What it's known for
Montréal is the largest city in Quebec and the largest mainly French-speaking city in the Americas. Founded in 1642 as Ville-Marie, it hosted the world's fair Expo 67 and the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Montréal
City in CanadaMontréal covers most of the Island of Montreal in southern Quebec, where the Ottawa River meets the Saint Lawrence River. The hill of Mount Royal rises just west of downtown.
Fun facts
- The city takes its name from Mount Royal, the hill that the explorer Jacques Cartier named in 1535, and a lit cross 31.4 m tall stands on top of it.
- About 32 km of tunnels called the Underground City link offices, shops and metro stations, so people can stay warm during the long winters.
- Montréal was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1844 to 1849, until a mob burned down the Parliament building.
Finding it on the globe
From Ottawa, follow the Ottawa River about 165 km east to where it joins the Saint Lawrence: Montréal is on the island at that meeting point.
Easy to mix up
Montréal is not the capital of Canada or of Quebec. Canada's capital is Ottawa, upriver to the west, and Quebec's capital is Quebec City, down the Saint Lawrence to the northeast.
Sources: Wikipedia: Montreal, Wikipedia: Mount Royal, Wikipedia: Underground City, Montreal, Wikipedia: Quebec City, Wikipedia: Ottawa