freighters and oceangoing ships carrying cargoes of grain and petroleum products. The natural port and the salt caverns that exist in the surrounding areas, together with the oil discovered in nearby Oil Springs in 1858 led to the massive growth of the petroleum industry in this area. Because Oil Springs was the first place in Canada and North America to drill commercially for oil, the knowledge that was acquired there led to oil drillers from Sarnia travelling the world teaching other nations how to drill for oil.