Amazing Québec

Known as ‘la belle province’ (the beautiful province) to its locals, Québec is Canada’s largest province and home to more than 8.2 million people. It is a vibrant multicultural area, often earning it recognition as the ‘Europe of North America’. Québec is also famous for its vast forests, rolling hills and countless waterways. Québec has approximately 1 million lakes and waterways, giving it more fresh water than any other province.

Québec countryside

Québec is the only Canadian whose official language is French. The capital is Québec City, with a population of nearly 800,000. Québec is also home to Canada’s second largest city, and the second largest French speaking city in the world, Montreal (with more than four million people).

The Gaspé Peninsular

The Province of Québec is very rich in natural resources. It produces more than a third of Canada’s pulp and paper products and a large percentage of its soft lumber. Thanks to Québec’s abundant hydroelectric generating capacity, the state-owned energy sector produces and sells large quantities of hydro-electricity to neighbouring provinces and to the United States This is a field in which the province has acquired much expertise. Agriculture revenue is also major in the province. International exports now account for over 30 percent of the province’s gross domestic product. The Province of Québec received its name from the aboriginal inhabitants of the province. The word comes from the Mi’kmaq language, though Algonquian, Iroquoian and Inuit groups also resided in large numbers in the territory of present-day Québec. The name “Québec” means “straight, narrows”, referring to the portion of the St. Lawrence River that narrows near Québec City.

Québec was one of the first areas of North America to be explored by Europeans. Jacques Cartier began the French presence in the area in 1534. The first successful permanent French settlement in Québec was established some 70 years later by a group led by Samuel de Champlain. The colonists at Québec City had an economy trading goods with the Iroquois and Algonquian nations in exchange for furs. From the early 1600s, Québec was a major destination for French settlement, as well as a launching point for exploration of other areas of Canada.

Québec City Old Town

Québec City attracts many holidaymakers – especially history lovers – with a UNESCO-listed Old Town that’s reminiscent of medieval Europe. Some of the city’s most beautiful buildings include Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral and Château Frontenac. If you prefer the great Canadian outdoors, plan a visit to Charlevoix on the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River. With the dramatic Laurentian Mountains as its backdrop, the region boasts gorgeous fjords, headlands, and bays. Another must-visit is the vast and rugged Gaspé Peninsula, which has 4 national parks with trails leading to picturesque waterfalls. Québec is a great place to spend some time – either with history or with nature.

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