Area Map Quick Facts Location and Land

History and People Economy Government

Quebec: Quick Facts

Quick Facts

• Capital - Québec city
• Motto - Je me souviens (I remember)
• Flower - Fleur-de-Lys (Madonna Lily)
• Entered Confederation - 1 July 1867
• Members of the Legislative Assembly - 122
• Members of Parliament - 75
• Senators - 24
• Population, 1998 - 7,334,094</li>
• Average annual family income, 1996 - $50,935
• Employment rate, 1997 - 55%
• Per capita health expenditures, 1995 - $2,383
• Inflation as measured by the CPI, 1997 - 1.5%
• Average weekly earnings, 1997 - $564.98
• Housing starts, 1997 - 25,896
• Provincial sales tax, 1998 - 7.5%
• Urban population, 1996 - 78.4%
• GDP per capita, 1995 - $23,783
• Land area out of Canada's total area - 15.5%

Sources: Statistics Canada, 1999 Canadian Encyclopedia

Cities

Québec city (686,600) is the ancient capital of Québec and home to its legislature.

Montreal is Canada's second largest city (3,423,500) and the heart of French culture in North America. Other cities include:

• Trois-Rivieres, (48,419)
• Sherbrooke, (152,100)
• Chicoutimi-Jonquiere (162 500) and
• Hull (62,339).

Time Zones

Québec is in the Eastern Time zone.

Climate

With such a huge land mass and extending over 5 degrees of latitude the province of Québec has wide temperature variations. In the south, the climate is temperate with four distinct seasons, a mild spring, an often hot summer, a chilly autumn, and a snowy, cold winter. The extreme northern portion of the territory is subject to the rigours of the Arctic climate. Average summer temperatures can range between 20º C and 5º C. Winter can vary from 5 months in the south to 8 months in the north. Average winter temperature range between -10 º C and -25º C and total precipitation between 900 and 400 mm.

Québec has four types of climate:

• humid continental - south of the 50th parallel with a hot summer, a cold winter and abundant precipitation,
• subarctic, between the 50th and 58th parallels with colder, longer winters, shorter, cooler summers, less precipitation,
• Arctic climate in the far north with rigorous winter, brief annual thaw, continuous permafrost,
• Eastern maritime in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine.