Montréal - Geography. I INTRODUCTION Montréal, city in Île-de-Montréal County, southern Québec province, Canada. The second largest city in Canada, Montréal is one of Canada's leading commercial, industrial, and service centers. It is also a center of Canadian intellectual and cultural life and the chief cultural center of the French part of Canada. Most of the residents are of French descent and speak the French language; however, a significant minority speaks English, giving Montréal a bilingual character. Founded by the French in 1642, Montréal is one of the oldest cities in North America. Its name comes from the old French form of the name of the mountain, Mount Royal, that dominates the city. Montréal has a northern climate, with a mean July temperature range of 15° to 26°C (60° to 79°F) and a mean January range of -15° to -6°C (5° to 22°F). With an average yearly snowfall of 214 cm (84 in), winter snowdrifts can become deep, and popular winter activities are skating, skiing, and ice hockey. II MONTRÉAL AND ITS METROPOLITAN AREA Montréal is located on Montréal Island in the Hochelaga Archipelago, where the Ottawa River flows into the St. Lawrence River. The archipelago has more than 320 islands and islets dispersed along three roughly parallel main waterways: the St. Lawrence River, the Rivière des Prairies (formerly called Back River in English) and the Rivière des Mille Îles. The boomerang-shaped Montréal Island is the largest island in the archipelago. About one-third of it is occupied by the city proper, which covers 177 sq km (68 sq mi). The Montréal Urban Community, a regional association of 29 municipalities, extends over the whole island and a few nearby islands. It covers a land area of 494 sq km (191 sq mi). The metropolitan area is much larger, including other islands and spilling over to the north and south shores of the St. Lawrence River. The metropolitan area covers a land area of 4,024 sq km (1,554 sq mi) and is divided among 102 municipalities. The most populous suburban cities are Laval and Longueuil. More than 20 road and rail bridges link Montréal Island with surrounding communities. Mount Royal, with three summits, rises over the city to a height of 234 m (768 ft) above sea level. One summit is crowned with an illuminated cross. The mountain vista is protected by a city bylaw forbidding downtown skyscrapers to rise higher than the crest. On top of the mountain is the magnificent Mount Royal Park, comprising 215 hectares (532 acres). Created in 1874, it was designed by famous American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Two large adjoining cemeteries, one Roman Catholic and one Protestant, add to the beauty of the site. The slope of the mountain is extended by a series of natural terraces going down to the river. For centuries Montréalers have had a peculiar way of describing their island's geography. The direction they call north is in fact west-northwest, east is really northnortheast, and so on. For simplicity, this description follows that usage. Most of the city streets are arranged in a grid pattern. The major thoroughfare, St. Lawrence Boulevard (popularly known as The Main), crosses the island from south to north and was traditionally the border between Francophone (French-speaking) east Montréal and the Anglophone (English-speaking) west part. Cross streets in the city are named and numbered as being east and west of that boulevard. The heart of the city lies between the mountain and the St. Lawrence River. The original site was along the river in an area now called Old Montréal. It is the main tourist attraction of the city, containing numerous landmark buildings. Few of them date back to the French regime (pre-1760) because fires and demolitions have taken a toll over the centuries. Among the oldest, the Saint Sulpice Seminary (dating to the 1680s) and the Château de Ramezay (1705), now a historical museum, are fine examples of French architecture in the colonial era. French influence lasted for a time after the British conquest of 1760, as shown by some late 18th-century houses. British influence came to prevail, however, and most of Old Montréal is in fact a Victorian Style city, probably the largest and most interesting one in North America. Two buildings that dominated the landscape in the mid19th century are still visible today: the Notre Dame Basilica (1829) and the Bonsecours Market (1840s). The basilica stands on the Place d'Armes, the city's most historic square, whose buildings tell the story of Montréal's institutional and commercial architecture from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Old Montréal was saved from the cycle of demolition and reconstruction by the development of a new, modern central business district located to the northwest around Boulevard René-Lévesque. Starting in the 1950s with the building of Place Ville-Marie, an office complex whose cross-shaped main tower is a landmark of modern architecture, numerous skyscrapers were built. Another famous Montréal feature