Interesting Facts About the Province of Quebec

Quebec is home to more than 7.5 million Canadians. Quebec is probably one of the most unique provinces in the entire country of Canada, and the people who live there certainly think so. This province contains a very interesting history, as well as exciting cities, and colorful people. Unfortunately, people who do not live in Canada, even people who live outside that particular province do not know very much about the unique province of Quebec, so here is a little bit of information on what makes it such a great province.

Quebec is often referred to as "La Belle Province", which, in English means, "the beautiful province". It is the largest province in the country of Canada, and has a population of 7,598,100 people (as of 2005).

Montreal is the largest city of the province, and has over three million residents. Over half of the people living in Montreal speak French as their first language. Quebec is the capital.

Quebec has two official languages, French and English, but French is the most commonly used. The people of Quebec are commonly referred to as Quebecois and Quebecoise.

Quebec has population made up of very different people, including many Aboriginal groups. The Mohawk, Algonquin, Naskapi, Micmac, Malecite, Cree, Montagnais, and most commonly known, the Inuit, all call Quebec their home, and some of which were the first inhabitants of the province. There are also many people from all over the world, such as Britain, China, Japan, and all different parts of Europe, as well as a lot of other countries.

Quebec was claimed by French in 1534 by Jacques Cartier, and Samuel de Champlain set up a colony there in 1608. The British gained control of Quebec in 1759. Canada gained its independence July 1, 1867 which is now celebrated as Canada Day. To this day, it remains the only walled city north of Mexico.

La St-Jean Baptiste Day is also known as Quebec's National Holiday. This day is June 24 of every year and is widely celebrated in Quebec. Another big celebration is the Winter Carnival which lasts 10 days in February.

Quebec's motto is "Je me souviens," which means "I remember." The Blue Flag is the official flower and the Snowy Owl is the official bird of Quebec.

Quebec has the most forests in Canada and has the largest dairy industry in the country. It is also the biggest producer of maple syrup for Canada.

The St-Lawrence Rivers runs through Quebec, and most of the cities are located along this river. Over one million different lakes can be found in Quebec, and this province has this most freshwater out of all of the provinces.

There is a part of Quebec's population are known as Separatists, and want Quebec to separate from Canada to form its own country. The reason behind this is that they feel Quebec is so different from the rest of Canada and that Quebec could be self-sufficient. These people are the minority in Quebec.

Quebec is a truly fascinating province with a lot of history and a lot of beauty.

ref-www.wikipedia.org