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                   Quebec   British Columbia   Manitoba   New Brunswick   Newfoundland   Northwest Territory    Nova Scotia

                      Nunavut   Ontario   Prince Edward Island   Quebec   Saint Pierre and Miquelon    Saskatchewan    Yukon

Quebec (French: Québec, is the largest province in Canada and the second most populous, after Ontario, with a population of 7,598,100 (Statistics Canada, July 2005). This represents about 24% of the Canadian population. Quebec's official language is French. Quebec is the only Canadian province where English is a minority language, and it is one of only two provinces – in addition to the federal government – where French is an official language (the other is New Brunswick). The capital is Quebec City (simply referred to as "Québec" in French) and the largest city is Montréal. A resident of Quebec is called a Quebecer (also spelled "Quebecker"), and in French, un(e) Québécois(e), the latter being used in English as well sometimes. Geography Main articles: Geography of Quebec, The most populated region is the St. Lawrence River Valley in the south, where the capital, Quebec City, and the largest city, Montreal, are situated. North of Montreal are the Laurentians, a range of ancient mountains, and to the east are the Appalachian Mountains which extends into the Eastern Townships and Gaspésie regions. The Gaspé Peninsula juts into the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the east. The extreme north of the province, Nunavik, is subarctic or arctic and is home to part of the Inuit nation. A major hydro-electric project is found on the La Grande and Eastmain rivers in the James Bay region (the La Grande Complex) and on the Manicouagan River, north of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 10 Largest Municipalities by population Municipality 2001 1996 Montreal 1,812,723 1,774,846 Quebec City 507,986 504,605 Longueuil (Part of Greater Montreal) 348,091 373,009 Laval (Part of Greater Montreal) 343,005 330,393 Gatineau (Part of Greater Ottawa) 226,696 217,591 Saguenay 148,050 153,476 Sherbrooke 146,689 135,501 Trois-Rivières 122,395 124,417 Lévis 121,999 118,344 Terrebonne 80,531 75,110 History Main articles: History of Quebec, [edit] Discovery and exploration The name Quebec, which comes from an Algonquin word meaning "strait" or "narrowing", originally meant the narrowing of the St. Lawrence River off what is currently Quebec City. Quebec City overview.The first European explorer to reach Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross either in the Gaspé in 1534 or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore and sailed into the St. Lawrence River in 1535. New France Quebec City was founded near the site of Stadacona, a village populated by Iroquoians when Jacques Cartier explored Canada. However, the village had disappeared by the time Samuel de Champlain established the Habitation de Quebec in 1608. After 1627, King Louis XIII of France introduced the seigneurial system and forbade settlement in New France by anyone other than Roman Catholics. New France became a royal province in 1663 under King Louis XIV of France and the intendant Jean Talon. The fur trade lasted about 200 years before other trades took over. The Natives traded their furs for many French goods such as metal objects, guns, alcohol, and clothing. Change of colonial powers In 1758, during the Seven Years' War, the British mounted an attack on New France by land and by sea. On 13 September 1759, General James Wolfe defeated the French forces at Quebec City. At the end of the war, Great Britain acquired New France through the Treaty of Paris (1763) when King Louis XV of France and his advisers chose to keep the territory of Guadeloupe for its valuable sugar crops instead of New France, which was viewed as a vast, frozen wasteland of little importance to the French colonial empire. By the British Royal Proclamation of 1763, Canada (part of New France) was renamed the Province of Quebec. Fearful that the French-speaking population of Quebec would side with the rebels of the 13 other colonies to the south, in 1774, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act that paved the way to official recognition of the French language and French culture. The Act allowed Quebecers, or Canadiens as they were then known, to maintain the French civil law and sanctioned the freedom of religious choice, allowing the Roman Catholic Church to remain. Quebec retained its seigneurial system and civil law code after France's giving of the territory to England. Owing to an influx of Loyalist refugees from the American Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Act of 1791 saw the colony divided in two at the Ottawa River; the western part became Upper Canada and changed to the British legal system. The eastern part became Lower Canada.

Background:

A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Its paramount political problem continues to be the relationship of the province of Quebec, with its French-speaking residents and unique culture, to the remainder of the country.

Population:

32,507,874 (July 2004 est.)

Languages:

English 59.3% (official), French 23.2% (official), other 17.5%

Currency:	Canadian dollar (CAD)
Currency code:	CAD
Exchange rates:	Canadian dollars per US dollar - 1.4 (2003), 1.57 (2002), 1.55 (2001), 1.49 (2000), 1.49 (1999)