Geography of Montreal
Encyclopedia
Montreal
is located in the southwest of the province of Quebec
, approximately 275 kilometres (170.9 mi) southwest of Quebec City
, the provincial capital, and 167 kilometres (103.8 mi) east of Ottawa
, the federal
capital. It also lies 502 kilometres (311.9 mi) northeast of Toronto
, 407 kilometres (252.9 mi) northwest of Boston and 530 kilometres (329.3 mi) directly north of New York City
.
The city is located on the central and eastern portions of the Island of Montreal
, the largest island in the Hochelaga Archipelago
, at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence
and Ottawa
Rivers. The port of Montreal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
, which is the river gateway that stretches from the Great Lakes
into the Atlantic Ocean
. Montreal is defined by its location in between the St. Lawrence river on its south, and by the Rivière des Prairies
on its north. The city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the island, a three-head hill called Mount Royal
.
There are three main geological regions in Quebec: the great igneous plains of the Canadian Shield, the mighty Appalachians in southern Quebec and the St. Lawrence lowlands that lie between them. Covering over 95% of Quebec, the Canadian Shield contains some of the oldest igneous rocks in the world, dating back to the Precambrian period, over 1 billion years ago. The Canadian Shield is generally quite flat and exposed, punctuated by the higher relief of mountain ranges such as the Laurentians in southern Quebec. The Appalachian region of Quebec is a thin strip of weathered mountains along Quebec's southeast border. The Appalachian mountain chain is actually a long range that runs from Alabama north to Newfoundland. The St. Lawrence lowlands are comparatively tiny in size (about 17 280 square kilometres) but disproportionately important in that they contain most of the human population of Quebec. The lowlands actually consist of three parts: the central lowlands, or the St. Lawrence Plain, a wide and flat triangle extending from Cornwall to Quebec City. The St. Lawrence Plain is almost entirely flat because of the clay deposits left behind by the Champlain Sea (which once covered all of Montreal).
Montreal is at the centre of the Montreal Metropolitan Community
, and is bordered by the city of Laval
to the north, Longueuil
to the south, Repentigny
to the east and the West Island municipalities
to the west. The anglophone enclaves of Westmount
, Montreal West
, Hampstead
, Côte Saint-Luc
, the Town of Mount Royal
and the francophone
enclave Montreal East
are all entirely surrounded by the city of Montreal.
it is actually due west. "Montreal directions" are used in naming street addresses and describing bus routes, among other things. As a result of this discrepancy, Montreal has been called "the only city where the sun sets in the north."
Further folk naming customs refer to "up" and "down," "up" being towards Mount Royal and "down" being towards the St. Lawrence, but the system can be confused on the north side of the mountain (whether "up" means uphill, i.e. Montreal "south," or towards Montreal "north" as it does downtown).
Streets are named "Ouest" or "Est" when they cross Saint Laurent Boulevard. Street numbers rise eastward and westward from Saint Laurent Boulevard, and northward from the St. Lawrence River and the Lachine Canal. (A few streets in Le Sud-Ouest
borough, such as rue Charlevoix, cross the Lachine Canal. In those cases, the addresses south of the Lachine Canal have an "0" prefixed to their street numbers.)
is classified as humid continental
or hemiboreal
(Köppen climate classification
Dfb).
Precipitation
is abundant with an average snow
fall of 2.25 metres (84 in) per year in the winter. Regular rain
fall throughout the year averages 900 mm (35.3 in). Summer is the wettest season statistically, but it is also the sunniest.
The coldest month of the year is January which has a daily average temperature of −10.4 °C (13 °F) — averaging a daily low of −14.9 °C (5.2 °F), colder than either Moscow
(-10 °C) or Saint Petersburg
(-6 °C). Due to wind chill
, the perceived temperature can be much lower than the actual temperature, and wind chill factor is often included in Montreal weather forecasts. The warmest month is July which has an average daily high of 26.3 °C (79.3 °F); lower nighttime temperatures make an average of 20.9 °C (69.6 °F) thus air exchangers often achieve the same result as air conditioners. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −37.8 °C (−36.0 °F) on 15 January 1957 and the highest temperature ever was 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) on 1 August 1975. High humidity
is common in the summer which makes the perceived temperature higher than the actual temperature. In spring and autumn, rainfall averages between 55 and 94 millimetres (2.2 and 3.7 in) a month. Some snow in spring and autumn is normal. Similarly, late heat waves as well as "Indian summer
s" are a regular feature of the climate.
