Montréal

Montreal is the main city of Quebec. A large island and port metropolis on the St. Lawrence River, at the foot of the Lachine Rapids, it is the second most populous city in Canada (with 1,762,949 inhabitants in 2021), after Toronto, and the largest French-speaking city in America. Its urban area, the metropolitan region of Montreal, brings together nearly 4.3 million inhabitants, or approximately half of the population of Quebec. Montreal is one of the large cities in North America and an important financial, knowledge, cultural and aeronautics center. Montreal is home to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The city owes its name to Mount Royal, which overlooks the business center and the historic center of the city, both located in the Ville-Marie borough. Montreal is divided into 19 boroughs which cover three-quarters of the island of Montreal, the largest of the Hochelaga archipelago, but also Bizard Island, Nuns' Island and the Sainte-Hélène and Notre-Dame islands. Lady. There are more than 1.8 million residents within the municipal boundaries. The official language of the administration, French is the language used by the majority of the population. English and other languages play an important role; half of Montrealers are bilingual and almost a quarter are trilingual.

The economic, commercial and financial heart of Quebec, the city has more than 400 head offices and numerous industrial clusters. Considered the “best student city” in the world and the “university metropolis of Canada” with six universities and 450 research centers, Montreal is also an important cultural center for video games, cinema and design. The city's public transportation, structured by a metro network, is one of the most efficient, fast and punctual in North America. Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport welcomes nearly 20 million travelers annually. The Montreal region is the gateway to immigration to Quebec. More than 70% of people born abroad and residing in Quebec remain there.

Host of the 1967 World's Fair and the 1976 Summer Olympics, Montreal hosts the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix and numerous festivals each year, such as the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the FrancoFolies and the Juste festival. for fun. The Montreal Canadiens are the oldest hockey club in the world still in activity, without interruption.

Montreal is considered a global city.