About Montreal, Quebec

With a population of about 3.6 million people, the Montreal metropolitan area is the second largest city in Canada. Montreal is located in southern Quebec province along the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers.

Montreal Information City code MTR IATA code YMX Country Canada State Quebec Population 3.6 Million Pop. density 4,400 / km2 Land area 4,259 km2 Elevation 100 m Currency Dollar (CAD) Languages French English Latitude 45.30° N Longitude 73.33° W

Montreal was founded as a city in 1832. The city was originally settled by Europeans in the mid 1600's as fur trading post and became a base for French exploration of North America.

Montreal is the second largest French speaking city in the world after Paris.

For many years, Montreal was the economic center of Canada, but was surpassed by Toronto in the 1970s as the city suffered slower economic growth than other parts of Canada. This was due in part to the reconfiguring of the St. Lawrence Seaway which enabled ships to bypass Montreal. Political unrest related to the Quebec separatist movement also caused instability that hurt Montreal's business prospects.

Nonetheless, Montreal remains an economic engine of the country and is the second largest city in terms of GDP after Toronto. The Port of Montreal, while smaller than it once was, is still the largest inland port in the world. It is a global leader in the aerospace industry and many Canadian companies have their corporate headquarters in Montreal.

Montreal has a fairly cold long winters, but warms up during the summer. Average summer daily high temperatures are normally in the mid 70s °F. Winter daily high temperatures are normally in the mid 20's °F. The city receives about 39 inches of precipitation per year.

Montreal is well known for being a European city in the heart of North America. Montreal's rich heritage and European roots are on fine display in the oldest part of the city called Vieux-Montréal (Old Montreal).

Demographically, Montreal is about 75% white and largely of European ancestry. The most numerous minority groups are Blacks, Arabs, Latin Americans, South Asians, and Chinese.

About 67% of the population speaks French as a first language and about 13% speak English as a first language.

Montreal is served by Montreal-Mirabel International Airport (IATA code: YMX).

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