2006 was noted as the only year in the history of Montreal when there was more rain than there was snow. There were 122.3 cm (48.1 in) of snow, and there were 122.5 cm (48.2 in) of rain. That year, Montreal received more rain than Vancouver
, British Columbia
.
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
is located in the southwest of the province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, approximately 275 kilometres (170.9 mi) southwest of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, the provincial capital, and 167 kilometres (103.8 mi) east of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, the federal
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
capital. It also lies 502 kilometres (311.9 mi) northeast of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, 407 kilometres (252.9 mi) northwest of Boston and 530 kilometres (329.3 mi) directly north of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The city is located on the central and eastern portions of the Island of Montreal
Island of Montreal
The Island of Montreal , in extreme southwestern Quebec, Canada, is located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. It is separated from Île Jésus by the Rivière des Prairies....
, the largest island in the Hochelaga Archipelago
Hochelaga Archipelago
The Hochelaga Archipelago, also known as the Montreal Islands , is a group of islands at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers in the southwest part of the province of Quebec, Canada.-Size:...
, at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
and Ottawa
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
Rivers. The port of Montreal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
, which is the river gateway that stretches from the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Montreal is defined by its location in between the St. Lawrence river on its south, and by the Rivière des Prairies
Rivière des Prairies
The Rivière des Prairies is a delta channel of the Ottawa River in southwestern Quebec, Canada....
on its north. The city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the island, a three-head hill called Mount Royal
Mount Royal
Mount Royal is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the city to which it gave its name.The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachians...
.
There are three main geological regions in Quebec: the great igneous plains of the Canadian Shield, the mighty Appalachians in southern Quebec and the St. Lawrence lowlands that lie between them. Covering over 95% of Quebec, the Canadian Shield contains some of the oldest igneous rocks in the world, dating back to the Precambrian period, over 1 billion years ago. The Canadian Shield is generally quite flat and exposed, punctuated by the higher relief of mountain ranges such as the Laurentians in southern Quebec. The Appalachian region of Quebec is a thin strip of weathered mountains along Quebec's southeast border. The Appalachian mountain chain is actually a long range that runs from Alabama north to Newfoundland. The St. Lawrence lowlands are comparatively tiny in size (about 17 280 square kilometres) but disproportionately important in that they contain most of the human population of Quebec. The lowlands actually consist of three parts: the central lowlands, or the St. Lawrence Plain, a wide and flat triangle extending from Cornwall to Quebec City. The St. Lawrence Plain is almost entirely flat because of the clay deposits left behind by the Champlain Sea (which once covered all of Montreal).
Montreal is at the centre of the Montreal Metropolitan Community
Greater Montreal Area
Greater Montreal is one of the two metropolitan communities of Quebec.Greater Montreal is the most populous metropolitan area in Québec. As of 2009, Statistics Canada identifies Montréal's Census Metropolitan Area as Canada's second most populous with a population of 3,859,318...
, and is bordered by the city of Laval
Laval, Quebec
Laval is a Canadian city and a region in southwestern Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 14th largest city in Canada with a population of 368,709 in 2006...
to the north, Longueuil
Longueuil, Quebec
Longueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census totaled 229,330, making it the third largest city in...
to the south, Repentigny
Repentigny, Quebec
Repentigny is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in the province of Quebec, located north of Montreal, on the lower end of the L'Assomption River and on the Saint Lawrence River. Repentigny and Charlemagne are the first towns off the island of Montreal.-History:...
to the east and the West Island municipalities
West Island
The West Island is the unofficial name given to the western cities and boroughs of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada...
to the west. The anglophone enclaves of Westmount
Westmount, Quebec
Westmount is a city on the Island of Montreal, an enclave of the city of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada; pop. 20,494; area 4.02 km²; population density of 5,092.56 inhabitants/km²....
, Montreal West
Montreal West, Quebec
Montreal West is a town in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the Island of Montreal. On January 1, 2002 it, along with its neighboring suburbs of Côte Saint-Luc and Hampstead, was merged into a borough of the City of Montreal to be known as Côte-Saint-Luc—Hampstead—Montréal-Ouest, though 97% of the...
, Hampstead
Hampstead, Quebec
-History:The Town of Hampstead was founded in 1914. It was designed to be an exclusive garden city. There are no retail shops within municipal boundaries. Houses were assigned relatively large lots to allow space for trees and shrubbery. The town's roads were designed with curves in order to slow...
