Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec

Infobox Settlement
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settlement_type = City
official_name = Ville de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
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image_caption = Saint-Jean Marina


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map_caption = Location of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = CAN
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = QC
subdivision_type2 = Region
subdivision_name2 = Montérégie (16)
subdivision_type3 = Regional County Municipality
subdivision_name3 = Le Haut-Richelieu
subdivision_type4 = Electoral district
subdivision_name4 = Federal: Saint-Jean (electoral district)
MP: Claude Bachand
Provincial: Saint-Jean (provincial electoral district)
MNA: Lucille Methe
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leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Gilles Dolbec
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established_date = 1665
established_title2 =
established_date2 = 1856
established_title3 = Municipal Merger
established_date3 = 2001
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area_metro_km2 = 225.78
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population_as_of = 2006
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population_total = 87492
population_density_km2 = 387.5
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timezone = Eastern
utc_offset = -5
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latd=45 |latm=19 |lats= |latNS=N
longd=73 |longm=16 |longs= |longEW=W
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postal_code_type = Postal Code Span
postal_code = J2W, J2X, J2Y, J3A, J3B
area_code = 450
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website = http://www.ville.saint-jean-sur-richelieu.qc.ca www.saint-jean-sur-richelieu.qc.ca
footnotes = Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada about km to mi|50|spell=commonwealth|precision=0 southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost navigable point from Lake Champlain. As of 2006, the city's population was 87,492. (Canada 2006 Census)

The city historically was an important transportation hub. The first rail line in North America connected it with La Prairie in 1836. It is also the host of the "Festival International des Montgolfières", an international hot-air balloon festival, which attracts thousands of tourists that come to see the hundreds of balloons in the sky every year.

The Chambly Canal extends km to mi|20|spell=commonwealth|precision=0 north along the west bank of the river and provides modern freight passage to Chambly and the St. Lawrence River. The canal has one lock near the downtown core of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu. In the winter, the city builds a skating rink on the canal near the lock. In the summer, the embankment on the east side of the canal has a km to mi|20|spell=commonwealth|precision=0 cycling path.

Known to the early English settlers as St. Johns, the site was fortified in the 17th century. Later, the French built Fort Saint-Jean (Quebec) on the site. It provided an important communication link during the French and Indian Wars. During the American Revolutionary War control of the town changed hands several times as the British and American forces moved through the area.Today's St-Jean is a manufacturing centre of textiles, food and wood products. It hosts an Area Support Unit of the Canadian Forces which acts as the primary recruitment and officer training establishment. Until 1995 ASU St-Jean housed "Le Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean", a bilingual military academy. The only remaining military university in Canada was the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario from 1995–2007. The federal government will reopen the military college at St. Jean sur Richelieu in fall 2007 to provide a two-year program in French.

The Ville de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu public transit system provides commuter and local bus services.

Its per capita income was $13,311 CAD or $25,309 CAD per wage earner.

In 2001, a new city organization was created as a regional county municipality including several adjoining communities, and the city's population was adjusted to 79,600. This merger was requested by the five municipalities involved, and was not part of the municipal fusions that were decreed unilaterally by the Parti Québecois government the next year. The amalgamated municipalities are as follows (with 2001 populations):
* Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (37,386)
* Saint-Luc (20,573)
* Iberville (9,424)
* Saint-Athanase (6,691)
* L'Acadie (5,526)

port

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is the birthplace of all the Formula 1 drivers family Villeneuve: Gilles, Jacques Sr. and Jacques (1997 World Champion).

Language

The 2006 census found that 94.6% of residents spoke French as their mother tongue.

The next most common language was English (2.5%), followed by Portuguese and Spanish (0.3% each). [cite web | title = Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, V | work = Detailed Mother Tongue (103), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Divisions and Census Subdivisions, 2006 Census - 20% Sample Data | publisher = Statistics Canada | date = 2007-11-20 | url = http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/topics/RetrieveProductTable.cfm?ALEVEL=3&APATH=3&CATNO=&DETAIL=0&DIM=&DS=99&FL=0&FREE=0&GAL=0&GC=99&GK=NA&GRP=1&IPS=&METH=0&ORDER=1&PID=89202&PTYPE=88971&RL=0&S=1&ShowAll=No&StartRow=1&SUB=701&Temporal=2006&Theme=70&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=&GID=772922 | accessdate = 2008-08-02]

External links

* [http://www.regiondesaint-jean-sur-richelieu.com/ Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Tourism]
* [http://www.montgolfieres.com/ International de Montgolfières de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu]