The Quebec region
Quebec is a Canadian province in Eastern Canada.
Affectionately known as la belle province ("the beautiful province"),
Quebec is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario, James Bay and Hudson Bay.
To the north are the Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay, to the east the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador,
and to the south the United States (the states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine). It also shares maritime borders with the Territory
of Nunavut and the provinces of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is the second
most populated province, and most of its inhabitants live along or close to the banks of the Saint Lawrence River. The central and north portion of
the province is sparsely populated and inhabited by the aboriginal peoples of Canada.
The official language of Quebec is French; it is the sole Canadian province whose population is mainly French Canadian, and where English is not an
official language at the provincial level.
Quebec, then called Canada, formed part of the colonial empire of New France until the Seven Years' War, when it was conquered by Great Britain;
the 1763 Treaty of Paris formally transferred the colony to British possession. Quebec became a province of the Canadian Confederation upon its
founding in 1867.
While the province's substantial natural resources have long been the mainstay of its economy, Quebec has renewed itself to function effectively in the
knowledge economy: information and communication technologies, aerospace, biotechnology, and health industries.
Quebec, Canada's largest province, occupies a vast territory (nearly three times the size of France), most of which is very sparsely populated. More
than 90 percent of Quebec's area lies within the Canadian Shield, and includes the greater part of the Labrador peninsula. Quebec's highest mountain
is Mont D'Iberville, which is located on the border with Newfoundland and Labrador in the northeastern part of the province in the Torngat Mountains.
The addition of parts of the vast and scarcely populated District of Ungava of the Northwest Territories between 1898 and 1912 created the modern Province
of Quebec.
Quebec is bordered by the province of Ontario, James Bay and Hudson Bay to the west, the provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to the
east, the United States (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York) to the south and Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay to the north.
In 1927, the northeastern area of the former District of Ungava was transferred to the Dominion of Newfoundland by the British Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council. The government of Quebec does not officially recognise this boundary. See The Labrador boundary dispute.
The territory of Quebec is extremely rich in resources in its coniferous forests, lakes, and rivers—pulp and paper, lumber, and hydroelectricity are still
some of the province's most important industries. The far north of the province, Nunavik, is subarctic or arctic and is mostly inhabited by Inuit.
The most populated region is the Saint 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 Saint Lawrence to the East. The Saint Lawrence River Valley is a fertile
agricultural region, producing dairy products, fruit, vegetables, maple sugar (Quebec is the world's largest producer), and livestock................
Adopted from and read more at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec |
