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The Quebec Region
The northeastern part of the St. Lawrence Lowland is a narrowing region compressed between the Laurentians and the Appalachian Highlands. Except where trenched by the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, the general elevation of the surface is from 200 to 300 feet above sea level. Downstream the region includes the Beaupré coast, the Island of Orleans and the flats of Bellechasse on the south bank of the river. Here in an area of about 2,000 square miles, 75% of which is occupied. Here in the centre of the region is Quebec City, the ancient capital which, with its satellites, contains nearly three-fourths of the population.
The Geographic Selting of Quebec
The City of Quebec enjoys one of the finest urban sites on the continent. Its name, in the Algonquin language means "where the river narrows". This occurs between Cape Diamond and the heights of Lévis across the river. Below this constriction the wide estuary of the St. Lawrence opens out. In few places is there to be found such an abrupt transition from a river to its estuary. The strategic position of Quebec at this entrance to the continent has earned it the title of "the Gibraltar of North America".
The city site falls naturally into two divisions. The upper town is perched upon a detached fragment of the widespread Quebec Platform which underlies the whole St. Lawrence lowland. The Citadel and the old walled city is surrounded by steep cliffs which are climbed by steep tortuous streets and flights of stairs. On this upper level are found the Parliament buildings and government offices, Laval University and the main hotels, largest of which is the immense Chateau Frontenac. Fine buildings stretch westward along the Grande Allée to Battlefield Park, the Plains of Abraham, on which the armies of Wolfe and Montcalm decided the fate of Canada.
The old Lower Town is exceedingly crowded in its narrow space between the cliff and the river, but it has found space for expansion north and west into the Valley of the St. Charles River. This wide depression is an abandoned course of the St. Lawrence and a great misfit for the meandering St. Charles. The mouth of the river is adjoined by extensive railway yards. Upstream on both sides are the industrial sites and the residential districts of the factory workers. This used to be the site of the shipyards during the first half of the nineteenth century when Quebec was one of the greatest lumber and shipping centres in the world.
Lévis and Lauzon lie on the right bank directly across from Quebec. The latter point is the location of the modern shipyards and drydocks. A ferry links these suburbs to the city more effectively than the Quebec Bridge which lies ten miles up the river. Quebec is a railway terminal, second only to Montreal, while Lévis is an important divisional point on the main C.N.R. line from Montreal to Halifax. The other suburbs are clustered about the city on the north bank of the river.
The Urban Functions
Quebec has become an important industrial centre, nevertheless it remains much less dominated by that function than Montreal, or any other town in Quebec. The major role of Quebec is that of capital. The very aspect of the Upper Town reflects that function in many ways. In the past Quebec was the capital of Canada, and is now the capital of the second greatest province. It houses thousands of civil servants of the provincial, federal, and municipal administrations. The Parliament buildings along Grande Allde contain both lower and upper chambers and the huge annexes house all departments of government. Quebec is also a judicial centre and a military headquarters, symbolized by the Court House and the Citadel.
The tourist traffic may be added to the functions of the capital city. The tourists, who are mostly summer visitors, look for the typical French touch of Quebec, "the only walled city in North America". The battlefields of 1759, the old churches, the narrow streets "sous le cap", a few museums, and the picturesque surroundings combine to attract hundreds of thousands who are taken care of by the large hotels, many tourist homes and restaurants. Tourists bring as much money to Quebec as its largest industries.
The commercial function of Quebec employs about one-fifth of the workers. The old harbour, at the foot of the cliff below the citadel, is still used by many types of water craft, especially the coasting lines and the Lévis ferry which maintains a yearround service.
Quebec is the terminal of all railway lines on the north bank of the St. Lawrence. Most important is the Canadian Pacific line from Montreal. Canadian National lines also radiate in many directions linking Quebec to Murray Bay, Lake St. John and Chicoutimi, Western Quebec, Montreal via Shawinigan Falls and Edmundston, N.B. via the Quebec Bridge. Across the same bridge the Quebec Central trains run to Beauce and Sherbrooke. Ldvis has Canadian National service to Montreal, the cities of the South Shore and the Maritime Provinces.
The commercial hinterland of Quebec embraces all the natural regions down the estuary and the gulf, part of the Eastern Townships, half of the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Lake St. John and the Saguenay and a goodly share of Western Quebec. In the latter region, however, the influences of Montreal and Toronto also compete.
The urban functions of greater Quebec are well balanced. It is one of the nicest cities in Canada and geographically the most interesting.


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