Côte-Nord

Coordinates: 50°52′N 65°49′W / 50.867°N 65.817°W / 50.867; -65.817[1]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Côte-Nord
Region
Map of Côte-Nord in relation to Quebec.
Map of Côte-Nord in relation to Quebec.
Coordinates: 50°52′N 65°49′W / 50.867°N 65.817°W / 50.867; -65.817[1]
CountryCanada
ProvinceQuébec
Government
 • Regional conference of elected officersMicheline Anctil (President)
Area
[2]
 • Total300,281.83 km2 (115,939.46 sq mi)
 • Land247,655.33 km2 (95,620.26 sq mi)
 Total area includes disputed land within Labrador
Population
 (2016)[2]
 • Total92,518
 • Density0.4/km2 (1/sq mi)
Time zones
Minganie and West of 63rd meridian westUTC-05:00 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-04:00 (EDT)
East of 63rd meridian west, except MinganieUTC-04:00 (AST)
Websitewww.cotenord.gouv.qc.ca

Côte-Nord (French pronunciation: [kot nɔʁ], Canadian French: [kou̯t nɑɔ̯ʁ]; lit. 'North Coast') is a region that covers a territory of 351,523 square kilometres, which corresponds to 21% of the surface area of Quebec, Canada.

The North Shore is made up of 99% public land, it is the second largest region after Nord-du-Québec, which occupies 51% of Quebec's territory.[3]

Geography[edit]

The North Shore is bounded to the west by the Capitale-Nationale and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean regions and, to the north, by the Nord-du-Québec region and by Labrador. To the south, it extends from Tadoussac to the east of Blanc-Sablon, encompassing Anticosti Island and part of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.[3]

Côte-Nord was created as an administrative region in 1966. Stretching over nearly 1,250 km and with an area of 196,058 km², the administrative region roughly includes the basins of all the rivers that flow into the St. Lawrence between Tadoussac and Blanc-Sablon. [4]

Important landmarks of Côte-Nord include Anticosti Island, the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, and the Manicouagan Reservoir.

A territorial dispute between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador concerning the border between Côte-Nord and Labrador was set on 2 March 1927 by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The boundary was entrenched in the Canadian constitution upon Newfoundland joining confederation in 1949. While this border has not been formally accepted by the Quebec government, the Henri Dorion Commission[5] (Commission d'étude sur l'intégrité du territoire du Québec) concluded in the early 1970s that Quebec no longer has a legal claim to Labrador.[6]

Fauna[edit]

The North Shore has abundant and diversified wildlife resources spread throughout the territory.[3] Each year, the Fur Trapping Agency publishes an information bulletin on the furbearers of the North Shore. Hares, red squirrels, mice, northern flying squirrels and grouse are among the main prey, they are considered common to abundant and generally stable, while coyote, skunk, fisher, raccoon and bobcat are considered rare in the region.[7]

Small game[edit]

The most well-known small game species are the ruffed grouse, the spruce grouse, the willow ptarmigan and the snowshoe hare.

Mammals[edit]

The most well-known species are marten, beaver, weasel, muskrat, mink, fox, wolf and two threatened species: wolverine and Canada lynx.[8][9] The large fauna includes caribou, moose, white-tailed deer present only on Anticosti Island and American black bear, considered extinct on Anticosti Island.

Birds[edit]

The diversity of habitats favours the presence of many avian species. According to the Manicouagan Ornithology Club, some 295 species of birds have been observed on the Côte-Nord Shore, including the red-throated loon, the Atlantic puffin and the Arctic tern, the bald eagle is a species at risk or designated threatened or vulnerable.[10]

Marine mammals[edit]

From Tadoussac to Blanc-Sablon, along The Whale Route (Route 138), it is possible to admire marine mammals with both feet on the ground. Several observation sites will allow you to meet these exceptional sea creatures!
Cetaceans: Beluga, Minke whale, Fin whale, Porpoise, Blue whale.
Seals: Grey seal, harbour seal, harp seal.[11]

