Quebec

History

Quebec came to Canada in 1867.Quebec is the largest province in Canada by area and borders Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. The territory of Quebec represents 15.5% of the surface area of Canada and totals 1.5 million km2. This is equal to the size of France, Germany and Spain combined. The province also neighbours on 4 American states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.Quebec has played a special role in Canadian history; it is the site where French settlers founded the colony of Canada (new France) in the 1600s and 1700s. Its history has taken a somewhat different path from the rest of Canada.

Landscape

The province of Quebec is composed of 3 main geological regions: the St Lawrence River valley, the Canadian Shield and the Appalachian region. The St Lawrence River Valley is the most fertile and developed region. The majority of the population of Quebec lives here, mainly between Montreal and Quebec City. The Canadian Shield covers most of Quebec territory from approximately 80 km north of the St Lawrence River valley up to the Ungava region. It is a vast region composed of thousands of lakes and thousands of square kilometres of forested area. On the south bank of the St Lawrence River, between the Riviere Richelieu and the Gaspe Peninsula, is the Quebec part of the Appalachian mountain chain which extends from Gaspe south to Alabama. Glaciers covered the entire territory of the province during the Quaternary period. The deglaciation began only 15 000 years ago and is mainly responsible for the formation of thousands of lakes, for which the province of Québec is famous. Most of the territory has an elevation between 300 and 600 m above sea level. Only 7% of the territory is above 600 m while the highest mountains are Mont D'Iberville (1652 m) in the Torgnat Mountains in northern Quebec and Mont Jacques-Cartier (1268 m) in the Gaspe region. The most fertile soil is in the St Lawrence River valley with an average elevation of 150 m. Only 5% of the land in the Canadian Shield is arable and most of it is located in the southern part of the Shield, in the Laurentides or Laurentian Highlands. The other fertile region is in southern Quebec, near the American border, where small mountain formations, arable plateaus and plains form a beautiful environment. Most of the French colonists settled in the St Lawrence River valley, also known as the St Lawrence Lowlands region.

Poutine:** [poo teen] is a yummy concoction of french fries, gravy and melted cheese curds that's as unhealthy as it is delicious. Found in all - night take - outs, greasy spoons and gourmet restaurants, poutine is highly addictive and comes with a variety of toppings from tomato sauce (poutine Italien) to fois gras.
 * Food
 * Pate Feves au Lard:** Pork and and baked beans **hinois:** A typical shepherd's pie made with ground beef, corn and onions topped with mashed potatoes.

Culture

Cultures The **culture of Quebec** emerged over the last few centuries, resulting from the shared history of the -speaking majority in Quebec. It is unique to the Quebec is the only region in _America|North America]] with a French-speaking majority, as well as one of only two provinces in where French is a constitutionally-recognized official language.Thus, French speaking Quebecers (5.88 million) differ from that of the remaining citizens of (32.5 million), the United States to the south, and France.

Climate

Covering such a huge area the climate of Quebec has wide temperature variations. In the south, where most of the population live, the weather is continental, with four seasons varying from hot summers (June to August) to cold, snowy winters and lots of rain. The central region has longer colder winters and shorter cooler summers, while the far north experiences a severe Arctic climate with a freezing winter and continuous permafrost. Winter can vary from five months in the south to eight months in the north, averaging between 14° and -13°F (-10°C and -25°C.

Bibiliograpy

The Canadian Encyclopeadia.com Wikipedia.com 2 books of Quebec