also began with Place Ville-Marie: the underground city. Underground passages link office complexes, parking facilities, boutiques, and galleries with railway and subway (Métro) stations, hotels, restaurants, department stores, cultural institutions, and the convention center (Palais des Congrès). With four distinct clusters, the underground city boasts 29 km (18 mi) of walkways. In the heart of the central business district is Rue Sainte-Catherine (Saint Catherine Street), which is the center of Montréal's nightlife thanks to its numerous cinemas, restaurants, and nightclubs. In fact, unlike many North American cities, downtown Montréal is not deserted after office hours; it remains lively, attracting crowds of people. The site of the central business district was formerly the Golden Square Mile, where the wealthiest Montréalers lived 100 years ago. Many of their fine mansions can still be seen, especially north of Sherbrooke Street. Farther east, Saint Lawrence Boulevard is lined with ethnic shops and restaurants testifying to successive waves of Jewish, Italian, Greek, and Portuguese immigrants. Next to that area, the Francophone district of Plateau Mont-Royal extends for a few kilometers on both sides of Saint Denis Street, which is renowned for its restaurants, its exclusive shops, and its French-language bookstores. This is the heart of Francophone Montréal. The streets are lined with duplexes and triplexes, many adorned with the outdoor staircases that were typical of Montréal until the 1920s. III POPULATION Since the early 1970s, the Montréal metropolitan area has grown at a very slow pace, gaining less than 300,000 people in two decades. The city proper is the second most populous in Canada, with 1,039,534 residents at the 2001 census. The metropolitan area, with 3,666,300 people in 2006, is second to metropolitan Toronto, Ontario. For most of Montréal's history, nearly all its people were of French or British descent. This has changed with immigration to Canada, and today, one-sixth of Montréal's people have come from another country. Asia, the Caribbean islands (mostly Haiti), Central and South America, and Africa are now strongly represented. Most Montréalers, however, are still of European descent. According to the 1991 census, more than half (59 percent) are wholly French. Another 5.4 percent are wholly British. Another 4.2 percent are both British and French, and 5.5 percent are British or French mixed with some other origin. Other European origins make up 14.2 percent, the largest group being Italian, followed by Jewish, Greek, and Portuguese. Just over 6 percent are of Asian or African ancestry, and less than 1 percent of Central or South American origin. Blacks, some of whom are included in the other groups mentioned, make up 2 to 3 percent of the population. Data on mother tongues provide a better view of the language distribution. French is the language of the majority: two persons out of every three claim French as their mother tongue. English is the first language of 14.2 percent of Montréalers. Other significant mother tongues are Italian, Spanish, Greek, Arabic, and Chinese. Accounting for more than three-fourths (77.6 percent) of the population, Roman Catholics are the largest religious group, and Montréal is the seat of an archbishop of that church. The various Protestant churches account for 8.2 percent of religious membership, followed by the Jewish (3.1 percent), Eastern non-Christian (2.9 percent), and Eastern Orthodox (2.8 percent) religions. Another 5.4 percent claim no religious affiliation. IV EDUCATION AND CULTURE Montréal has a large number of private schools, most of them partially funded by the province. Like the rest of Québec province, Montréal has two public school systems, one for French speakers and one for English speakers. The Charter of the French Language (1977), known as Bill 101, restricts access to English-language schools and requires children of immigrants to be educated in French. As a result, French-language schools became increasingly multiethnic. With four universities, Montréal is one of the leading centers of higher education in Canada. There are two English-language institutions: McGill University (1821) and Concordia University (1974). Their French-language counterparts are the Université de Montréal (1876) and the University of Québec at Montréal (1969). Both private and state universities are funded by the province on a similar footing. The metropolitan area also has 16 public community colleges and 15 private institutions that offer some college-level training. Prominent among the city's museums is the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, with significant collections of European and Canadian paintings and other specialized collections. The works of 20th-century Québec artists are well represented at the Musée d'Art Contemporain (Museum of Contemporary Art). The Canadian Center for Architecture is a world-class museum and research center for the study of architecture. Pointe-à-Callière