Sept-Îles, Quebec

Sept-Îles ( IPAudio|FR-Sept-Îles.ogg|/sɛˈtiːl/, French for "Seven Islands") is a city in the Côte-Nord region of eastern Quebec, Canada. It is the northernmost town in Quebec with any significant population and among the northernmost locales with a paved connection to the rest of Quebec's road network. The only settlements on the paved road network which are farther north are Radisson and Chisasibi, both in the extreme western portion of the province at the north end of the James Bay Road. The remaining settlements at higher latitudes in the province are mostly isolated Cree, Innu, or Inuit villages with either no road access or only by seasonal gravel road. The population is 25,514 according to the 2006 census.Cite web
url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=2497007&Geo2=PR&Code2=24&Data=Count&SearchText=Sept-%CEles&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All
title=Community highlights for Sept-Îles
work=Census 2006 Community profiles
publisher=Statistics Canada
accessdate=2008-10-03]

According to Canadian Business magazine, the city of Sept-Îles has the 154^th lowest violent crime rate in Canada, at a rate of 6724 per 100,000 people. [ [http://list.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/bestplacestolive/2008/lifestyle/Default.aspx?sub=n4&df=bestcities&sc1=2&d1=a&sp2=1&eh=ch Canadian Business: Canada's best places to live 2008] ]

Geography

Located on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, between the Sainte-Marguerite and Moisie rivers, Sept-Îles lies on the shore of a deep-water bay fronted by a seven-island archipelago, about 230 kilometres east of Baie-Comeau. The bay constitutes a 45 km² natural harbour.

The seven islands are named:

* "La grosse boule" ("the big ball")
* "La petite boule" ("the small ball")
* "La grande Basque" ("the large Basque", named after the visiting Basque fishermen)
* "La petite Basque" ("the small Basque")
* "Île Manowin" (from the Montagnais "manouane" meaning "where eggs are picked")
* "Île du Corossol" (named after the French ship "Corossol" wrecked on the island in 1693; site of a lighthouse and a bird sanctuary)
* "Îlets de Quen" (a group of tiny islands named after Jean de Quen who founded the local Catholic mission in 1650)

The archipelago is under provincial jurisdiction, with some parts administered by the federal government or by particulars.

There are two First Nations reserves in the area, Uashat in the western city proper, and Maliotenam in the east near the Moisie River.

History and economy

The first inhabitants of the area were the "Montagnais" Innu people, who called it "Uashat" ("Great Bay"). Jacques Cartier sailed by the islands in 1535 and made the first written record of them, calling them the "Ysles Rondes" ("Round Islands"). He was not the first European on the site however, as he encountered Basque fishermen who were coming yearly for whaling and cod fishing.

Early economic activity in Sept-Îles was based on fishing and the fur trade, with trading posts established by Louis Joliet in 1679, and by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1842. The village was incorporated into a municipality in 1885. The town, lacking road access at the time, got its first pier in 1908. The City of Sept-Îles was incorporated in 1951, on the 300th anniversary of the first Catholic mass held in the village.

The modern Sept-Îles was practically built overnight during the construction of the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway, 357-mile (575 km) railway link to the northern town of Schefferville between 1950 and 1954 by the Iron Ore Company of Canada. Iron ore mined near Wabush, Labrador was transported on this railway and shipped from the Port of Sept-Îles, then a deep-water seaport second in Canada only to Vancouver in terms of yearly tonnage. This huge engineering project led to a major population boom: from 2,000 inhabitants in 1951 to 14,000 in 1961, and 31,000 in 1981.

However, the decline in worldwide iron ore prices has since caused employment and population to shrink. A moderately successful attempt was made to revive the town during the early nineties, with the foundation of the Aluminerie Alouette aluminum processing plant. Construction for Phase 1 began in September 1989, and operation started in 1992. Construction of Phase 2 began in 2003.

The city amalgamated with the communities of Gallix and Moisie in 2002.

The city's Airport has connections all over Canada.

People

Born in Sept-Îles

*Guy Carbonneau, former National Hockey League (NHL) centre and current NHL coach (Montreal Canadiens)
*Steve Duchesne, former NHL defenceman
*Karl Dykhuis, former NHL defenceman
*Rob Zettler, former NHL defenceman
*David Desrosiers, bassist of Simple Plan

Resided in Sept-Îles

*Margot Kidder, Actress
*Brian Mulroney, Iron Ore Company president, Prime Minister (from Baie Comeau)

Notes and references

* Dredge, L. A. "Surficial Geology of the Sept-Îles Area, Quebec North Shore". Ottawa, Canada: Geological Survey of Canada, 1983.
* Faessler, Carl. "Sept-Îles Area, North Shore of St. Lawrence, Saguenay County". Québec: Dept. of Mines, Division of Geological Surveys, 1942.

External links

* [http://www.ville.sept-iles.qc.ca Sept-Îles official website]
* [http://www.mrcn.qc.ca/english/index.htm Musée régional de la Côte-Nord] (city museum)
* [http://www.portsi.com/eg/ Port of Sept-Îles]
* [http://www.mce.gouv.qc.ca/innus/Uashat_Maliotenam/uashat_maliotenam_en.htm Quebec government listing for the local aboriginal reserves]