  1. Tadoussac - Sentier Pointe de l'Islet
  2. Sacré-Coeur - Baie Sainte-Marguerite
  3. Les Bergeronnes - Centre d'interprétation et d'observation du Cap-Bon-Désir
  4. Les Escoumins - Centre découverte du milieu marin
  5. Portneuf-sur-Mer - Pointe-des-Fortin
  6. Colombier - Cap Colombier
  7. Ragueneau - Archipel des iles de Ragueneau
  8. Baie-Comeau - Quai de Baie-Comeau
  9. Baie-Comeau - Baie St-Pancrace
  10. Franquelin - Pointe à la croix
  11. Godbout - Baie de Godbout
  12. Baie-Trinité - Phare de Pointe-des-Monts
  13. Port-Cartier - Quai des pêcheurs
  14. Sept-Îles - Secteur des plages
  15. Sept-Îles - Parc du Vieux-Quai
  16. Rivière-au-Tonnerre - Belvédère Coste
  17. Magpie - Belvédère de Magpie
  18. Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan - Promenade sur le bord du fleuve
  19. Anticosti - Phare de la Pointe Carleton
  20. Bonne-Espérance - Secteur du Vieux-Fort[11]

Economy[edit]

The region's economy is based on mining (mostly iron), lumbering, aluminum production, and tourism. Côte-Nord's fourteen hydroelectric dams, notably the Manicouagan-Outardes complex, supply Hydro-Québec with over 10,500 megawatts of power.

Population[edit]

Barrage Daniel-Johnson, a hydroelectric dam on the Manicouagan River

At the 2016 Canadian Census, the population amounted to 92,518, approximately 1.1% of the province's population,[2] spread across 33 municipalities, various Indian reserves and a Naskapi reserved land. The towns of Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles combined amount to a little more than half of the population of the region.

Administrative divisions[edit]

Regional county municipalities[edit]

Indian reserves[edit]

Naskapi reserved territory[edit]

Demographics[edit]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Côte-Nord region had a population of 88,525 living in 39,798 of its 45,263 total private dwellings, a change of -4.3% from its 2016 population of 92,518, making it the fastest-decreasing region of Québec. With a land area of 234,442.27 km2 (90,518.67 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.4/km2 (1.0/sq mi) in 2021.[12]

The median age is 46.4, as opposed to 41.6 for all of Canada. French was the mother tongue of 84.9% of residents in 2021. The next most common mother tongues were the Cree-Innu languages at 7.8% total, followed by English at 4.5%. 0.6% reported both English and French as their first language. Additionally, there were 0.8% who reported both French and a non-official language as their mother tongue, mostly speakers of Cree-Innu languages.

Speakers of Cree-Innu languages mostly live in Pessamit and Uashat-Maliotenam. English speakers mostly live in Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality.

As of 2021, Indigenous peoples comprised 16.2% of the population and visible minorities contributed 1.5%. The largest visible minority groups in Côte-Nord are Black (0.7%), Arab (0.2%), and Latin American (0.2%). The region is home to 280 recent immigrants (i.e. those arriving between 2016 and 2021). 130 of them come from various African countries.

In 2021, 71.3% of the population identified as Catholic, while 19.6% said they had no religious affiliation. Anglicans were the largest religious minority, at 1.9% of the population, while Muslims were the largest non-Christian religious minority, making up 0.4% of the population.

Counting both single and multiple responses, the most commonly identified ethnocultural ancestries were:

Ethnic origin 2021
Canadian 35.0%
French 17.0%
Québécois 14.7%
Innu 9.3%
French Canadian 7.8%
First Nations 6.3%
Irish 3.5%
Acadian 2.8%
Métis 2.3%
English 1.8%

(Percentages may total more than 100% due to rounding and multiple responses).