Museum is devoted to Montréal's history and archaeology. The McCord Museum of Canadian History has substantial holdings in ethnology. History is also the main feature of Château de Ramezay. The Biodôme has an environmental focus--it replicates four ecosystems of the Americas. La Biosphère focuses on water and the Saint Lawrence River/Great Lakes ecosystem. Many other smaller, specialized museums operate in the city. The Cosmodôme, a space museum, is located in suburban Laval. The Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec (National Library of Québec) is in Montréal and holds the largest collection of printed works by Québec authors. The Library of the City of Montréal has branches throughout the city and is noted for its collection of works on Canada. There are many other libraries, including the Jewish Public Library and those in the universities. Numerous dance companies and French-language theater companies perform in Montréal. The Montréal Symphony Orchestra has an international reputation, and the city also has the Montréal Metropolitan Orchestra. Place des Arts is the main performing arts center and boasts the largest concert hall in the city. Summertime is a festive season, with one major event after another. The biggest is the International Jazz Festival in late June, but the Just for Laughs Festival of comedy shows in July and the Francopholies (a French-language song and music festival) and Montréal World Film Festival in August also attract substantial crowds. V RECREATION Facilities for a variety of winter and summer sports and recreation are provided by Montréal's numerous municipal parks, including Mount Royal, Maisonneuve, Lafontaine, Sainte-Hélène, and Angrignon parks. Montréal also has four regional parks--Cap Saint-Jacques, Bois de Liesse, Île de la Visitation, and Rivière des Prairies. The Lachine Canal linear park has a 13-km (8-mi) cycle path. Montréal Botanical Garden, the largest of its kind in North America, features large collections of exotic plants; a magnificent Chinese garden; a Japanese garden; and the Insectarium, a comprehensive museum and zoo of insect life. Olympic Stadium, the scene of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, hosts various shows and exhibitions. It was also the longtime home of the Montréal Expos major league baseball team, but because of financial difficulties the team moved to Washington, D.C., in 2005. The Montréal Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League and play at the Bell Centre. The Blue Bonnets horse racing track and the Montréal Casino are also popular attractions. The Montréal Grand Prix Formula One automobile race is held every year on Sainte Hélène Island. VI ECONOMY Montréal has a highly diversified economic base. It is the metropolis of French-speaking Québec, and most of the large Francophone-owned corporations have headquarters there. About one-fifth of the metropolitan workforce is employed in manufacturing. As with many other eastern North American cities, Montréal's traditional industrial base has been profoundly shaken since the 1960s, although the decline was less pronounced than in most places. Remaining factories have been moving from the city to the suburbs. Textiles and garment making remain the major types of manufacturing in Montréal, but are declining each year. Next most important are the food, beverage, and tobacco industries. The most significant change has been the growth of new industries such as aerospace, drug research and manufacturing, electronics, and computer programming. The metropolitan industrial base also includes metal products, machinery, paper products, printing, automobiles, furniture, chemicals, and petroleum products. In Montréal as elsewhere, most employment is in the services sector. In finance, the city hosts the head offices of the first and third largest Canadian banks, the Royal Bank and the Bank of Montréal (although most of their activities take place in Toronto), and of the two Francophone banks, the National Bank of Canada and the Laurentian Bank. Various other financial institutions are headquartered in Montréal: insurance and trust companies, brokerage houses, and investment firms. Torontobased firms usually have their eastern Canada regional offices in Montréal. The Montréal Stock Exchange specializes in options and derivatives trading; it also lists a limited number of small-capitalization local enterprises. Some 40 countries have a consulate in Montréal, and a similar number have an honorary consulate. A number of worldwide organizations also have offices in Montréal. Its bilingual character has helped make Montréal a favored meeting place for European and North American cultures and a leading site for large international conventions. Each year, conventions attract more than 500,000 delegates to Montréal. Montréal thrived as a port city when Canada's economy was closely linked to Britain. Although it has lost some importance in recent decades, its harbor remains very busy. Montréal offers the shortest