By: Sonny Oboson | A member of Heartmenders Magazine Editorial Board –
CITY ON AN ISLAND:
Montréal sits on an island. The island is in the St. Lawrence River in the province of Québec. The city’s suburbs have spilled over onto the mainland.
A mountain rises in the middle of Montréal, dominating the city. Its name is Mount Royal (Mont Réal in an older form of French). Montréal takes its name from this mountain. At the top of Mount Royal is a beautiful park.
Downtown Montréal lies at the foot of Mount Royal. Skyscrapers, offices, banks, hotels, and shops cluster here. A law forbids downtown skyscrapers from rising higher than the top of Mount Royal.
Source: www.kth.se
According to Microsoft Encarta, Montréal is one of the most important cities in Canada. It’s a center of industry, trade, culture, and tourism. Until the 1990s, Montréal was the largest city in Canada. Now Toronto has more people, and Montréal is Canada’s second-largest city.
A FRENCH-SPEAKING CITY:
Two-thirds of Montréal’s people speak French as their native language. That makes Montréal the second-largest French-speaking city in the world. Only Paris, the capital of France, has more French speakers.
Montréal was founded by French settlers in 1642. That makes it one of the oldest cities in North America. Montréal was once part of New France, the empire built by France in North America. France lost this territory to Britain in the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Britain unofficially renamed the territory after its original founding name, Ville-Marie, which was favored by the locals, as recorded by mapmakers.
Today, Montréal is a mixture of French and British influences. Most people speak both French and English. Montréal takes great pride in its French heritage. Tourists flock to the city to enjoy its fine French restaurants and its French atmosphere. Montréal also has excellent museums and theaters.
For most of Montréal’s history, nearly all its people were of either French or British descent. During the 1900s, many immigrants came to the city from European countries. Montréal has also become home to immigrants from countries in Africa and Latin America.
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Sonny Oboson is the man behind the brand MRWEBBS ONLINE, a dynamic IT professional. Having a degree in Business Management from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and certifications as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer from the National Institute for Information Technology, NIIT, Nigeria. He has an advanced Diploma in Systems/Network Engineering and an international certification, MCITP. He is the CEO of Sonnywebs International, with a head office in Nigeria and a collaboration office in New York. Contact him @ mrwebbs2@gmail.com or www.sonnywebs.com