Montreal - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Montreal
Montréal  (French)
City
Ville de Montréal
From top, left to right: Downtown Montreal skyline, Old Montreal, Notre-Dame Basilica, Old Port of Montreal, Saint Joseph's Oratory, Olympic Stadium
Flag of Montreal
Flag
Official seal of Montreal
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): 
"MTL", "The 514", "The City of Festivals", "The City of Saints", "The City of a Hundred Steeples", "Sin City", "La Métropole"[1][2][3][4]
Motto: 
Concordia Salus ("well-being through harmony")
Map
Interactive map of Montreal
Coordinates: 45°30′32″N 73°33′15″W / 45.50889°N 73.55417°W / 45.50889; -73.55417[5]
CountryCanada
ProvinceQuebec
RegionMontreal
UAUrban agglomeration of Montreal
FoundedMay 17, 1642
Incorporated1832
ConstitutedJanuary 1, 2002
Boroughs
List
Government
 • TypeMontreal City Council
 • MayorValérie Plante
 • Federal riding
List
 • Prov. riding
List
 • MPs
List of MPs
Area
[6][7]
 • City431.50 km2 (166.60 sq mi)
 • Land365.13 km2 (140.98 sq mi)
 • Urban
1,293.99 km2 (499.61 sq mi)
 • Metro
4,604.26 km2 (1,777.71 sq mi)
Highest elevation
233 m (764 ft)
Lowest elevation
6 m (20 ft)
Population
 (2021)[7]
 • City1,762,949 (2nd)
 • Density4,828.3/km2 (12,505/sq mi)
 • Metro
4,291,732 (2nd)
 • Metro density919/km2 (2,380/sq mi)
 • Pop 2016–2022
Increase 2.9%
 • Metro Dwellings
1,929,263
Demonym(s)Montrealer
Montréalais(e)[8]
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (EDT)
Postal code(s)
  • H1A, H1C-H3N, H3S-H3W, H4A-H4T, H4Y-H5B, H8R-H8Z, H9C-H9E, H9H, H9K
Area code(s)514 and 438 and 263
PoliceSPVM
GDP (Montreal CMA)$200.9 billion (2016)[9]
GDP per capita (Montreal CMA)CA$49,024 (2016)
Websitemontreal.ca/en/ Edit this at Wikidata

Montreal (/ˌmʌntriˈɔːl/, spelled Montréal in French) is a city in the country of Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec and the second-largest city in Canada. It is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris.

Montreal is built on an island sitting in the Saint Lawrence River. More than three million people live in the Greater Montreal metropolitan area. At the centre of Montreal is a mountain called Mount Royal. The suburb of Westmount is a very rich suburb on the island of Montreal.

Most of the people who live in Montreal speak French.

History

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The name 'Montréal' comes from Mont Royal, which means 'Royal Mountain' in French. It was originally called Ville-Marie, or City of Mary.

Montreal has always played a very important part in the history and development of Canada. It continues to be a large Canadian industrial and commercial centre, as well as a major seaport (via the Saint Lawrence River). It once was the largest city in Canada, before Toronto grew to be larger.

Tourists visit Montreal for its historical and cultural interest. One can visit the Old City in horse-drawn carriages, where many buildings from the earliest years stand and remind of the way of life that started in the New World, when Montreal was just a fur trading outpost belonging to France over 350 years ago.

Geography

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Montreal is in the southwest of Quebec, 530 kilometres north of New York City. The city itself is located on an island, the Island of Montreal. Near the downtown area, there is a hill called Mount Royal (Mont Royal in French).

Economy

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The stock exchange tower in downtown Montreal

Montreal's economy is the second largest in Canada. The city's port is the biggest inland port (a port that is not on the sea) in the world. Many large corporations have their main offices in Montreal. It also hosts many international organizations like ICAO, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and IATA. The city is home to four major Universities, welcoming students from all parts of Canada and from all over the world.

Montreal is also known for its cultural production sector. Because the city has many different buildings, movies are easy to film there. The circus troupe (group) Cirque du Soleil is from Montreal. The city is also known for its festivals, like the Montreal Jazz Festival and Just For Laughs.

Some video game companies like Ubisoft also have studios in Montreal.[10]

Culture

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Downtown area seen from across the Saint Lawrence River

Montreal is the cultural capital of Quebec and French-speaking Canada. Montreal has many beautiful churches (Montreal is referred to locally as 'the city of a hundred churches'), including the largest church in Canada, and also many important art, history, and science museums. You can also visit the location of the 1967 World's Fair, where today, as well as many other attractions, one will find the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Formula One automobile race course. Also of interest is the site where the 1976 Summer Olympic Games were held, and the modern architecture of the Olympic stadium (the 'Big O') and its tall inclined observation tower (the highest inclined tower in the world); now a landmark of Montreal.

Ice hockey was invented in Montreal.[11] A lot of Montrealers are interested in the sport, and the city is home to its own ice hockey team called the Montreal Canadiens who play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Media

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CKAC 730

CBFT SRC

CFTM TVA

CIVM Tele-Quebec

CFJP TQS

CFTU Canal Savoir

References

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  1. ↑ "Quebec's Metropolis 1960–1992". Montreal Archives. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  2. ↑ Gagné, Gilles (May 31, 2012). "La Gaspésie s'attable dans la métropole". Le Soleil (in French). Quebec City. Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  3. ↑ Leclerc, Jean-François (2002). "Montréal, la ville aux cent clochers : regards des Montréalais sur leurs lieux de culte". Éditions Fides [fr] (in French). Quebec City.
  4. ↑ "Lonely Planet Montreal Guide – Modern History". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on January 5, 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2006.
  5. ↑ "Montreal". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  6. ↑ "Census Profile, 2021 Census; Montreal, Ville [Census subdivision], Quebec and Canada [Country]". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved Feb 9, 2022.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Census Profile, 2021 Census". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved Feb 9, 2022.
  8. ↑ Poirier, Jean. "Island of Montréal". Natural Resources Canada. Archived from the original on July 20, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Table 36-10-0468-01 Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by census metropolitan area (CMA) (x 1,000,000)". Statistics Canada. January 27, 2017. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Home". Ubisoft Montréal. 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  11. ↑ "IIHF - NEWS". web.archive.org. 2007-09-30. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2023-10-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Other websites

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Montréal.
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