route from Europe to central Canada, the Midwestern United States, and the Northeastern states. The harbor handles a great variety of goods. Bulk cargo is dominated by grain, minerals, and petroleum. Montréal is Canada's leading port for containerized cargo and one of the leading container ports on the Atlantic seaboard of North America. In summertime it also attracts many cruise ships. Once the railway hub of Canada, Montréal is still the rail center for eastern Canada. It is served by Canada's two transcontinental systems, the Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railways, as well as by American railways. Major freeways converging on the city were built during the 1960s and 1970s, connecting it with the Trans-Canada Highway and with the freeway system of the United States. Two major airports serve Montréal. Trudeau takes care of domestic and international scheduled passenger flights, whereas international charter and cargo flights go to Mirabel. VII GOVERNMENT Montréal is governed by a mayor and a council, the members of which are elected by popular vote for four-year terms. The council is the city's legislative body and includes 51 councilors in addition to the mayor. The executive branch consists of an executive committee made up of the mayor and nine councilors who are chosen by the mayor and approved by majority vote of the council. Since 1970 the regional government, the Montréal Urban Community, has had full responsibility for services such as police, property assessment, environmental protection, and regional planning. The cities and municipalities are still responsible for the remaining powers normally held by local authorities, such as fire protection, water treatment and distribution, sewers, garbage collection, traffic, zoning, building regulations, and libraries. The Urban Community is governed by a council, an executive committee, and a president. The council consists of the mayor and councilors of the city of Montréal, along with the mayors of the other 28 municipalities. The executive committee is made up of the five presidents and five vice presidents of the council's five standing committees; five of them must come from the city and five from the suburban municipalities. The president is selected from the council, at that body's recommendation, and is appointed by the provincial government. Upon appointment, the president is required to quit his or her elective position. When the Urban Community was created, its territory housed about 70 percent of the metropolitan population. However, due to ongoing urban sprawl, it now has only about 50 percent. This trend has given rise to much debate about whether a new form of metropolitan government is needed. VIII CONTEMPORARY ISSUES In the late 1990s Montréal emerged from a long and painful industrial restructuring process. Due to the growth of high-tech and export-led industries, such as telecommunications, software, aeronautics, and pharmaceuticals, Montréal's economy became buoyant again. In 2000 only 7 percent of the metropolitan workforce was unemployed, down from 12 percent in 1996. The language question became important again in the late 1990s. Some Anglophone spokespersons have asked the government to ease the language laws, whereas some Francophones have pressed for stronger legislation limiting the use of English. The provincial government has decided to maintain the existing rules, backed by public opinion polls strongly favoring the status quo. The issue of metropolitan governance was hotly debated during the late 1990s because almost half the urban population lived outside the borders of the Montréal Urban Community. In early 2000 the Québec government announced a plan to establish a new Montréal Metropolitan Community in 2001. The Montréal Metropolitan Community would replace the existing Montréal Urban Community and encompass most of the metropolitan area. IX HISTORY In 1535 the French explorer Jacques Cartier was the first European known to land on Montréal Island. The city of Montréal (at first also called Ville Marie) was founded in May 1642 as a missionary colony. The city's founder and first governor, Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, settled along the Saint Lawrence with some 40 colonists. After difficult beginnings, the city prospered as the fur-trading center of the French colony of New France and became the gateway to the western interior. Fur traders departed from Montréal to explore and start trading posts in the Great Lakes area and the Mississippi valley. By 1760 the city's population of French origin had reached about 4,000. In 1760 Montréal surrendered to British forces that were completing their conquest of Canada during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). In the wake of the British conquest a small group of enterprising merchants, mostly Scots, took over the fur trade. Their ventures grew into the North West Company, which built a powerful furtrading empire reaching to the Arctic and Pacific oceans. In 1821 the North