Mandy Hudson, age 13, of Great Falls, Mont., for her question:
WHICH CANADIAN PROVINCE IS THE LARGEST?
Canada is the second largest country in the world. Only the Soviet Union has more area. There are 10 provinces and two territories in Canada. The province of Quebec is the largest.
Quebec has almost 600,000 square miles of land and water. It is larger in area than the state of Alaska.
Quebec makes up almost one sixth of Canada's total area. It is located in eastern Canada north of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. West of Quebec are Ontario and Hudson Bay, while Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay are to the north. To the east you'll find Newfoundland, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and New Brunswick.
Quebec has traditions that are both French and English. It has many great industrial cities as well an lots of tiny rural villages and a vast area of unsettled lands.
Montreal, Canada's largest city, is located in Quebec.
The name Quebec is an Algonquin Indian word that means "strait" or "sudden narrowing of a river." Near the city of Quebec, which is the capital of the province, there is just such a narrowing of the St. Lawrence River.
On the coat of arms for the province are the lilies of France, the lion of England and the maple leaves of Canada. The coat of arms was adopted in 1863. Adopted earlier, in 1830, is Quebec's motto: "Je me souveins," which means "I remember." It points out the French Canadians' love of tradition. The province's flag was adopted in 1948 and shows a white cross and lilies on a blue field.
Quebec has a strong French heritage. It was discovered in 1534 by a Frenchman named Jacques Cartier. The area was ceded to the British by the French in 1763 and Quebec became a province of Canada in 1867.
Seventy nine percent of the people of Quebec are of French descent. English and other national groups account for 21 percent of the population.
Only the province of Ontario has a higher value of manufactures than Quebec. These two provinces produce about 75 percent of all of Canada's products.
Quebec is ahead of all the other provinces in the production of textiles, clothing, paper products and petroleum and coal products. It is also the top producer in Canada's pulp industry. It has been estimated that Quebec makes the paper for two out of every five pages of newspapers printed in the United States.
Quebec is the world's largest producer of asbestos. And the province is also Canada's only producer of titanium.
When it comes to water power resources and development, Quebec is the richest province. Turbines in Quebec develop more than one third of all of Canada's horsepower. And Canada itself ranks second in the world in water power development.