Visible minority and Aboriginal population (Canada 2021 Census)[13]
Population group Population % of total population
White 71,080 82.3%
Visible minority group South Asian 40 0%
Chinese 100 0.1%
Black 590 0.7%
Filipino 120 0.1%
Arab 130 0.2%
Latin American 160 0.2%
Southeast Asian 45 0.1%
West Asian 0 0%
Korean 30 0%
Japanese 15 0%
Visible minority, n.i.e. 25 0%
Multiple visible minority 55 0.1%
Total visible minority population 1,310 1.5%
Aboriginal group First Nations 9,520 11.0%
Métis 2,660 3.1%
Inuit 425 0.5%
Aboriginal, n.i.e. 1,185 1.4%
Multiple Aboriginal identity 215 0.2%
Total Aboriginal population 14,005 16.2%
Total population 86,395 100%

Major communities[edit]

Exploration[edit]

The Côte-Nord region was gradually explored by French colonists during the centuries with the help of natives. However it is worth noting the contribution of Henry de Puyjalon (1841-1905), a pioneer in ecology who devoted his life to the exploration of this region.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Côte-Nord". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. ^ a b c "Census Profile, 2016 Census: Côte-Nord [Economic region], Quebec". Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Sonia Burgess; Linda Coulombe; Lucie Rousseau (28 February 2007). "Portrait territorial - Côte-Nord" (PDF). Direction régionale de la gestion du territoire public de la Côte-Nord. Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife. p. 94. Retrieved 3 June 2024. Public land, knowledge, territorial portraits, lands and resources in the domain of the State
  4. ^ "Côte-Nord". Quebec Gouvernement (in French). Commission de Toponymie Quebec. 1988-11-01. Retrieved 3 June 2024. This vast territory includes the RCMs of Caniapiscau, La Haute-Côte-Nord, Manicouagan, Sept-Rivières, Minganie and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
  5. ^ Henry Dorion (7 December 2001). "Quebec's borders: the state of the question" (PDF) (in f). Commission to Study Questions Relating to Québec's Accession to the sovereignty. p. 27. Retrieved 3 June 2024. the boundary will follow the watershed, the shoreline, a geodesic line, or that it will end at some topographical accident.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. ^ Arthur Krim, Boston Architectural College (2016–2024). "Urbanism and Iron Mining in Labrador". American Geographical Society. Focus on Geography. Retrieved 3 June 2024. On the western edge of Labrador, along the Quebec border, in the taiga forests of the subarctic, lie the richest deposits of iron ore in North America.
  7. ^ North Shore Wildlife Management Department (2022). "In the eye of the lynx" (PDF). Furbearer Bulletin of the region (in French). Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks Quebec. Retrieved 4 June 2024. The marten is one of the most prized species by trappers, as it is relatively easy to capture because of its curiosity and, until recently, its fur was of good value.
  8. ^ "Area Furbearer Bulletin" (PDF). Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (in French). Dans l’œil du lynx. 2022. p. 6. Retrieved 3 June 2024. Coyote, skunk, fisher, raccoon and bobcat are considered rare in the Côte-Nord region.
  9. ^ "In the eye of the lynx" (PDF).
  10. ^ Robert, Michel; Marie-Hélène Hachey; Denis Lepage; Andrew.R. Couturier (dir.) (2019). "Second Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Southern Québec". Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment and Climate Change Canada. p. 694. The Atlas provides the most up-to-date information on the distribution and abundance of 253 species of birds that breed in Quebec below 50.5° north latitude
  11. ^ a b "Come see the whales". Côte-Nord, between nature and excess. North Shore Tourism. 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024. The tide, the underwater relief and the currents generate phenomenal concentrations of fish and plankton. No wonder the St. Lawrence is one of the best places in the world for whale watching: it's a real open-air buffet!
  12. ^ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec". Statistics Canada. October 25, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  13. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2022-02-09). "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Côte-Nord [Economic region], Quebec". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-13.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Côte-Nord.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Côte-Nord&oldid=1227204628"