West Company merged with the Hudson's Bay Company, and Montréal lost its centuries-long control of the fur trade. See also Fur Trade in North America. By then Montréal already had a new role as commercial center for the provinces of Lower Canada (now Québec) and Upper Canada (now Ontario). The port of Montréal became a major transshipment point on the naval route between Britain and the Great Lakes, fueling rapid growth of the city. Montréal's population grew from about 9,000 inhabitants in 1800 to about 57,700 by 1851, surpassing Québec city as the most populous place in British North America. Because of immigration, people of British origin were the majority in Montréal from 1831 to 1866. This change had a visible impact on architecture: the new public and private buildings reflected British tastes. In 1832 Montréal received its first city charter, which expired in 1836; a new one was granted in 1840. In 1844 the city became the capital of Canada, but it lost this position in 1849 after riotous crowds burned the buildings of Parliament, Canada's legislature. By the mid-19th century Montréal was Canada's leading manufacturing center, producing a vast array of durable and consumer goods. It also emerged as the national railway hub and maintenance center with the establishment of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada (1852) and the Canadian Pacific (1881). Montréal was then the commercial, industrial, and financial metropolis of the country. Population grew accordingly, reaching 216,650 (250,165 with the suburbs) in 1891 and 467,986 (528,397 with the suburbs) by 1911. New suburban municipalities sprang up on the island, most of which were annexed to the city between 1883 and 1918. Job prospects attracted many rural French Canadians, and the ethnic majority shifted again: by 1911 Francophones were 63.5 percent of the city's population. With new immigration at the beginning of the 20th century, Montréal also became a more cosmopolitan city. Among the new groups, eastern European Jews were prominent and made up almost 6 percent of the population by 1911. These economic and population trends continued during the 1920s, but the Great Depression--the worldwide hard times of the 1930s--dealt a severe blow to Montréal's economy. Unemployment soared, and immigration and rural migration came to a halt. Economic activity recovered during World War II (1939-1945) and gained strength after the war as new investments fueled the recovery. However, fundamental changes were taking place. Montréal had thrived as the link between Britain and Canada, but the growing integration of Canada into the North American economy was of more benefit to Toronto. The province of Ontario received the bulk of American investment in Canada. Gradually major corporations found it more convenient to be based in Toronto, and after the war they began to move their head offices there. By 1960 Toronto was clearly Canada's leading financial and commercial metropolis. The gap between the two cities widened as manufacturing declined in Montréal. As a result of these changes, many jobs were lost, unemployment rose, and growth lagged after 1971. There is nevertheless a brighter side to the story: Montréal in some ways experienced a renewal starting in 1960. Public investment supported the building of a subway in 1966 (the Métro), a full network of freeways, and numerous bridges. New public buildings dotted the landscape. Montréal strengthened its role as the North American center of French-language creative arts and became an international capital of French culture. International recognition first came in 1967, when Montréal hosted the International Exhibition (Expo 67), and was confirmed with the Summer Olympic Games of 1976. The transformation of Montréal was influenced by the Quiet Revolution--a period when Francophones improved their economic and political power in Québec province. In 1969 the provincial government adopted a law requiring French instruction for most children, and later legislation required all public signs to be primarily in French. Anglophone business leaders hired more French-speaking managers and employees, and more large corporations were owned by Francophones. Today Montréal is still a bilingual city, but the primary language is now French. Montréal is nevertheless distinct from the rest of Québec, which is overwhelmingly Francophone and of French origin. Many different ethnic groups coexist in Montréal. This helps to explain why the idea of separate sovereignty for Québec, which has been a controversial political issue in Canada for a generation, gets less support in Montréal than in the rest of the province. In the October 1995 referendum on sovereignty, the yes votes managed a showing of only 21.7 percent in the western (Anglophone) part of Montréal Island and 47.5 percent in the eastern (Francophone and ethnic) part, compared with 49.4 percent for the province as a whole. Contributed By: Paul-André Linteau Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
