The official name of
Quebec City
Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
(used by both the
federal and
provincial governments) is ''Québec'', with an
acute accent
The acute accent (), ,
is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin alphabet, Latin, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic, and Greek alphabet, Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accen ...
, in both official languages of Canada (
Canadian English
Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the Variety (linguistics), varieties of English language, English used in Canada. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or ...
and
Canadian French
Canadian French (, ) is the French language as it is spoken in Canada. It includes multiple varieties, the most prominent of which is Québécois (Quebec French). Formerly ''Canadian French'' referred solely to Quebec French and the closely re ...
). In English, the acute accent differentiates between the official name of the
city named Québec, and the constitutional name of the province named
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, spelled without any diacritics. In French, they're both spelled , with an acute accent.
Etymology
Distinction with the province
In unofficial English texts, the accent is often dropped and Québec is informally referred to as "Quebec City".
In French, names of geographical regions such as provinces and countries are typically preceded by articles whereas city names are not (unless it is part of the name, such as "La Malbaie"). As a result, the province is called ("in Quebec" = , "from Quebec" or "of Quebec" = ) while the city remains simply ("in Québec City" = , "from / of Quebec City" = ). Where context requires further differentiation, words such as "" and "" can be used (taking care not to capitalize the word "").
Other names
The name of the municipal corporate body instituted to govern Québec is , in both English and French. This naming convention applies to all municipal corporations in the province (e.g. is the corporate body governing Montréal, etc.) Thus, where "" is capitalized, it means the corporate body and it is not part of the toponym (Montréal, Québec), but is the incorporated name of the city. In the English section of 's official website, the city is variously referred to as "Québec" and "Québec City" (with an accent) whereas the corporate body is referred to as "City of Québec".
Quebec City is sometimes referred to as "" ("the national capital"). The government officially named it this way under the party. The provincial administrative region where the city is situated bears the name (capitalized). The word is the adjective for the noun used in its normal basic sense and refers to Quebec as a nation within the country of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and has no indication of sovereignty.
Demonyms
Residents of Québec are called, in French, (male) or (female). To avoid confusion with meaning an inhabitant of the province, the term for residents of the city is sometimes used. In English, the terms ''Quebecer'' (or ''Quebecker'') and ''Québécois/e'' are common.
See also
*
History of Quebec City
The history of Quebec City extends back thousands of years, with its first inhabitants being the First Nations peoples of the region. The arrival of French explorers in the 16th century eventually led to the establishment of Quebec City, in prese ...
* , the
Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
warship whose full name is a title, and is capitalized.
References
{{reflist
History of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
French language in Quebec