Quebec << kwih BEHK, or, in French, kay BEHK >> is the capital of the province of Quebec and the oldest city in Canada. In French, the name is spelled with an accent—Québec. To distinguish the city from the province, it is often called Quebec City in English. The French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded the city in 1608. Quebec ranks as an important Canadian port and tourist center. It is built on and around Cap Diamant (Cape Diamond), a high cliff rising above the Saint Lawrence River. Quebec lies at the point where the St. Charles River flows into the St. Lawrence. There, the St. Lawrence narrows to about 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometer). The city’s name comes from an Algonquian word meaning the river narrows here.
Quebec is the only surviving walled city in North America north of Mexico. But most of the present-day city lies outside the walls. Quebec’s many churches, old stone houses, and crooked cobblestone streets give it the charm of an old European city. The Fairmont Château Frontenac, a castlelike hotel with towers, red brick walls, and a steep copper roof, rises dramatically from the edge of Cap Diamant.
The city has been called the Cradle of New France because it served as the base of early French explorers and missionaries in North America. Quebec also has the nickname Gibraltar of America because of the Citadel, a huge fort on the cliffs above the St. Lawrence River. (The nickname refers to Gibraltar, a historically strongly fortified site that overlooks the strait that links the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.) In 1759, British troops defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham, west of the Citadel. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War, gave Canada to Britain (now also called the United Kingdom).
The city
Quebec City covers 175 square miles (452 square kilometers). The Quebec metropolitan area, which includes Lévis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, spreads over 1,351 square miles (3,499 square kilometers). The city has an old section that makes up about 4 square miles (10 square kilometers). The old section, in turn, has two parts, Upper Town and Lower Town.
The Citadel, one of Quebec’s most famous landmarks, overlooks the rest of the city from a height of 347 feet (106 meters). It stands on the highest point of Cap Diamant. The cape drops sharply toward the St. Lawrence River but slopes more gradually to the St. Charles River in the northeast. Massive walls and cannons surround the fort and its 140 acres (57 hectares) of parade ground. The British completed the Citadel in 1832 to protect Quebec from possible invasion by the United States.
Upper Town
lies north of the Citadel atop Cap Diamant. A stone wall, begun in the 1600’s but rebuilt and modified in the 1700’s and 1800’s, encircles Upper Town. The wall averages 35 feet (11 meters) in height and has four entrance gates.
Most of Quebec’s best hotels, luxury shops, monuments, parks, and fine restaurants are in Upper Town. Just outside the city walls is the Grand Allée (Great Way), a road lined with popular shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. It leads from one of the city gates, past Quebec’s provincial Parliament buildings, toward fashionable residential areas.
The Dufferin Terrace, a planked walkway 60 feet (18 meters) wide, extends along the cliffs from the Citadel to the Château Frontenac. The terrace offers excellent views of Lévis, across the St. Lawrence, and of the Beaupré Coast and the Isle of Orleans downstream.
Lower Town,
northeast of Upper Town, includes the business and industrial districts of Quebec. It lies 19 feet (6 meters) above sea level on a strip of land between the rivers and the cliffs of Cap Diamant. Lower Town has many large stores and some factories. A number of its homes date back to the 1700’s and 1800’s. Some of the area’s oldest streets are extremely narrow. Sous-le-Cap measures only 8 feet 10 inches (2.69 meters) at its narrowest point and is one of the narrowest streets in North America.
A square called Place Royale is Lower Town’s best-known landmark. The Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church there has an altar built to look like a fort. This church, completed in 1688, stands on the site once occupied by Samuel de Champlain’s first settlement, the Habitation.
The people
About 90 percent of Quebec City’s people were born in Canada. The vast majority have French ancestors, and many of the rest have English, Irish, or Scottish ancestors. The majority of the people are Roman Catholic. About 95 percent of Quebecers speak French, the province of Quebec’s official language.
The deterioration of old neighborhoods in Lower Town has been a major problem, causing a lack of adequate housing. However, the city has implemented a major renewal program in the core of several of these neighborhoods, particularly Saint Roch.
The economy
Industry and commerce.
