Charlesbourg is, first and foremost, an agricultural area, in addition to becoming a vacation destination for inhabitants of Quebec City in the first half of the 20th century. It became urbanized in the second half of the 20th century and became a suburb of Quebec City. In 1976, the municipalities of Charlesbourg-Est, Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides, Orsainville and the city of Charlesbourg were merged into the city of Charlesbourg. In 2002, Charlesbourg was in turn merged with other municipalities in Quebec City to form a new, large city. Charlesbourg became one of the boroughs of Quebec City.