, Côte Saint-Luc
Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec
Côte Saint-Luc is a mostly residential city in Quebec, Canada, located on the Island of Montreal. The English version of this toponym is "Saint Luke's Slope".-History:...
, the Town of Mount Royal
Mount Royal, Quebec
Mount Royal is a town located on the northwest side of Mount Royal, north of downtown Montreal, on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. The town is completely surrounded by Montreal. The population was 18,933 at the 2006 census...
and the francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
enclave Montreal East
Montréal-Est, Quebec
Montreal East , is a town in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the island of Montreal, formerly part of the borough of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles–Montréal-Est. Montreal-Est has consistently been the home to many large oil refineries since 1915.Montreal-Est was originally founded in 1910...
are all entirely surrounded by the city of Montreal.
Street directions
One quirk of common Montreal parlance is that directions (north, south, east, and west) along the street grid are sharply skewed relative to the actual compass directions. The St. Lawrence River is taken as flowing west to east (even though it flows north or northeast past the island), so that directions along streets parallel to the river are referred to as "west" and "east," and those along streets perpendicular to the river, "north" and "south." In much of Montreal, "north" is actually northwest, and in some areas such as Verdun and Pointe-aux-TremblesPointe-aux-Trembles
Pointe-aux-Trembles was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization of districts and municipalities as boroughs....
it is actually due west. "Montreal directions" are used in naming street addresses and describing bus routes, among other things. As a result of this discrepancy, Montreal has been called "the only city where the sun sets in the north."
Further folk naming customs refer to "up" and "down," "up" being towards Mount Royal and "down" being towards the St. Lawrence, but the system can be confused on the north side of the mountain (whether "up" means uphill, i.e. Montreal "south," or towards Montreal "north" as it does downtown).
Streets are named "Ouest" or "Est" when they cross Saint Laurent Boulevard. Street numbers rise eastward and westward from Saint Laurent Boulevard, and northward from the St. Lawrence River and the Lachine Canal. (A few streets in Le Sud-Ouest
Le Sud-Ouest
Le Sud-Ouest is a borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Geography:Le Sud-Ouest is an amalgam of several neighbourhoods with highly distinct histories and identities, mainly with working-class and industrial origins, grouped around the Lachine Canal...
borough, such as rue Charlevoix, cross the Lachine Canal. In those cases, the addresses south of the Lachine Canal have an "0" prefixed to their street numbers.)
Climate
Montreal lies at the confluence of several climatic regions. Usually, the climateClimate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
is classified as humid continental
Humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
or hemiboreal
Hemiboreal
Hemiboreal means halfway between the temperate and subarctic zones. The term is most frequently used in the context of ecosystems.-Botany:...
(Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dfb).
Precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
is abundant with an average snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
fall of 2.25 metres (84 in) per year in the winter. Regular rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
fall throughout the year averages 900 mm (35.3 in). Summer is the wettest season statistically, but it is also the sunniest.
The coldest month of the year is January which has a daily average temperature of −10.4 °C (13 °F) — averaging a daily low of −14.9 °C (5.2 °F), colder than either Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(-10 °C) or Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(-6 °C). Due to wind chill
Wind chill
Wind chill is the felt air temperature on exposed skin due to wind. The wind chill temperature is always lower than the air temperature, and the windchill is undefined at the higher temps...
, the perceived temperature can be much lower than the actual temperature, and wind chill factor is often included in Montreal weather forecasts. The warmest month is July which has an average daily high of 26.3 °C (79.3 °F); lower nighttime temperatures make an average of 20.9 °C (69.6 °F) thus air exchangers often achieve the same result as air conditioners. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −37.8 °C (−36.0 °F) on 15 January 1957 and the highest temperature ever was 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) on 1 August 1975. High humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
is common in the summer which makes the perceived temperature higher than the actual temperature. In spring and autumn, rainfall averages between 55 and 94 millimetres (2.2 and 3.7 in) a month. Some snow in spring and autumn is normal. Similarly, late heat waves as well as "Indian summer
Indian summer
An Indian summer is a meteorological phenomenon that occurs in the autumn. It refers to a period of considerably above normal temperatures, accompanied by dry and hazy conditions, usually after there has been a killing frost...
s" are a regular feature of the climate.
2006 was noted as the only year in the history of Montreal when there was more rain than there was snow. There were 122.3 cm (48.1 in) of snow, and there were 122.5 cm (48.2 in) of rain. That year, Montreal received more rain than Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.