Picture of the day - December 12, 2007

Quebec: A nation within a nation

Photo courtesy of Keith Burke Photography. No other municipality on the North American continent reflects its European heritage as strongly as the Canadian city of Quebec. Not only is the architecture of her gorgeous buildings distinctly European in design, but her citizens speak French as their primary language - and French is in fact the official language of the city and province. While Canada is the second largest country on earth in land mass, her population is relatively small. Most of Canada's approximately 34 million people live within 200 miles of the American border, and 1/4 of them live within the province and city of Quebec. On two separate occasions the people of Quebec narrowly voted down referendums that would have made the province a sovereign French-speaking nation independent from Canada, but many Québecois are still hoping to achieve that goal. Today's picture was taken by photographer Keith Burke, and in it he has managed to capture the distinctly European flavor of one of North America's great cities. No Canadian vacation would be complete without a visit to Quebec, and when you go be sure to take your camera along with you! You can check out more of Mr. Burke's fantastic images at www.KeithBurkePhotography.com.   Click here to comment on this picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"