Quebec, a province of the Dominion of Canada, lies to the east of Ontario, and between that province and New Brunswick. Deducting the surface of its inland waters, including the River and Gulf of St Lawrence, the area of Quebec, including recent additions, is 347,350 sq. m. The surface of the country is varied and grand, consisting of extensive rivers and lakes, large stretches of agricultural land, and immense forests. Two ranges of mountains run through the province from southwest to north-east, that on the south side of the St Lawrence being called the Notre Dame or Green Mountains, stretching from Quebec to Gaspé, while on the north side of the river is the Laurentian Range (see CANADA). The chief river in the province is of course the St Lawrence (q.v.), which has many tributaries of great length, the principal being the Ottawa, the St Maurice, and the Saguenay. The influence of the tide in the St Lawrence is felt as far up as the town of Three Rivers, which is nearly 900 miles from the Straits of Belle Isle. Several of the rivers are navigable for the greater part of their course, while others are used in floating timber, and besides supply manufacturing industries with almost unlimited water-power. There are numerous lakes in the province, of which the best known are Temiscamingue, Metapedia, Temiscouata, Memphremagog, and St John. The province has a coast-line of 825 miles on the Atlantic.
The climate of Quebec is very much like that of the other parts of eastern Canada, excepting perhaps that the winter is slightly colder; but, as in Ontario and in the maritime provinces, the air is generally dry and brilliant, the cold is not felt to be unpleasant, and it is no disadvantage to either the agricultural or other industries; in fact, the climate is exceedingly healthy. The soil of the province is rich and loamy, well adapted for the growth of products of all kinds. Cereals, hay, and root-crops grow everywhere in abundance. Indian corn, hemp, flax, and tobacco are also raised in many parts of the province. Fruit in considerable quantities is grown, especially apples and plums, which are exported largely. Small fruits are very abundant, and grapes ripen in the open air in many districts. Tomatoes are also a field-crop. Cattle-breeding on a large scale is carried on, and many thousands of animals are exported to Great Britain yearly. For pasturage the land of Quebec is of special excellence, particularly in the eastern townships and north of the St Lawrence.
The fisheries in the River and Gulf of St Lawrence are very prolific, and all the smaller rivers teem with fish. Along the St Lawrence especially this industry is an important one. The value of the fisheries is over 2,000,000 annually. The province is notably rich in minerals. Alluvial gold is found in various places, copper is found in the eastern townships, while iron is very generally distributed. Other minerals, such as lead, silver, platinum, and zinc, are also found, while the asbestos deposits, and those of apatite, or phosphate of lime, have achieved a reputation far beyond the limits of the province. Agriculture and dairy-farming form the chief occupations of the people at present, but manufactures, the fisheries, and commerce employ a considerable part of its inhabitants, as do also lumbering, mining, and shipbuilding. The principal articles manufactured are cloth, linen, furniture, leather, sawn timber, flax, iron and hardware, paper, chemicals, sugar, soap, india-rubber goods, boots and shoes, cotton and woollen goods, cheese (there were 672 cheese-factories and creameries in 1891), and all kinds of agricultural implements. Good wagon-roads abound, and Quebec has nearly 3000 miles of railway in operation, besides important canals, such as the Lachine, Beauharnois, and Chambly. A great portion of the total area is covered with timber, chiefly red and white pine, the produce of which forms about a third of the total exports of the province. The other principal exports are animals and their products and agricultural and dairy produce, amounting altogether to about 60,000,000 annually, the greater proportion going to Great Britain. The imports reach nearly the same value, the larger half coming from Great Britain. The revenue in 1897 amounted to 3,877,466, the expenditure to 4,892,282, and the provincial debt to $21,718,476. The revenue is derived from the subsidy from the Federal treasury, receipts from land sales, timber limits, mines, licenses, and certain other direct taxes. The affairs of the province, which is divided into 63 counties, are administered by a lieutenant-governor, who is appointed by the governor-general, an executive council consisting of 24 members appointed for life, and a legislative assembly of 73 persons elected every four years. The province is represented in the Dominion Senate by 24 members, and in the House of Commons by 65 members. The population consists largely of French-Canadians, descendants of the French settlers living in the country when it was transferred to Great Britain in 1763. The population in 1881 was 1,359,027, of whom 1,073,820, or 79 per cent. of the total, were French, 123,749 Irish, 81,515 English, and 50,923 Scotch. In 1891 the total population was 1,488,586. In 1763, at the time of the cession, the French population did not exceed 70,000, so that the progress in less than 130 years has been very remarkable, and in strange contrast to the state of things in old France. Families of twelve and fourteen are quite common amongst French-Canadians. The English population does not increase in the same way. Farms are subdivided amongst all the children as in France. In religion the Roman Catholics exceed five-sixths of the population, but the Protestant churches flourish in the cities, and the rights of the minority, in religious and educational matters, are protected by statute. Education is under the supervision of a council, which is divided into two committees for the government of Roman Catholic and Protestant schools respectively. The two Protestant universities are McGill at Montreal and Bishop's College at Lennoxville; Laval, the Catholic university, is at Quebec. The principal city in the province is Montreal, which now claims a population of 210,000, and is the commercial metropolis of the Dominion. The next is Quebec, the most historic city in Canada, and the seat of the provincial government.
From a historical point of view the province of Quebec is probably the most interesting part of the continent, and has already been described up to the 'Quebec Act' of 1774 in the article Canada (q.v.). The French language is still used in the province, and is sanctioned by law; the same remark applies to the French law. It is generally supposed that these privileges were conferred upon the French-Canadians by statute, but this is not the case. By the proclamation of 1763 French law was abolished in the province, and the English law substituted for it. The civil law of France was established again in 1791, and the use of the French language was officially recognised for the first time in that year; but by the Act of 1840 the French language was again set aside, and it was only legalised again in 1848. The principal historical occurrences in the 19th century have been the rebellion of 1837-38, which led to the union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1840, and the subsequent difficulties which ended in the confederation, of 1867, with the other provinces of Canada.
See Quebec Past and Present, by J. M. Lemoine (Montreal, 1876); Picturesque Quebec (1881); Mineral Resources of Quebec (Geol. Sur. of Canada, 1888); Sketch of the Province, by the Hon. Honoré Mercier (1890); Garneau's History of Canada; Histoire des Canadiens Français, by Sulte; Cassell's Picturesque Canada; and handbooks issued by the Canadian government.