Hundreds of manufacturing companies operate in the Quebec area. Most of the industrial sites are along the St. Charles River and in industrial parks along the Autoroute de la Capitale. Leading industries include shipbuilding, papermaking, and the manufacture of electrooptical products, such as optical scanning equipment and components and testing equipment for fiber-optic communication systems. The science of electrooptics deals with relationships between light and electricity. Tourism also is important to the city’s economy. The port of Quebec handles millions of tons of goods yearly. Its chief exports are grain, ore, and pulp and paper.
Transportation.
Quebec’s harbor stays open the year around and can handle oceangoing ships. The waterfront extends 6 miles (10 kilometers) along both the east and west sides of the cape and into the mouth of the St. Charles River. A ferry crossing and two bridges link Quebec to the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Railroad passenger trains and rail freight lines serve the city. Commercial airlines use the Jean Lesage International Airport, which lies 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of the heart of the city. A public transit system provides local bus transportation.
Communication.
Two daily French-language newspapers, Le Journal de Québec and Le Soleil, serve Quebec. The city has several radio and television stations, most of which broadcast in French. A few stations broadcast in English.
Education
Schools.
The city of Quebec has both French-language public schools and English-language public schools. Université Laval (Laval University) and a campus of the University of Quebec are also in the city. Université Laval was founded in 1852.
Libraries.
Quebec’s public library system, the Bibliothèques de la Ville de Québec, has branches throughout the city. The libraries of the provincial legislature and Université Laval also have large collections of books.
Cultural life
The arts.
Cultural activity in Quebec centers around the Grand Théâtre de Québec. The Orchestre Symphonique de Québec (Quebec Symphony Orchestra), the Opéra de Québec, and a local drama company perform there. In addition, the Capitole de Québec (Quebec Capitol) theater and the Palais Montcalm (Montcalm Palace) concert hall offer a variety of performances.
Museums.
The Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (Quebec National Museum of Fine Arts), the largest museum in Quebec province, has both traditional and modern paintings and sculpture. The Musée de la Civilisation features exhibits on human culture and civilization. The Musée de l’Amérique francophone (Museum of French America) displays old paintings, coins, and stamps. Both museums are part of the Musée de la Civilisation Museological Complex.
Churches.
Quebec has many basilicas, chapels, and churches representing a variety of religious denominations. Important Roman Catholic structures include the Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame (Our Lady Basilica-Cathedral), with walls built in 1647, and the Ursuline Convent, founded in 1639. The oldest school for girls in North America is at the Ursuline Convent. The Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the first cathedral of the Church of England built outside the United Kingdom, opened in 1804.
Recreation
Many visitors enjoy touring Quebec in horse-drawn buggies known as calèches. During the summertime, visitors may ride in sightseeing boats on the St. Lawrence River.
Parks.
Quebec’s park system includes hundreds of parks and playgrounds. Also in the city is National Battlefields Park. This park includes the historic Plains of Abraham. About 61/2 miles (10.5 kilometers) northeast of Quebec, the waters of Montmorency Falls plunge 251 feet (77 meters) into the St. Lawrence River.
Annual events and places to visit.
Hundreds of thousands of people attend the Quebec Winter Carnival or Carnaval de Québec. This event lasts almost three weeks in January and February and includes costume balls, dog-sled and ice-canoe races, parades, and street dancing. The Festival D’Été de Québec (Quebec Summer Festival) in July features top performers from many parts of the world. The Grande Foire de Québec (Great Quebec Fair), a provincial fair held in August, features agricultural and industrial exhibits.
Many visitors attend the changing-the-guard ceremony that is held in the Citadel each summer day. During this colorful ceremony, soldiers from the Royal 22nd Regiment wear elaborate British uniforms and march to military music and commands.
Government
Quebec City has a mayor-council form of government. The people elect a mayor and 21 other members of the City Council, the city’s legislative body. Borough councils provide local services in each of Quebec’s six boroughs (administrative divisions). The Executive Committee makes decisions about city operations and prepares Quebec’s annual budget and municipal bylaws. The committee consists of the mayor, two vice-chairs, and seven councilors. Taxes on businesses, property, and sales provide most of Quebec’s revenue. Quebec also receives grants and loans from the federal and provincial governments.
History
Early days.
Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking First Nations people once farmed and hunted in the area that is now Quebec City. In Canada, the term First Nations is used to refer to people known as Native Americans in the United States. The French explorer Jacques Cartier spent the winter of 1535 near the Iroquoian village of Stadacona. Another French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, established a permanent settlement there on July 3, 1608, and named it Quebec (see Champlain, Samuel de (The founding of Quebec)).
