Sherbrooke is the primary economic, political, cultural, and institutional centre of Estrie, and was given its nickname as the Queen of the Eastern Townships at the beginning of the 20th century.

[14] By the turn of the 20th century, Sherbrooke was a thriving industrial city, with manufacturing benefiting from locally-produced hydroelectricity.

As part of the 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec, the city grew considerably on 1 January 2002, when it absorbed Ascot, Bromptonville, Deauville, Fleurimont, Lennoxville, Rock Forest, and Saint-Élie-d'Orford.

A large toxic cloud enveloped part of the city, raising health concerns.

[17][18] Located at the confluence of the Saint-François (St. Francis) and Magog rivers in the heart of the Eastern Townships and the Estrie administrative region.

[vague] Sherbrooke has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), with long, cold, and snowy winters, warm summers, and short but crisp springs and autumns.

Precipitation is not sparse any time of the year, but is the greatest in summer and fall and at its least from January to April, totalling 1,100 millimetres (43.3 in) annually.

[28] As of 2021, 86.4% of Sherbrooke residents spoke French as a first language, while those whose mother tongue was English accounted for 3.9%.

The largest visible minority groups in Sherbrooke were black (3.1%), Latin American (2%), Arab (1.7%), and West Asian (1%).

Approximately 90.5% of the greater Sherbrooke area residents were white, while 7.7% were visible minorities and 1.8% were Aboriginal.

The next most common mother tongues were English (4.5%), Spanish (1.6%), Arabic (1.0%) Dari (0.5%), Mandarin (0.2%), Portuguese (0.2%) and Serbian (0.2%).

[4] About 55.7% of the population identified as Catholic in 2021 while 32.2% said they had no religious affiliation, 2.9% were Muslim, 0.5% Anglican, 0.5% Eastern Orthodox, 0.4% Jehovah's Witness and 0.4% Baptist.

Sherbrooke, which is the economic centre of Estrie, is a significant cultural, industrial, and academic hub in the province.

According to data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec, average personal income per capita in the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) of Sherbrooke amounted to CA$30,976 in 2010.

The Vieux Clocher, owned by the Université de Sherbrooke, has two stages, the primary being used by various music groups and comedians from around the province.

The Théâtre Granada, designated as a historical site by the Canadian government, holds music concerts.

The Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke, located downtown, presents musicals and plays for children.

[41] Since 2007, the Centre des arts de la scène Jean-Besré (CASJB), built by the city with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Communications, has assisted in the creation and production of material for the region's artistic community.

This resulted in the creation of six Boroughs of Sherbrooke: Brompton, Fleurimont, Lennoxville, Mont-Bellevue, Rock Forest–Saint-Élie–Deauville, and Jacques-Cartier.

[58] Sherbrooke does not host any units from the Regular Force with the exception of a recruiting centre, but four Primary Reserve units are stationed in the city: A Canadian military artifact is preserved at the William Street Armoury: the Sherman tank "Bomb".

[citation needed] Transdev Limocar provides bus service to Montreal via Granby and Magog.

Formerly, Autobus Jordez linked Sherbrooke to Drummondville and Trois-Rivières, and also to Victoriaville and Quebec City, but since the company lost their licence to operate heavy vehicles,[59] they have sold their licence to Autobus La Québécoise, who now provide the service.

The last passenger train for the city was VIA Rail's Montreal – Saint John, New Brunswick Atlantic, which ended service in 1994.

There have been recent proposals to provide rail service from Montreal to Boston with a stop in Sherbrooke.

[citation needed] The suburban Sherbrooke University Hospital ("CHUS"[61] or "Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbooke) has over 5,200 employees, including 550 doctors.

[62] The city is the location of one French-language university, the Université de Sherbrooke, which alone has more than 31,000 students annually.