Quebec City

Cliff-top fortress where French Canada was born 🏰

Quebec City (French: Ville de Québec ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459 and the Quebec City census metropolitan area (including surrounding communities) had a population of 839,311. It is the twelfth-largest city and the seventh-largest metropolitan area in Canada. It is also the second-largest city in the province, after Montreal. It has a humid continental climate with warm summers coupled with cold and snowy winters. Explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a French settlement here in 1608, and adopted the Algonquin name. Quebec City is one of the oldest European settlements in North America. The ramparts surrounding Old Quebec ( Vieux-Québec ) are the only fortified city walls remaining in the Americas north of Mexico.