The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted Royal Assent to the Loi sur l'Ordre national du Québec (Law on the National Order of Quebec), the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former Quebec residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described as the highest honour in Quebec and French America.

Though the National Order of Quebec was established with the granting of Royal Assent by Quebec's lieutenant governor and the Canadian sovereign is the fount of honour, the viceroy does not, unlike other provinces, form an explicit part of the organization. Instead, the monarch's representative is related to the order only by virtue of his or her place in council, collectively termed the government of Quebec, to which the constitution of the Order of Quebec makes specific reference.

Coordinates: 53°45′N 071°59′W / 53.75°N 71.983°W / 53.75; -71.983 (Quebec)

Quebec /kwəˈbɛk/ or /kəˈbɛk/ (French: Québec [kebɛk] ( listen)) 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.

Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario, James Bay and Hudson Bay, to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay, to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. It is bordered on the south by the US states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

Quebec is Canada's second most populous province, after Ontario. Most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. English-speaking communities and English-language institutions are concentrated in the west of the island of Montreal but are also significantly present in the Outaouais, Eastern Townships, and Gaspé regions. The Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples.

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, CC OQ, (French pronunciation: [selin djɔ̃] ( listen); born March 30, 1968), is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record. In 1990, she released the English-language album Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.

Dion had first gained international recognition in the 1980s by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. Following a series of French albums in the early 1980s, she signed on to CBS Records Canada in 1986. During the 1990s, with the help of Angélil, she achieved worldwide fame after signing with Epic Records and releasing several English albums along with additional French albums, becoming one of the most successful artists in pop music history. However, in 1999 at the height of her success, Dion announced a hiatus from entertainment in order to start a family and spend time with her husband, who had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to the top of pop music in 2002 and signed a three-year (later extended to almost five years) contract to perform nightly in a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada.

Yulduz Usmonova (Russified form: Yulduz Usmanova) (Uzbek: Yulduz Usmonova, Юлдуз Усмонова) (born December 12, 1963) is a well-known Uzbek singer and actress. She has achieved widespread fame in Uzbekistan, other parts of Central Asia, and more recently in Turkey. Uzmoniva has also acted in a number of Uzbek films.

Yulduz Usmonova was born in Margilan city located in Ferghana region,Uzbekistan. Her parents worked at a silk factory. She studied music at the pedagogical institute in Margilan.

She was discovered by Gavharxonim Rahimova after singing at a Women’s Day show. Gavharxonim helped to open many doors for Usmanova. After being introduced to professors from the Uzbekistan State Conservatory, she prepared under their guidance. She studied vocal, and then later became a popular singer in Uzbekistan after independence in 1991. She became famous throughout Central Asia and later in Turkey and has released songs in many languages, such as Uzbek, Uyghur, Turkish, Russian, Tajik, Arab, Kazakh, and Tatar.

Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈnɛwsõ piˈke], born August 17, 1952), known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987. He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna (3 each), Alain Prost (4), Juan Manuel Fangio (5), and Michael Schumacher (7). In 1983, he became the only driver to win the F1 championship in a BMW engined car.

Piquet was born in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil, the son of Estácio Gonçalves Souto Maior, a Brazilian politician. His father moved his family to the new capital, Brasília, in 1960 and became Minister for Health in João Goulart's government (1961–64). Piquet started kart racing at the age of 14, but because his father did not approve of his racing career, he used his mother's maiden name Piquet (of French origin and pronounced as "Pee-Kè") misspelt as Piket to hide his identity.