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Quebec
Quebec, the romantic French heart of the Canadian provinces with it’s motto “Je me souviens”, “I remember”. It is a province which derives its name from the Algonquin word “Kebe” which means “The place where the river narrows” and one that has been one of the most fought-over provinces of Canada. It is indeed the largest Canadian province, it’s population second only to that of Ontario.
Provincial Flower
Iris versicolor (Lat.), also known as the Harlequin Blueflag or the Larger Blue Flag is Quebec’s provincial flower, a sample of natures’ finest with its flower found in shades of light and deep blue, violet and purple. It grows between 10cm and 80cm high and flowers six petals and sepals.
Capital City
Although its largest city is Montreal, Quebec’s capital is the eponymous Quebec City. It boasts with a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the shape of fortified city walls surrounding Vieux-Québec that are the only ramparts to be found north of Mexico. Quebec City is most notably one of the first cities within northern America, being established in 1605.
And just in case you thought that the romance might fade as time passed on, Quebec City may well be the counterargument that it burns brighter with age. Consider the world-renowned seasonal festivals including the Summer Festival and Winter Carnival, as well as the historic Château Frontenac and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec - all of which forms part of a history that proudly claims "I remember".
History
Of the First Nations peoples that inhabited the area of Quebec, the Inuit, Iroquoian and Algonquian were among the most prominent at the time of European arrival. The first French explorer to reach this region was Jacques Cartier who, in 1534, planted a cross at Gaspé or at Old Fort Bay. Subsequent French explorations continued with Samuel de Champlain in 1603 who travelled into the St. Lawrence River, claiming Quebec as part of the French colonial empire only upon his return to the area in 1608.
In the following century Britain and France engaged in the Seven Year War, the result of which was that France left most of its North-American possessions to Britain in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. By the subsequent British Royal Proclamation of 1763, Canada was renamed the Province of Quebec. Yet this would only last a decade as the British government feared that the French population would join the rebels of the Thirteen Colonies. The Quebec Act followed, recognising French law, language and religion and supplied the people of Quebec with their first Charter of Rights.
Geography
Quebec covers an area of more than 1.6 million sq. km and is Canada's largest province in terms of area and is divided into the Canadian Shield, the St. Lawrence Valley and the Appalachian Mountains. It borders with Ontario to the west, the U.S. and New-Brunswick to the south, Hudson Bay, Ungava Bay and Nunavut to the north and Labrador to the east.
The province plays host to one of the most important rivers in the world, the St. Lawrence River, with its vast number of effluents and tributaries forming part of the catchments basin of Quebec. The total amount of lakes is estimated to number more than 500,000 and rivers in their thousands. It is perhaps for this reason that Quebec has more than 3% of the world's entire freshwater reserves. Aside from water as a natural resource, Quebec also boasts with a number of mines that include gold, nickel, zinc, aluminium as well as copper.