Montreal is built on an island sitting in the Saint Lawrence River. More than three million people live in the Montreal region. At the centre of Montreal is a mountain called Mount Royal. The suburb of Westmount, is a very affluent suburb of Quebec.
Most of the people who live in Montreal speak French, but English is also commonly spoken, as a second language.
The name 'Montréal' comes from "Mont Royal", which means 'Royal Mountain' in French. It was originally called "Ville-Marie", or City of Mary.
Montreal has always played a very important part in the history and development of Canada. It continues to be a large Canadian industrial and commercial centre, as well as a major seaport (via the Saint Lawrence River). It once was the largest city in Canada, before Toronto grew to be larger.
Tourists visit Montreal for its historical and cultural interest. One can visit the Old City in horse-drawn carriages, where many buildings from the earliest years stand and remind of the way of life that started in the New World, when Montreal was just a fur trading outpost belonging to France over 350 years ago.
Montreal is in the southwest of Quebec, 530 kilometres north of New York City. The city itself is located on an island, the Island of Montreal. Near the downtown area, there is a hill called "Mount Royal" ("Mont Royal" in French).
Montreal's economy is the second largest in Canada. The city's port is the biggest inland port (a port that is not on the sea) in the world. Many large corporations have their main offices in Montreal. It also hosts many international organizations like ICAO, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and IATA. The city is home to four major Universities, welcoming students from all parts of Canada and from all over the world.
Montreal is also known for its cultural production sector. Because the city has many different buildings, movies are easy to film there. The circus troupe (group) "Cirque du Soleil" is from Montreal. The city is also known for its festivals, like the Montreal Jazz Festival and "Just For Laughs".
Some video game companies also have studios in Montreal.
Montreal is the cultural capital of Quebec and French-speaking Canada.
Montreal has many beautiful churches (Montreal is referred to locally as 'the city of a hundred churches'), including the largest church in Canada, and also many important art, history, and science museums. You can also visit the location of the 1967 World's Fair, where today, as well as many other attractions, one will find the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Formula One automobile race course. Also of interest is the site where the 1976 Summer Olympic Games were held, and the modern architecture of the Olympic stadium (the 'Big O') and its tall inclined observation tower (the highest inclined tower in the world); now a landmark of Montreal.
A lot of Montrealers are interested in hockey, and Montreal is home to its own ice hockey team called the Montreal Canadiens who play in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Montreal Stations
CBMT CBC
CFCF CTV Television Network
CIVM Tele-Quebec
CJNT CH
CFTU Canal Savoir
CKMI Global Television Network
Macadamia nut
The macadamia nut is the fruit of a tree that first came from the east coast of Australia. There is
more than one kind of Macadamia tree. Only one kind is grown for food.
The tree is an evergreen (stays green all year long). It grows up to high. It has groups of small white flowers. It grows best in subtropical (wet and always warm) climates. It needs well-drained soil (water can flow away easily) and of rain a year.
The nutmeat (the soft part inside the shell that can be eaten) is mostly a creamy white color. Sometimes it looks a bit yellow. It has a flavor that many people like. Macadamias are eaten roasted (cooked) by themselves. They are used in cookies, cakes, pastries, and candies. People use them like almonds and cashews as part of cooked meals. This is an Oriental style of cooking.
The first commercial orchard was started in Australia in the late 1880s. Commercial production started in Hawaii during the 1920s. Production later spread to California, Mexico, and other places with warm climate.
Macadamias are poisonous to dogs. A dog usually needs 24 to 48 hours to recover fully after eating macadamias.The plant is in the Proteaceae family of flowering plants.
Maui
Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, in the United States.
It has a population of just over 100,000 and is 727 square miles (1883 km²) in size. Maui is part of Maui County, Hawaii. The larger (or better known) towns include Kahului, Wailuku, Lahaina, Hana, and Wailea. Main industries are agriculture and tourism.
Maui was named for the demi-god Maui. In Hawaiian legend, he raised all the islands from the sea. Maui is also known as the "Valley Isle" for the large fertile isthmus (narrow land connection) between two volcanoes.
Maui is a volcanic doublet: an island formed from two volcanic mountains that are joined together. The older volcano, Mauna Kahalawai, is much older and has been very worn down. In common talk it is called the West Maui Mountain. The larger volcano, Haleakala, rises above 10,000 feet (3,050 m). The last eruption of Haleakala happened over 200 years ago, and this lava flow can be seen between Ahihi Bay and La Perouse Bay on the southeast shore.
Other places on Maui popular with visitors include:
Golf courses on Maui include:
Molokai
Molokai (sometimes mistakenly called Molokaʻi) is the fifth largest island in the U.S. Hawaiian Islands. The island is 38 miles long and 10 miles across. Its land area is 261 square miles. The highest mountain is named Kamakou, and it is 4,970 feet (1,514 meters) high.
Molokai has many local indigenous names including Molokai 'Aina Momona (land of abundance), Molokai Pule O'o (land of powerful prayer), and Molokai Nui A Hina (of the goddess Hina). It is one of the least developed of the Hawaiian islands.
The only big town is named Kaunakakai, which is also the main or chief port on the island. The airport is in Central Molokai. Also on the island is Kalaupapa, which is a place for people who have a diease called leprosy.
Molokai has many Hawaiian fish ponds along its south shore. Many of these have been cleaned and fixed.
Money
Money, also sometimes called Currency, can be defined as anything that people use to buy goods and services. Money is what many people receive for selling their own things or services.
There are lots of different kinds of money in the world. Most countries have their own kind of money, such as the United States dollar or the British pound.
money is also called many other names, like currency or cash.
The idea of bartering things is very old. A long time ago, people did not buy or sell with money. Instead, they traded one thing for another to get what they wanted or needed. One person who owned many cows could trade with another person who had a lot of wheat. Each would trade a little of what he had with the other. This would support the people on his farm. Other things that were easier to carry around than cows also came to be held as valuable. This gave rise to trade items such as jewelry and spices.
When people changed from trading in things like, for example, cows and wheat to using money instead, they needed things that would last a long time. They must still have a known value, and could be carried around. The first country in the world to make metal coins was called Lydia. These first appeared during the 7th century BC, in the western part of what is now Turkey. The Lydian coins were made of a weighed amount of precious metal and were stamped with a picture of a lion. This idea soon spread to Greece, the rest of the Mediterranean, and the rest of the world. Coins were all made to the same size and shape. In some parts of the world, different things have been used as money, like clam shells or blocks of salt.