Nord-du-Québec ( French pronunciation: [nɔʁ d͜zy kebɛk] ; English: Northern Quebec ) is the largest, but the least populous, of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec , Canada .
28-519: Spread over nearly 14 degrees of latitude, north of the 49th parallel, the region covers 860,692 km (332,315 sq mi) on the Labrador Peninsula , or just over half of the province's total land area. Nord-du-Québec possesses 3,644 archaeological sites known and listed by the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine (MCCCF), along La Grande Rivière basin,
56-497: A mayor), this is actually an uninhabited area with no resident population: the Naskapi population all live on the reserved land, and the village municipality is for the exclusive use of Naskapis for hunting or other economic activities. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Kawawachikamach had a population of 0 living in 0 of its 0 total private dwellings, no change from its 2016 population of 0 . With
84-765: A million lakes of varying size. The largest body of water on the Labrador Peninsula is the Smallwood Reservoir , but the largest natural lake is Lake Mistassini . Other lakes of note include the Manicouagan Reservoir , the Caniapiscau Reservoir , and the La Grande 2 and La Grande 3 reservoirs. Due to a history of hydroelectric development, the majority of the larger freshwater lakes on the peninsula are reservoirs. In addition to an abundance of lakes,
112-505: A non-official language as their mother tongue, 0.4% reported both English and French as their first language, and 0.3% reported both French and a non-official language as their mother tongue. As of 2021, Indigenous peoples comprised 68.5% of the population, and visible minorities contributed 1.9%. The largest visible minority groups in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean are Black (0.9%), Arab (0.3%), and Filipino (0.3%). In 2021, 72.2% of
140-590: A population of 14,139; Kativik has a land area of 443,372.20 square kilometres (171,186.96 sq mi) and a population of 12,090. The most populous community overall is the town of Chibougamau in Jamésie. The most populous community in Eeyou Istchee is Chisasibi , while the most populous community in Kativik is Kuujjuaq . The administrative structure of Nord-du-Québec is divided between three equivalent territories to
168-496: A regional municipality: Kativik , Eeyou Istchee , and Jamésie . At the local level exists five municipalities: The towns of Chibougamau (the largest town in this region), Chapais , Lebel-sur-Quévillon , and Matagami , and the special municipality of Eeyou Istchee James Bay , which was formerly the local municipality of Baie-James before a 2012 restructure of the government. Kativik offers regional services to its 14 northern villages and associated Inuit reserved lands as well as
196-412: Is 29.8, as opposed to 41.6 for all of Canada. It is the youngest region of Québec. Most residents (58.7%) spoke Indigenous languages as their mother tongue. The Cree-Innu languages were the mother tongue of 31.7%, followed by Inuktitut at 26.9%. From Canada's official languages, French was the mother tongue of 29.9% of residents in 2021, while English was for 6.6%. 3.0% reported both English and
224-541: Is a Naskapi village municipality in the territory of the Kativik Regional Government in northern Quebec . It is the only Naskapi village municipality, but nevertheless has a distinct legal status and classification from other kinds of village municipalities in Quebec: Cree village municipalities, northern villages (Inuit communities), and ordinary villages. There is a counterpart Naskapi reserved land of
252-640: Is a limited network of roads in the Jamésie region which reaches most of the few, small communities. Most were constructed as part of the James Bay Project . The "main road" of the region is the 620 kilometres (390 mi) long James Bay Road , a paved (albeit remote) extension of Route 109 from Matagami to Radisson . The 407 kilometres (253 mi) long gravel Route du Nord connects the James Bay Road to Route 167 near Chibougamau . The 666 kilometres (414 mi) gravel Trans-Taiga Road branches off
280-644: Is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, the Hudson Strait to the north, the Labrador Sea to the east, Strait of Belle Isle and the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the southeast. The peninsula includes the region of Labrador , which is part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador , and the regions of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean , Côte-Nord , and Nord-du-Québec , which are in the province of Quebec . It has an area of 1,400,000 km (541,000 sq mi). The peninsula
308-498: Is limited to air travel, sea travel to coastal areas, or hiking great distances. All villages have their own airport, with the Kuujjuaq Airport functioning as a regional hub. In the rightmost column, the total area adds up to 747161.23 rather than the correct 747161.22 due to rounding error. Labrador Peninsula The Labrador Peninsula or Quebec-Labrador Peninsula , is a large peninsula in eastern Canada . It
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#1733085947076336-541: Is surrounded by sea on all sides, except for the southwest where it widens into the general continental mainland. The northwestern part of the Labrador Peninsula is shaped as a lesser peninsula, the Ungava Peninsula , surrounded by Hudson Bay, the Hudson Strait , and Ungava Bay . The northernmost point of the Ungava Peninsula, Cape Wolstenholme , also serves as the northernmost point of the Labrador Peninsula and of
364-577: The 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , the Nord-du-Québec region had a population of 45,740 living in 14,543 of its 17,325 total private dwellings, a change of +2.6% from its 2016 population of 44,561. With a land area of 707,306.52 km (273,092.57 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.1/km (0.2/sq mi) in 2021. If the region were its own province, it would be larger than all other Canadian provinces except for Ontario and British Columbia . The median age
392-620: The Grand Council of the Crees speaks of "Eeyou Istchee", they refer to a much larger and contiguous traditional territory and homeland that covers much of Jamésie. Jamésie, extending from the eastern shore of James Bay to the Otish Mountains of the Laurentian Plateau , is mainly boreal forest . Eeyou Istchee is largely enclaved within Jamésie, although one of its communities is slightly to
