Out of Canada's thirteen provinces, Quebec is the only one where French is recognized as the only official language. Located in the eastern part of Canada, Quebec has the largest population of all the provinces, about seven and a half million people. In fact, more than half the citizens of the huge country of Canada all live in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Quebec is bordered by Ontario and the Hudson Bay to the west, the United States to the south, New Brunswick and Newfoundland to the east and the Labrador Sea to the northeast.

Did you know that the people of Quebec feel so strongly about identifying with the French language that in the 1990s they tried twice (unsuccessfully) to withdraw from the rest of Canada? Most canadians in the rest of the country feel that losing Quebec would seriously harm Canada, and from the point of view of the economy, it would be a disaster. Huge dams and electricity-generating power plants have been built on the vast, wild rivers that flow into the James Bay, and a lot of this electricity is then sold to consumers in the United States. Besides being a major industrial and manufacturing area, Quebec is also Canada's main producer of pulp and paper.

The capital of Quebec, Quebec City, is located on the Saint Lawrence River and has the world's largest annual winter carnival. It lasts ten days and includes festivities such as building snow sculptures, riding a dogsled right through the middle of the city and participating in competitions. In the old part of the city, called Old Quebec, the streets and buildings look very much like those in Europe. It is possible to tour the streets in a horse-drawn carriage. Montreal, the other major city of Quebec, is one of Canada's most cosmopolitan cities and it borders right on the United States.