Quebec, Canada

Quebec is one of the country's thirteen provinces and territories, along with the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. It is both the largest in terms of land area and the second most populous province in Canada. Along the St. Lawrence River, between the province's most populous city, Montreal, and its capital, Quebec City, live the majority of the province's residents. The nation of Québécois is based in Quebec. It shares land borders with Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast, and a coastline with Nunavut in the north; in the south, it shares borders with the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York in the U.S.

New France's most developed colony, Quebec, was referred to as Canada between 1534 and 1763. Canada East was formed as a result of the Lower Canada Rebellion, which resulted in Quebec becoming a British colony for the first time in 1763 as the Province of Quebec (1841–1867). In 1867, it was incorporated into the Dominion of Canada with Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The Catholic Church had a significant impact on Quebec's social and cultural institutions prior to the early 1960s. In spite of this, the Quiet Revolution of the sixties and seventies bolstered the role of the Quebec provincial government in the Quebecois state (state of Quebec).

The Quebec government is both a liberal democracy and a constitutional monarchy because it operates within the Westminster framework. Francois Legault, Quebec's premier, is in charge at the moment. As opposed to a left-versus-right continuum, the political culture of the Québécois differs primarily along a nationalist-versus-federalist continuum. American politics has been shaped significantly by debates over independence. The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, the Charter of the French Language, and the Quebec Civil Code form the foundation of Quebec society's cohesion and uniqueness. Unlike the rest of Canada, private law is governed by civil law in Quebec while public law is governed by common law.

Quebec's regional variation of French is called Québécois French. For the most part, Quebec's economy is based on a robust service industry and diverse industrial sector. Key exports include aeronautical engineering and hydroelectricity; mining; pharmaceuticals; aluminum; wood; and paper. In addition to its maple syrup production, Quebec is known for its comedy, and for making hockey one of the most popular sports in Canada. Furthermore, it is renowned for its culture, which includes literature and music as well as film and television.

Geographical Description of Quebec

Nearly three times as large as France or Texas, Quebec is a Canadian province located in the eastern part of the country. In the vast majority of the province, there are few people. By far, the most populous physiographic region is the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowland area. This valley is the province's most productive agricultural region thanks to its rich soils and mild climate. The rural part of the landscape is divided into long, narrow rectangles by the river, a legacy of the seigneurial system.

As a result of the land's different compositions, climates, and proximity to water, Quebec's topography varies greatly. Over 95% of Quebec's land is protected by the Canadian Shield, which includes the Labrador Peninsula. The Laurentian Mountains in southern Quebec, the Otish Mountains in central Quebec, and the Torngat Mountains near Ungava Bay make up the majority of the landscape. From western Quebec to the far north, low and medium altitude peaks can be found, but in the far east, in the Capitale-Nationale region, high altitude mountains can be found. At 1,652 meters, Quebec's highest point, Mont d'Iberville, is also known as Mount Caubvick (5,420 feet). Nunavik, a region of Arctic tundra inhabited primarily by Inuit, lies on the Labrador Peninsula's Canadian Shield's Ungava Peninsula. Eastern Canadian Shield taiga and Central Canadian Shield forests are further south. A narrow swath of the Appalachian Mountains runs along the southern border of Quebec.

One of the world's largest fresh water reserves, Quebec has 3 percent of the world's renewable fresh water and 12 percent of its surface area.

More than 500,000 lakes and 4,500 rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the Arctic Ocean, James, Hudson, and Ungava bays. The Caniapiscau Reservoir and Lake Mistassini are the two largest natural lakes in the country. Some of the world's largest and most self-sufficient Atlantic inland ports can be found along the Saint Lawrence River. From the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway has provided a navigable route since 1959

Nearly all of Quebec's landmass is open to the public, including nearly all of the province's waterways. About twenty legal designations for protected areas (e.g. protected marine environment and national park) are available in the United States. These include exceptional forest ecosystems, protected marine environments, national parks and biodiversity reserves. Quebec now has more than 2,500 protected areas. Québec's protected areas cover 9.14 percent of the province's land area.

Economy of Quebec

The economy of Quebec is well-developed, market-oriented, and free. In 2009, its GDP per capita was $32,408, which was lower than the national average of $37,828 at purchasing power parity. Just behind Greece in terms of global economic output, Quebec has the 37th-largest economy and the 28th-highest GDP per capita. Approximately 20.36 percent of Canada's GDP is generated by Quebec's economy. There was a high of 50.7% of provincial debt to GDP in 2012–2013, but this is expected to fall to 33.8% in 2023–2024.

Quebec's economy is heavily reliant on the service sector, as is the case in most industrialized countries. Many of Quebec's economic successes in the past decade can be attributed to its abundance of natural resources and well-developed infrastructure. Since Quebec is a knowledge-based economy, its GDP growth rate ranks among the highest in Canada. Quebec's GDP is dominated by the knowledge sector, which accounts for 30.9 percent of the total. Spending on research and development (R&D) in Quebec outpaced that in the rest of Canada in 2011. Compared to the European Union average of 1.84 percent, Quebec's R&D spending in 2011 was 2.63 percent of GDP, which was higher than the European Union average. By 2013, Quebec must spend 3% of GDP on research and development in accordance with the Lisbon Strategy. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Group of Seven averages show that Canada spends the most on research and development.

Bombardier, Desjardins, the National Bank of Canada, Jean Coutu Group, Transcontinental média, Quebecor and Métro Inc. food retailers are some of the most important national Québécois companies, along with the Société des alcools du Québec, the Bank of Montreal, Saputo, the Cirque du Soleil and Vidéotron.