Page 47 - Annuaire Statistique Québec - 1918

II-PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC
A-DESCRIPTION (1)

SITUATION:-In its extension to the Atlantic coast, the Province
of Quebec is the most easterly of the provinces of the Dominion of
Canada. The larger part of its area, however, is west and northwest
of the "provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward
Island. It is bounded on the east by the Labrador coast (2) and the Gulf
of St. Lawrence. On the north the Province is bounded by Ungava Bay
and Hudson's Straits; on the west by Hudson's Bay, James' Bay,
the river Ottawa, and the Province of Ontario; and on the south by the
States of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, the Cana-
dian Province of New Brunswick and the Bay of Chaleur. The Province
1
0
of Quebec extends from the 45th parallel to 62 40 north, and longitude
1
0
57 7 to 79° 33', 20" west.
AREA:-Quebec, the largest Province in the Dominion, covers an
area of 703,653 (3) square miles, that is, about 1,822,460 square kilo-
metres. Ralf of this extent, or 351,780 square miles (911,110 s. k.)
belongs to the Territory of Ungava annexed in 1912 under "The
Quebec Boundaries Extension Act". The actual surface of old and
new Quebec equals 3.3 times the dimensions of France, 3.8 times that
of Germany and 3.6 times the area of Spain.
FEA'l'UllES OF THE COAST LINEs:-The northern and western coasts
of the Province are ice-bound during the greater part of the year. On the
north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and for many miles Of the
estuary and river, the Laurentian rocks rise more or less pl'ecipitously,
and ta a considerable height, from the water's edge; and the coast
line, indented with many bays, thus marks in general the primitive
outlines of the irreg,lllal' eLevated front of that rock-system. On the
south shore the coust lines are more regular and continuous, representing
as they do, for the most part, the more even parallelism that nature
there imposed upon the Appalachjan mountain system. A very great
subsidence oCt'urred at the close of the glacial epoch, as evidenced
by the maTine shells found near the top of Mount Royal (Montreal),
over six hundred feet above the present sea-level, as weIl as by the
many other deposits ta be referred to agaÏn. The subsequent
re-elevation must have been comparatively rapid, and the latest up",mrd

(1) Synopsis of ~o article hy Mr. J. C. Sutherland.
(2) Sinœ thi. description wn. wrilten, the lirait. of the Province of Queboc 00 the Labrador .ide were defined
by n judgment of the Privy COllDcil. dcli\"eroo iD London, on the ht March, 1927, ",bich conoludes a. follows: "The
boundary line betweeo t·IUI Dmoioion ai Callaoa and tLe Colon.1: of Newfounolnnd, at Labrador, i. constituted by
perpohd,oluar hoe .tarllDl\l (rom the "~.lern boundnry of BI..oc-S"bloo ta th" 520 lat. Harth, theo"" folloWlng thl.
para)]el towarde the ",,~r.ùl.bu ROlllaine R.ivor and tbe decli\~ty of thi. river ta tbe height 01 land, thence the .~id line
of height of I~nd tow~nb t-ll oor.h will serve 'lB bouadary ta the rortbera extremily of Labrador peoillBula, knoW1l ..s
Cape Chidley".
(3) ln takiog iota aceount the ueoioioo 01 lbe Pri,,)' Council 112,000 .quare mile. must be dedueted from thi.
eu perficiea.