La Matapédia Regional County Municipality
Regional county municipality in Quebec, Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Matapédia (French pronunciation: [la matapedja]) is a regional county municipality (RCM) in eastern Quebec, Canada at the base of the Gaspé peninsula, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. Its seat is in Amqui. It is named after the Matapédia River which runs through the western part of the RCM.
La Matapédia | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Coordinates: 48°18′N 67°34′W[1] | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Region | Bas-Saint-Laurent |
| Effective | January 1, 1982 |
| County seat | Amqui |
| Government | |
| • Type | Prefecture |
| • Prefect | Chantale Lavoie |
| • Federal riding | Rimouski—La Matapédia |
| • Prov. riding | Matane-Matapédia |
| • MP | Maxime Blanchette-Joncas (BQ) |
| • MNA | Pascal Bérubé (PQ) |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,389.00 km2 (2,080.70 sq mi) |
| • Land | 5,374.57 km2 (2,075.13 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[4] | |
• Total | 17,592 |
| • Density | 3.3/km2 (8.5/sq mi) |
| • Change 2016-2021 |  1.9% |
| • Dwellings | 9,274 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Area codes | 418 and 581 |
| Website | www |
La Matapédia was created on January 1, 1982, succeeding from the former Matapédia County Municipality. The region was subject to one of the last waves of colonization in Quebec, settled mostly by people from the Lower Saint-Lawrence between 1850 and 1950. It is a rural region in the Matapedia Valley crossed by the Notre Dame Mountains. Agriculture and logging, and its related industries (forestry and wood products), are the main economic activities.[1]
Subdivisions
There are 25 subdivisions within the RCM:[2]
|
|
|
|
|
Demographics
Population
| 2021 | 2016 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 17,592 (-1.9% from 2016) | 17,925 (-3.5% from 2011) | 18,573 (-3.3% from 2006) |
| Land area | 5,354.53 km2 (2,067.40 sq mi) | 5,374.57 km2 (2,075.13 sq mi) | 5,373.92 km2 (2,074.88 sq mi) |
| Population density | 3.3/km2 (8.5/sq mi) | 3.3/km2 (8.5/sq mi) | 3.5/km2 (9.1/sq mi) |
| Median age | 52.4 (M: 52.0, F: 52.8) | 50.6 (M: 50.1, F: 51.2) | 48.0 (M: 47.7, F: 48.2) |
| Private dwellings | 9,274 (total) 8,258 (occupied) | 9,142 (total) | 9,116 (total) |
| Median household income | $56,800 | $47,488 | $42,628 |
Language
| Canada Census Mother Tongue - La Matapédia Regional County Municipality, Quebec[8][3] | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Total | French |
English |
French & English |
Other | |||||||||||||
| Year | Responses | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | |||||
2016 |
17,790 |
17,635 | 3.2% |
99.13% | 70 | 6.7% |
0.39% | 35 |  16.7% |
0.20% | 50 | 100.0% |
0.28% | |||||
2011 |
18,345 |
18,215 | 2.4% |
99.29% | 75 | 36.4% |
0.41% | 30 | 200.0% |
0.16% | 25 | 68.8% |
0.14% | |||||
2006 |
18,810 |
18,665 | 3.4% |
99.23% | 55 | 57.1% |
0.29% | 10 | 75.0% |
0.05% | 80 | 700.0% |
0.43% | |||||
2001 |
19,405 |
19,320 | 4.7% |
99.56% | 35 | 41.7% |
0.18% | 40 | 42.9% |
0.21% | 10 | 60.0% |
0.05% | |||||
1996 |
20,435 |
20,280 | n/a | 99.24% | 60 | n/a | 0.29% | 70 | n/a | 0.34% | 25 | n/a | 0.12% | |||||
Transportation
Access routes
Highways and numbered routes that run through the municipality, including external routes that start or finish at the county border:[9]
