Quebec

I Remember

Where is it?

Flag

    

Geography

    

Location:
 Eastern Canada.
Area:
 total: 1,542,056 sq km (595,391 sq mi)
land: 1,365,128 sq km (527,079 sq mi)
water: 176,928 sq km (68,312 sq mi)
coastline: 13,773 km (8,560 miles)
Bordering Provinces:
 Ontario, Newfoundland & Labrador, New Brunswick
Elevation extremes:
 highest point: Mont D'Iberville 1,651m (5,417 ft)
Located in the eastern part of Canada, and (from a historical and political perspective) part of Central Canada, Quebec occupies a territory nearly three times the size of France or Texas, most of which is very sparsely populated. Its topography is very different from one region to another due to the varying composition of the ground, the climate (latitude and altitude), and the proximity to water. The Saint Lawrence Lowland (south) and the Canadian Shield (north) are the two main topographic regions, and are radically different.[

    

Population

    

Population:
 8,214,700 (2011)
Largest City:
 Montreal: 1,649,519 (2011)

    

History

    

At the time of first European contact and later colonization, Algonquian, Iroquois and Inuit nations controlled what is now Quebec. Their lifestyles and cultures reflected the land on which they lived. Algonquians organized into seven political entities lived nomadic lives based on hunting, gathering, and fishing in the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield: (James Bay Cree, Innu, Algonquins) and Appalachian Mountains (Mi'kmaq, Abenaki). St. Lawrence Iroquoians, a branch of the Iroquois, lived more settled lives, growing corn, beans and squash in the fertile soils of the St. Lawrence Valley. They appear to have been later supplanted by the Mohawk nation. The Inuit continue to fish and hunt whale and seal in the harsh Arctic climate along the coasts of Hudson and Ungava Bay. These people traded fur and food and sometimes warred with each other.

    

Government

    

Capital:
 Quebec City
Confederation:
 July 1, 1867
Provincial Tree:
 Yellow birch
Provincial Bird:
 Snowy owl
Provincial Flower:
 Blue flag iris
The Lieutenant Governor represents the Queen of Canada and acts as the province's head of state. The head of government is the premier (called premier ministre in French) who leads the largest party in the unicameral National Assembly, or Assemblée Nationale, from which the Executive Council of Quebec is appointed. Until 1968, the Quebec legislature was bicameral, consisting of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. In that year, the Legislative Council was abolished and the Legislative Assembly was renamed the National Assembly. Quebec was the last province to abolish its legislative council.

    

Economy

    

Quebec has an advanced, market-based, and open economy. In 2009, its gross domestic product (GDP) of US$32,408 per capita at purchasing power parity puts the province at par with Japan, Italy and Spain, but remains lower than the Canadian average of US$37,830 per capita. The economy of Quebec is ranked the 37th largest economy in the world just behind Greece and 28th for the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The economy of Quebec represents 20.36% of the total GDP of Canada. Like most industrialized countries, the economy of Quebec is based mainly on the services sector. Quebec's economy has traditionally been fuelled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and average productivity. The provincial GDP in 2010 was C$319,348 billion, which makes Quebec the second largest economy in Canada.

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