Montreal

Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, and the second most populated in the country. It is also an administrative region of Quebec. It is situated on an island between the St. Lawrence River and the Rivière des Prairies. It is one of the main industrial, commercial and cultural centres of North America.

Montreal is the fourth most populated French-speaking city in the world, behind Paris, Kinshasa and Abidjan. However, Montreal also has a considerable Anglophone community and a growing number of people whose mother tongue is neither French nor English.

The word "Montreal" is the archaic version, in old French, of "Mont-Royal" (when "royal" was said and written "real" without an accent, as in Castilian). Montreal is one of the most important cultural centres in Canada since it hosts several national and international events. Among them, we can mention the Juste pour Rire festival, one of the biggest festivals of humour in the world, the Montréal Jazz Festival, one of the biggest jazz festivals in the world, and the Grand Prix de Montréal. The city, in total, hosts more than 70 international events per year.

The place where the city of Montreal is settled was inhabited by native Algonquins, Ferrets and Iroquois for thousands of years before the arrival of the first Europeans. The rivers and lakes of the region were full of fish that served as food to the natives, in addition to which they were efficient transport routes.

Montreal's climate is humid continental, with four well-defined and varied seasons. In winter, the average temperature of the city is -10.2 ° C (without taking into account the wind speed), with minimal between -40 ° C and -10 ° C and maximum between 0 ° C and 15 ° C. In summer, the average is 21 ° C, with maximum between 23 ° C and 38 ° C.

The month of January is, with an average temperature of -10.2 ° C, the coldest of the year in Montreal while in July the average is 20.9 ° C, which makes it the hottest month. The lowest temperature ever measured is -37.8 ° C on January 15, 1957. The highest temperature was 37.6 ° C, observed on August 1, 1975. According to a study published on December 5, 2005 by the government of Quebec, the regions of the south-west of the province would have warmed considerably between 1960 and 2003, presenting an increase to the rise of the average temperatures of 1 to 1.25 ° C, a warming greater than the planetary average (approximately 0, 6C).

The precipitations are abundant in the region. On average, 2.4 meters of snowfall annually into the city, and rain is abundant throughout the year, mainly in summer making it the wettest season in the city.

In addition, small snowfalls are common at the end of spring. Also, the appearance of the Indian summer in early autumn is frequent. Some more rare weather phenomena, such as aurora borealis or geomagnetic storms occur occasionally. These variations are due to the location of the city in an area where there are usually large air fronts, one coming from the North Pole, and the other, from the United States.

From the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, the economy of the city was dominated by English-speaking merchants and companies, who maintained their work environments almost always in English. Law 101, however, obliged any establishment and company with more than 50 employees to also maintain French in the work area.

Being the second largest financial centre in the country, Montreal continues to be among the main financial centres of America. Its bilingual roots and strategic position attract companies interested in working in the North American continent, especially French companies, giving the city a special access to the French and European markets.

Important companies, both Canadian and foreign companies have their headquarters there, such as Air Canada, IBM Canada and Bombardier. Montreal is the second economic centre of the French language in the world.

Montreal is the largest highway, rail and port centre in Canada, as well as the third most dynamic airport in the country, Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. 

Montreal is great for the industry of aerospace, software, electronics, pharmeceticals, manufacturing and transportation.