La Matapédia () 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 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.
Subdivisions There are 25 subdivisions within the RCM:
Cities & Towns (2) Amqui Causapscal
Municipalities (7) Albertville Lac-au-Saumon Sainte-Florence Sainte-Marguerite-Marie Saint-Vianney Sayabec Val-Brillant
Parishes (8) Saint-Alexandre-des-Lacs Saint-Cléophas Saint-Damase Sainte-Irène Saint-Léon-le-Grand Saint-Moïse Saint-Tharcisius Saint-Zénon-du-Lac-Humqui
Villages (1) Saint-Noël
Unorganized Territory (7) Lac-Alfred Lac-Casault Lac-Matapédia Rivière-Patapédia-Est Rivière-Vaseuse Routhierville Ruisseau-des-Mineurs
Demographics
Population
Language Canada Census Mother Tongue - La Matapédia Regional County Municipality, Quebec Census Total Year Responses Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % 17,635 3.2% 99.13% 70 6.7% 0.39% 35 16.7% 0.20% 50 100.0% 0.28% 18,215 2.4% 99.29% 75 36.4% 0.41% 30 200.0% 0.16% 25 68.8% 0.14% 18,665 3.4% 99.23% 55 57.1% 0.29% 10 75.0% 0.05% 80 700.0% 0.43% 19,320 4.7% 99.56% 35 41.7% 0.18% 40 42.9% 0.21% 10 60.0% 0.05% 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:Official Transport Quebec Road Map
Autoroutes None
Principal Highways
Secondary Highways
External Routes None
See also List of regional county municipalities and equivalent territories in Quebec
References