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
[3]
 • 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)[3]
 • 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 of 247,655.33 square kilometres (95,620.26 sq mi), the second-largest administrative region (by land area) in Québec Province, Canada, behind Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadoussac.

While most of the region is in the same time zone as the rest of Quebec, the far eastern portion east of the 63rd meridian, excluding the Minganie Regional County Municipality, is officially in the Atlantic Time Zone and does not observe daylight saving time.[4]

Population

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,[3] 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.

Geography and economy

Côte-Nord was created as an administrative region in 1966. Important landmarks of Côte-Nord include Anticosti Island, the Mingan Archipelago, 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 (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.[5]

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.

Administrative divisions

Regional county municipalities

Indian reserves

Naskapi reserved territory

Demographics

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.[6]

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)[7]
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

Exploration

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

References

  1. ↑ "Côte-Nord". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. "Côte-Nord". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  3. 1 2 3 "Census Profile, 2016 Census: Côte-Nord [Economic region], Quebec". Statistics Canada. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Legal Time Act, CQLR c T-5.1". CanLII. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Henri Dorion debunks the Ten Great Myths about the Labrador boundary". Quebec National Assembly, First Session, 34th Legislature. October 17, 1991. Archived from the original on October 26, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec". Statistics Canada. October 25, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  7. ↑ 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.
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