Quebec is Canada’s largest province, with a population of 7.7 million people. Its economy is largely based on the service sector, pharmaceuticals, and aviation. The province has a French heritage and is home to both Amerindians and Inuit.
Quebec is one of ten provinces of Canada, along with Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan. The remainder of Canada’s territory consists of three territories: the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon Territory.
Quebec is bordered by Ontario, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the west. To the north is Hudson Strait, while its eastern border is formed by Labrador. Its east side is bordered by the Gulf of St. Lawrence and to the south it borders New Brunswick and the states of Maine, Vermont and New York.
Québec is Canada’s largest province with an area of 643,803 square miles (1,667,441 sq km), and the second largest division if territories are included. It makes up about 15.5% of the land in Canada. Québec’s population in 2007 was 7,700,800, the second largest region. Québec City is the provincial capital and other major cities include Montréal, Laval, Verdun, Sherbrooke and Hull.
Québec’s nickname is La Belle Province, which means “the beautiful province”, and its motto is Je me souviens, which means “I remember”. Both are signs of his French heritage. The very name Québec reveals its native heritage: it derives from an Algonquian word meaning “where the river narrows”. The provincial coats of arms are as follows:
Floral emblem: Blue Flag (iris)
Tree emblem: yellow birch
Avian Emblem: Snowy Owl
Insect Emblem: White Admiral’s Butterfly
Mineral emblem: asbestos
Shield of arms: a crown surmounts the shape of the shield with 3 lilies on blue, a gold lion on red and three maple leaves on gold. Below is the motto.
Flag: White cross on a blue background with four lilies, representing the French colonists.
Aboriginal people have inhabited the area that has become Québec for over 2,000 years. Québec’s current native population is split between Amerindians and Inuit. Europeans began settling the area after Samuel de Champlain founded Québec City in 1608. Today, 6/7 of the population are Francophones who are descendants of French settlers, while there are an estimated 600,000 English-speaking Quebecers, mostly descendants of British immigrants , mostly in the Montreal area, where about half of the province’s population resides.
From its inception as a colony, Québec’s economy revolved around the “mother country,” with the fur trade and the military as the most important elements. This period was followed by the exploitation of natural resources and the industrialization of the country. Today, Québec’s economy ranks 40th in the world, with about 70% coming from the service sector, as well as important roles for the pharmaceutical and aviation industries.
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