Quebec (French: Québec) is the capital city of the province of Québec, Canada.

Québec is dominated by a dramatic promontory, Cap Diamant (Cape Diamond), situated 98 m (320 ft) above a narrowing of the St. Lawrence River; the city’s name is from an Algonquian word meaning "where the river narrows".

It is the only fortified city in North America north of Mexico and was chosen as a world heritage site by the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Québec has long, cold winters and short, mild summers. The average daily temperature range is -17°C (1°F) to -8°C (18°F) in January and 13°C (56°F) to 25°C (77°F) in July.

Québec proper covers a land area of 89 sq km (34 sq mi); its metropolitan area covers 3,150 sq km (1,216 sq mi).

Québec is considered one of the most beautiful cities in North America and contains some of the continent’s oldest houses, streets, and churches. The old houses have thick stone walls, steep copper roofs, and ax-hewn wooden beams.

The oldest street in Canada, Rue de Notre Dame (built in 1615), is located on a narrow strip of land between a cliff and the port, in a district known as the Basse-Ville (Lower Town). French author Louis Hémon, writing about the old part of the city, has described its layout as a collection of narrow, winding streets that do not sacrifice an iota to the rectilinear standards of a new continent.

Above the cliff in the Haute-Ville (Upper Town), settlers built the first colonial government buildings and religious institutions in Canada, such as the Ursuline Convent (1639) and the Québec Seminary (1663), both of which are still intact.

On the highest point above the river is the Citadel (begun 1820), which gave Québec its 19th-century nickname, "Gibraltar of North America". From there, Dufferin Terrace, a 427-m (1,400-ft) boardwalk, follows the cliff edge past the Château Frontenac (1893), a château-style hotel built by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The parliament buildings, home of the National Assembly (provincial legislature), lie just outside the 17th-century Saint Louis Gate. Beyond these buildings are the Plains of Abraham, now part of the 89-hectare (220-acre) Battlefields Park, where the British defeated the French in 1759.

Other points of interest include the church of Nôtre-Dame-des-Victoires (1688, restored 1759), the church of Nôtre-Dame-de-Québec (1650), and an Anglican cathedral (1793).

Hotels, convention centers, and office buildings extend north and west toward various suburbs, including Sainte-Foy, Cap-Rouge, and Charlesbourg.