D�mographie
D'apr�s le recensement de 1991, la population qu�b�coise repr�sentait 6 895 900 habitants, avec une densit� moyenne de 4 habitants au km2. Toutefois, cette r�partition est tr�s in�gale, puisque la majeure partie des habitants est concentr�e dans l'extr�me sud-est, dans la vall�e du Saint-Laurent qui poss�de � la fois les terres les plus fertiles de la r�gion et le climat le plus favorable. Cette population est essentiellement urbaine et se rassemble autour des centres de Qu�bec et de Montr�al.
Le fran�ais est la langue maternelle d'environ 81 p. 100 de la population ; les autres Qu�b�cois sont anglophones et vivent principalement � Montr�al et en Estrie. La question linguistique, c'est-�-dire le maintien d'une originalit� li�e � la langue fran�aise, occupe une place importante dans la soci�t� qu�b�coise.
La majorit� de la population de la province est catholique.
La population immigr�e est concentr�e � Montr�al et dans les grandes villes industrielles!; elle est originaire principalement d'Italie, de France, d'Ha�ti, de Grande-Bretagne, du Liban et de Gr�ce. La province compte �galement des autochtones au sein de sa population. En 1996, ils repr�sentaient 71 415 habitants, dont 47 600 Am�rindiens, 16 075 m�tis et 8 300 Inuit, soit 1 p. 100 de la population totale du Qu�bec. Les Am�rindiens sont r�partis sur le territoire en une dizaine de �!nations!� de langues et de cultures diff�rentes.
Population Patterns
Qu�bec, with a population of 6,895,963 in 1991, is the second most populous province in Canada, after Ontario. The population is concentrated in the southern part of the province, and until the 1940s it was predominantly rural. Now less than one-fourth of the people live in rural areas, on the Canadian Shield and along the Gasp� Peninsula.
About 85 percent of the people are of French descent and French-speaking, making Qu�bec an overwhelmingly French province in a predominantly English-speaking country. In the Montr�al area and a few other localities, there are separate French and English schools, newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations. As a rule, however, the provincial government encourages the use of French and discourages the use of English. In 1991 there were 65,400 indigenous peoples in Qu�bec.
Principal Cities
Mont�al, Qu�bec's largest city, had a population of 1,017,666 at the 1991 census. The Montr�al metropolitan area had 3,127,242 people. It includes Laval (314,398), Longueuil (129,874), Montr�al-Nord (85,516), Saint-Hubert (74,027), Lasalle (73,804), Saint-L�onard (73,120), Saint-Laurent (72,402), Brossard (64,793), and Verdun (61,307). Qu�bec City, the provincial capital and third largest city, had a population of 167,517 in 1991, with 645,550 in the metropolitan area, which includes Sainte-Foy (71,133), Charlesbourg (70,788), and Beauport (69,158). The Eastern Townships, in the southeast, form an important urban area centering on Sherbrooke (76,429). Other important cities are Gatineau (92,284), Chicoutimi (62,670), Hull (60,707), Jonqui�re (57,933), and Trois-Rivi�res (49,426).