Quebec ( ( listen); French: Québec [kebɛk] ( listen)) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario and the bodies of water James Bay and Hudson Bay ; to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay ; to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador ; and to the south by the province of New Brunswick and the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canada 's largest province by area and its second -largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is historically and politically considered to be part of CentralCanada (with Ontario).
Quebec is the second -most populous province of Canada, after Ontario. It is the only one to have a predominantly French-speaking population, with French as the sole provincial official language. Most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. Approximately half of Quebec residents live in the Greater Montreal Area, including the Island of Montreal. English-speaking communities and English- language institutions are concentrated in the west of the island of Montreal but are also significantly present in the Outaouais, Eastern Townships, and Gaspé regions.
