The Iroquois lived primarily in a territory that includes present-day upstate New York, Ontario, and parts of Pennsylvania. Their traditional homeland, often referred to as Iroquoia, stretched around the lower Great Lakes region, including Lakes Ontario, Huron, and Erie. The confederacy included five (later six) nations—Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and after 1722, the Tuscarora people. This area was strategically located near lakes and rivers, facilitating control of fur trade and providing defensible land near hills and water. The Iroquois territory once extended well into Canada, including southern Ontario and Quebec, and parts of the northern United States.