Louis Hébert, the first European to farm in Canada, established his household at Quebec in 1617. In 1620, Champlain built Fort St. Louis on the site where the Château Frontenac now stands.
In 1628, Quebec underwent the first of several attacks by English forces. A fleet under the command of David Kirke captured the settlement in 1629. Fewer than 60 people lived in Quebec at that time. France regained Quebec in 1632 through the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
In 1659, the person now known as Saint François Xavier de Laval de Montmorency arrived in Quebec. He helped make Quebec the center of New France, the French colonial empire in North America. In 1674, he became the first bishop of Quebec. The population of the village reached 547 in 1666. 
In 1690, the English general Sir William Phips, a Bostonian of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England, tried to capture Quebec. Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac, the governor general of New France, headed the successful defense of the city. At that time, Quebec had 1,500 residents.
The 1700’s.
In 1711, a British fleet under Admiral Hovenden Walker turned back from a planned attack on Quebec after a storm wrecked many of the ships on the Isle-aux-Oeufs reef in the St. Lawrence River. However, in September 1759, after a two-month siege, General James Wolfe’s British troops defeated French forces under the Marquise de Montcalm in the Battle of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham. The French surrendered Quebec five days later. By 1760, the city’s population had grown to 7,900. The Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War in 1763, gave Canada to the British.
In 1775, during the American Revolution, American troops led by General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold attacked Quebec. They suffered a disastrous defeat on New Year’s Eve. General Montgomery was killed during the invasion.
The British colonies of Upper and Lower Canada (now the southern parts of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec) were formed in 1791. Quebec City became the capital of Lower Canada at that time.
The 1800’s.
Through the years, Quebec City became increasingly important as an industrial port and a center of government. Business people took advantage of Quebec City’s nearby forests and its river location and developed lumber and shipbuilding industries.
Quebec received a city charter in 1832. In 1841, Upper and Lower Canada united to form the Province of Canada. Quebec City twice served as capital of the Province of Canada, from 1851 to 1855 and from 1859 to 1865. When the Dominion of Canada was established in 1867, the area that had been Lower Canada became the province of Quebec. Quebec City was named the capital of the province. The city’s population stood at almost 60,000 that year.
During the mid-1800’s, the Montreal Harbour Commission deepened the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City to Montreal. As a result, Quebec City’s importance as a port declined sharply. Montreal, closer to the heart of the continent and connected by canal and railroad to the Great Lakes, took much of Quebec City’s trade. At about the same time, iron ships began replacing wooden vessels, which hurt Quebec’s lumber and shipbuilding industries.
The 1900’s.
The early 1900’s brought further industrialization to Quebec City. By 1911, Quebec City had 80,000 people. During World War I (1914-1918), the Canadian government enacted a military draft. Many people in Quebec City opposed the draft, and major riots broke out in the city in the spring of 1918. During World War II (1939-1945), Quebec City’s factories expanded to manufacture war materials. The increased labor demand helped raise the population to 164,016 by 1951. Twice during the war, in 1943 and 1944, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt met in Quebec City. They conferred at the Château Frontenac and the Citadel about important war matters.
In 1970, the Quebec Urban Community was formed to deal with area problems and to promote tourism and industrial development. It consisted of Quebec City and 12 suburbs and had a council made up of mayors and other community representatives. In the early 1970’s, Quebec City annexed four suburbs and its area increased from 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) to 34 square miles (89 square kilometers).
Since the 1970’s, several hotels have been built in the area near the Parliament buildings. The city has become a popular convention destination. In 1996, a $125-million convention center was completed at Place Quebec, which is opposite the Parliament buildings. This project included a 600-room hotel and convention facilities.
In 1985, the Historic District of Old Quebec became the first urban district in Canada to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Such sites are places of unique cultural or natural importance, as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The early 2000’s.
In January 2002, Quebec merged with 12 other communities to form an enlarged city of Quebec, which replaced the Quebec Urban Community. In January 2006, two of the merged communities—L’Ancienne-Lorette and Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures—became separate municipalities. Before the 2002 expansion, Quebec City covered just 36 square miles (93 square kilometers). Following the 2006 demergers, it covered 175 square miles (452 square kilometers), its current area.
