CHARLESBOURG

city, Qubec region, southern Quebec province, Canada. It lies just northwest of the city of Quebec. First known as Bourg Royal and later renamed in honour of its patron saint, Charles Borrome, it is one of the oldest settlements in the province (founded 1659). Though once a dairying, fruit-growing, and poultry-raising centre, Charlesbourg is now primarily a residential suburb of Quebec. Quebec Zoological Garden is nearby. The new city of Charlesbourg, created in 1976, has absorbed Charlesbourg-Est, Notre-Dames-des-Laurentides, and Orsainville. Inc. village, 1914; town, 1949; city, 1960; reincorporated, 1976. Pop. (1991) 70,788.