420-671: The Innu language . Other peoples on the peninsula include the East Cree of Eeyou Istchee (ᐄᔨᔨᐤ/ᐄᔨᔫ/ᐄᓅ ᐊᔅᒌ) , the Naskapi whose territories are called St'aschinuw (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, also meaning "our land") as well as the Inuit of Nunavik , Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut . The area became known as Markland in Greenlandic Norse and its inhabitants were known as the Skræling . It is widely accepted that
448-623: The Otish Mountains sector and in the coastal areas of Quaqtaq , near Ungava Bay . These sites are mostly of First Nations origin and bear witness to several thousands of years of occupation of the territory of the Cree and Inuit ancestors of the region. Before 1912, the northernmost part of this region was part of the Ungava District of the Northwest Territories , and until 1987 it
476-484: The James Bay Road to Caniapiscau , the northernmost connecting road in eastern North America. The few provincial routes are concentrated in the far south of the region, including Route 109 to Matagami, Route 113 , which ends near Chibougamau, and Route 167 to Mistissini . There are no roads to Nunavik from the south. There are isolated roads in and around villages, as well as an isolated road running from Raglan Mine to Deception Bay, connecting to Salluit . Access
504-635: The Naskapi village municipality of Kawawachikamach . Eeyou Istchee offers regional services to its 9 Cree village municipalities and their associated Cree reserved lands. The four towns of Jamésie are not covered by a regional government, and supply their own services. The special local municipality of Eeyou Istchee James Bay is governed jointly by the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government , which consists of 11 representatives from Eeyou Istche and 11 representatives from Jamésie. In
532-481: The north of the 55th parallel and geographically enclaved within Kativik. Kativik has some boreal forest in its southern portion but is mainly tundra which covers the entire Ungava Peninsula . From the Canada 2011 Census , Eeyou Istchee has a land area of 5,586.25 square kilometres (2,156.86 sq mi) and a population of 16,350; Jamésie has a land area of 298,202.78 square kilometres (115,136.74 sq mi) and
560-482: The only national park of Canada on the Labrador Peninsula. The park is located in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, whereas the adjacent Kuururjuaq National Park is located in the province of Quebec. Due to it being covered almost entirely by the Canadian Shield — a vast, rocky plateau with a history of glaciation — the peninsula has a large number of lakes. The province of Quebec alone has more than half
588-652: The peninsula also has many rivers. The longest, the La Grande River, is 900 kilometres (560 mi) long and flows westwards across nearly half the peninsula. Other rivers of note include the Eastmain River , Rupert River , and Churchill River . Prior to European colonization, the peninsula was inhabited chiefly by Cree people, notably the Innu Nation in the southeast area of the peninsula, who referred to their country as Nitassinan (ᓂᑕᔅᓯᓇᓐ), meaning "our land" in
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#1733085947076616-673: The peninsula is named after Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador . He was granted a patent by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1499 that gave him the right to explore that part of the Atlantic Ocean as set out in the Treaty of Tordesillas . Together with Pero de Barcelos , he first sighted Labrador in 1498, and charted the coasts of southwestern Greenland and of adjacent the northeastern North America around 1498 and gave notice of them in Portugal and Europe. His landowner status allowed him to use
644-516: The population identified as Christian . 36.3% were Anglican , 24.1% were Catholic , and 6.2% were Pentecostal . 24.9% said they had no religious affiliation. Traditional North American Indigenous spirituality practitioners were the largest non-Christian religious minority, making up 1.9% of the population. Counting both single and multiple responses, the most commonly identified ethnocultural ancestries were: (Percentages may total more than 100% due to rounding and multiple responses). There
672-409: The province of Quebec. The peninsula is a plateau threaded by river valleys. There are several mountain ranges. The Torngat Mountains , located in the northern part of the peninsula, contain the highest point of the peninsula, Mount Caubvick , which at 1,652 metres (5,420 ft) is also the highest point of mainland Canada east of Alberta . The mountains also host Torngat Mountains National Park ,
700-466: The same name: Kawawachikamach , located some distance to the south. Because the village municipality is north of the 55th parallel and the reserved land is south of it, they are actually in different administrative regions of Quebec: Nord-du-Québec (within Kativik ) and Côte-Nord , respectively. Despite the title of "village municipality" and the formalities that go along with it (for instance, having
728-464: The south and southeast. Nord-du-Québec is part of the territory covered by the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement of 1975; other regions covered (in part) by this Agreement include Côte-Nord , Mauricie and Abitibi-Témiscamingue administrative regions. Nord-du-Québec is divided for statistical and other purposes into three territories equivalent to a regional county municipality (TEs): When
756-523: The title lavrador , Portuguese for "farmer" or "landholder", but "labrador" in Spanish and Galician means "agricultural worker" ( Portuguese pronunciation: [lɐvɾɐˈðoɾ] ). He actually gave the name of Terra do Lavrador to Greenland, which was the first land that he sighted, but eventually, the name was spread to all areas until it was set for Labrador. Kawawachikamach (Naskapi village municipality) Kawawachikamach ( Naskapi : ᑲᐛᐛᒋᑲᒪᒡ )
784-453: Was referred to as Nouveau-Québec, or New Quebec . Nord-du-Québec lies entirely upon the Canadian Shield . It extends from 49°N latitude to beyond 62°N and is 98.4 percent public land. The region is bordered by Hudson Bay and James Bay in the west, Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay in the north, Labrador in the northeast, and the administrative regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue , Mauricie , Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean , and Côte-Nord in
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