QUEBEC (ante), a province of the dominion of Canada, formerly Canada East. It is situated between lat. 45° and 53° 30' n., and long: 57° 8' and 79° 30' w., and is bounded on the ii. by Labrador and Hudson's bay; on the e. by Labrador and the ,gulf of St. Law rence; on the s. by the bay of Chaleurs, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Ver mont, and NewYork; and on the s.w. by the Ottawariver and the province of Ontario. The area is about 193,355 sq.miles. South of the St. Lawrence river, which runs through the entire length of the province, the land is hilly, and n. of that river most of the coun try also is rocky and mountainous. The Notre Dame mountains, a continuation of the Green mountains in Vermont, extend e. from the latitude of the city of Quebec along the course of the St. Lawrence on its s. side to the gulf of the same name, attaining here and there a height of 3,000 or 4,000 feet. The Laurentian mountains, on the n. of the St. Lawrence, extend from the Labrador coast to the Ottawa river above Ottawa. This range also attains a height in some places of 4,000 ft. above the sea. Along the gulf of St. Lawrence the province has a coast line of 1164 miles. The principal bays are Gaspe and Chaleurs. The St. Lawrence is the chief river and the great avenue of commerce. Its largest tributaries in the s. are the Chateauguay, which rises in New York and is navigable a considerable distance; the Richelieu, or St. John's, SO m. long, the outlet of lake Champlain; the Yamaska. 90 m. long; the St. Francis, 100 in. long, which receives the Magog, the outlet of lake Memphreniagog, and empties into the St. Lawrence at lake St. Peter; the Nicolet, Becancour, Chaudiere, Rimouski, and 3.1atane. In the n. the largest tributaries from the St. Lawrence lying wholly within the province are the Saguenay and the St. Maurice rivers. Besides these rivers there are others branching out here and there as tributaries of the Ottawa, the longest of which arc the Keepawa, 120 In.; the Gatineau, 400 in.; the Du Lievre, 260 m.; and the Riviere du Nord, 160 miles. The lakes of the province are numerous, especially in the 11.1V. part. The largest is lake St. John, 30 by 25 m. in extent, about 120 tn. n. of the city of Quebec. The great northern hill-region is scarcely habitah]e except in low fertile valleys, but it affords immense supplies of timber. BetWeen the ranges of mountains on the s. and n. of the St. Lawrence, however, the country is a succession of fertile, prosperous valleys, and hills densely timbered, containing deposits of copper ores, iron, galena, small quan tities of silver and gold, and many varieties of marble and serpentine; also excellent granite, slate, and soapstone. The climate is healthy, but subject to extremes of tem perature. Winter begins about the end of November and lasts until the middle of April. All the territory which the province embraces, together with much more, was first taken possession of in 1534 by a Frenchman named Jacques Cartier. The first permanent set
tlement was made at what is now the city of Quebec in 1608 by the French; the next on the present site of Montreal in 1642; and from that period until 1759 the French con tinued to occupy the country, though much harassed by the 'Indians. During that year an English army, under gen. Wolfe, captured Quebec, and shortly afterwards the whole province was surrendered to the English with the rest of Canada. In 1794, when Canada was divided into two portions, this province became known as Canada East. Then in 1841 it was again united to Canada West. Upon the organization of the dominion in 1857, however, it was separated a third time, and became a distinct province with the city of Quebec as its capital. It is divided into 59 electoral counties, and the chief cities are Montreal (pop. in '71, 107,225), Quebec (pop. 59,699). Three Rivers (pop. 7,570), and St. Hyacinthe (pop. 3,746). In 1b71 the total pop. of the province was 1.191,516, of whom 929,817 were of French origin, 123,478 of Irish, 69,822 of English, 49,458 of Scotch, 7,963 of German, and 148 of African. There were also nearly 7,000 Indians residing in the province. The numbers of persons engaged in various occupations and industries were: agriculture, 160,641; trade, 25,507; industrial pursuits, 65,707; profes sional, 15,376: servants, 21,186. The rest were unclassified. A majority of the inhabi tants speak the French language, and the laws are obliged to be printed in both French. and English. The region s. of the St. Lawrence river and w. of the meridian of Quebec is the portion most thickly settled. Among the agricultural products, oats, potatoes, and hay are the largest crops. Wheat, barley, rye, peas, beans, buckwheat, Indian corn, turnips, flax, apples, tobacco, and hops are also raised. The chief articles manufactured are flour, lumber, furniture, leather, hardware, paper, chemicals, soap, boots and shoes, cotton and woolen goods, steam-engines, and agricultural implements. Along the gulf of St. Lawrence most of the inhabitants are fishermen. Cod, herring, salmon, seals, mackerel, and lobsters abound in great numbers in the gulf, and the annual yield of the fisheries is usually large. For the year 1874 the amount derived from this occupation was estimated at $1,608,660. The value of exports to foreign countries in 1874, Chiefly forest products, fish and fish oils, furs, cattle, hides, and the ores of metals, was V6,393,845, of which $36,099,441 were to Great Britain, and $5,812, 596 to the United States. The principal articles imported were cotton and woolen goods, silks, iron and hardware, sugar, molasses, tea, tobacco, wheat, coal, and liquors. The tote value was $51,980,870, which included $32,749,883 of imports from Great Britain and :$12,703,967 from the United States. The province is connected with the latter country and Ontario by several lines of railroads, the greatest among which is the Grand Trunk railway and its 5 branches.