Quebec has a vast continental peninsula bordering the North Atlantic. Its territory, half of which consists of forests, covers nearly 1.7 million km2. It is three times the size of Spain, five times that of Japan and it is larger than the largest U.S. state.

Land of water strewn with a million lakes and rivers, Quebec is also crossed with a distance of nearly 1 200 km, by the St. Lawrence River estuary which reaches 100 km in width. Main river route in North America, the St. Lawrence is also one of the largest waterways in the world.

Geographic Overview

Québec is a land of rivers and millions of lakes, and is crossed over a distance of almost 1200 km by the St. Lawrence River, whose estuary broadens to a width of 60 km. Over half of the land base is covered by majestic forests.

Québec has an area of almost 1.7 million km², making it over three times the size of France and slightly larger than Alaska, the largest US state. Most privately-owned land is located in the south of Québec along the St. Lawrence, which is where a majority of the population lives: Greater Montréal alone accounts for almost half of the population of Québec. Most land under public ownership is found in the central and northern parts of the province, and is sparsely inhabited. However, it contains important reserves of natural resources that are essential to Québec’s social and economic development.

Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity is the name given to the idea that all peoples should be able to develop in an international environment conducive to the expression of different cultures and ongoing dialogue. As a principle, cultural diversity underlies a modern view of the world based on respect for plurality.

The Québec government was one of the first to officially declare its support for an international text on cultural diversity that would recognize the right of states and governments to support culture. Working with civil society and the cultural community, the government targeted its actions to ensure recognition of that right.

Both within Québec and on the international stage, the Québec government has stressed the importance of promoting and preserving cultural diversity in the world. More specifically, it helped launch the Coalition pour la diversité culturelle (cultural diversity coalition) in Québec, an alliance of stakeholders in the field of culture that has now been extended to the rest of Canada and whose actions target the international stage. The Québec government has defended the cause of cultural diversity in international forums such as L'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, UNESCO and the International Network on Cultural Policy.

On 10 November 2005, Québec became the first government in the world to approve the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. On 18 December 2006, the Convention passed the critical threshold of ratification by 30 States, and came into force on 18 March 2007, a milestone in the process leading to the international recognition of the right of states and governments to freely apply cultural policies.

Québec intends to become even more active in this area. Through its new representative at UNESCO, it will contribute in various ways to the implementation of all the components of the Convention, from cooperation in the field of culture and promotion of the objectives of the Convention in other international forums to exchanges of information on cultural policies.