Madawaska County, New Brunswick

Madawaska County (2016 population 32,741[1]), also known as the "New Brunswick Panhandle",[2] is located in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada. Over 90% of the county's population speaks French. Its Francophone population are known as "Brayons." Forestry is the major industry in the county.

Madawaska
County
Location of Madawaska County.
Country	Canada
Province	New Brunswick
Established	1873
Area [1]
• Land	3,461.89 km^2 (1,336.64 sq mi)
Population  (2016)[1]
• Total	32,741
• Density	9.5/km^2 (25/sq mi)
• Change 2011-2016	2.0%
• Dwellings	15,774
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Area code(s)	506

Map of municipal government units in Madawaska County prior to incorporation of rural community of Haut-Madawaska in 2017.

History

The first inhabitants of what is now called Madawaska County were the Maliseet or Wolastoqiyik, who occupied and used the land along the Saint John River Valley north to the St. Lawrence River and south to the Penobscot River. There is debate concerning the true origin of the word "Madawaska". The earliest settlers were from Quebec. The area was the focus of the bloodless Aroostook War, a border dispute led by businessman and political activist John Baker.

The earliest settlers of the Upper Saint John River Valley can be clearly verified with [3] and [4] The second link displays census results taken in 1820 of the Madawaska region where most families had originated from Quebec.

Census subdivisions

Communities

There are ten municipalities within Madawaska County (listed by 2016 population):[5]

Official Name	Designation	Area km^2	Population	Parish
Edmundston	City	106.85	16,580	Madawaska, Saint-Basile, Saint-Jacques, Saint-Joseph
Saint-Léonard	Town	5.22	1,300	Saint-Léonard
Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska	Village	9.19	957	Sainte-Anne
Clair	Village	10.61	781	Clair
Saint-André	Rural community	8.04	772	Saint-André Parish
Rivière-Verte	Village	6.70	724	Rivière-Verte
Lac-Baker	Village	37.18	690	Lac-Baker
Baker-Brook	Village	12.27	564	Baker Brook
Saint-François-de-Madawaska	Village	6.39	470	Saint-François
Saint-Hilaire	Village	5.68	252	Saint-Hilaire

First Nations

There is one First Nations reserve in Madawaska County (listed by 2016 population):[6]

Official Name	Designation	Area km^2	Population	Parish
St. Basile 10	Reserve	3.22	214	Saint-Basile

Parishes

The county is subdivided into fourteen parishes (listed by 2016 population):[6]

Official Name	Area km^2	Population	Municipalities or equivalents	Unincorporated communities
Saint-Jacques	299.49	1,596	Edmundston	Ennemond / Grandmaison / Moulin-Morneault / Patrieville / Petite-Rivière-à-la-Truite / Saint-Jacques / St. Joseph Settlement
Saint-Joseph	322.89	1,538	Edmundston	Deuxième-Sault / Francoeur / Lévesque / Rang-des-Bossé / Rang-des-Couturier / Saint-Joseph-de-Madawaska / Sicard / Toussaint / Violette
Saint-André	128.18	1,129	Saint-André	Comeau Ridge / Gaudreau Park / Lévesque Settlement / McManus Siding / Powers Creek / Saint-Amand / Woodville
Saint-Léonard	343.39	975	Saint-Léonard	Bellefleur / Coombes Road / Cyr Junction / Grand-Ruisseau / Martin Siding / Poitras / Rang-des-Bourgoin / Saint-Léonard-Parent
Sainte-Anne	368.89	964	Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska	Fourche-à-Clark / Miller Line Cache / Prime / Rang-des-Deschêne / Ringuette Settlement / Siegas / Siegas Lake Settlement / Sirois
Rivière-Verte	715.86	711	Rivière-Verte	Beardsley Depot / Davis Mill / Montagne-de-la-Croix / Montagne-des-Roy / Rang-des-Hubert
Saint-François	344.59	606	Haut-Madawaska	Concession-des-Jaunes / Concession-des-Viel / Connors / Lac-Unique / Little River Mills / Mouth of St. Francis / Pelletiers Mill / Val Oakes
Saint-Basile	129.61	592	Edmundston St. Basile 10 (native reserve)	Boniface Bridge / Green River Settlement / Jalbert / Maillet / Montagne-des-Therrien / Rang-des-Lavoie /
Saint-Hilaire	41.90	478	Haut-Madawaska	Riceville
Clair	43.92	283	Haut-Madawaska	Caron Brook / Concession-des-Lang / Concession-des-Vasseur / Crockett / Les Rapides
Baker Brook	125.17	275	Haut-Madawaska	Concession-de-Baker-Brook / Concession-des-Ouellette / Rang-des-Morneault / Rang-Saint-Joseph / Val-Lambert / Val-Nadeau
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes	187.18	275		Durette Settlement / Flemming / Harrison Brook Settlement / La Montagne / Lower Siegas / Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
Madawaska	173.18	10	Edmundston Haut-Madawaska
Lac Baker	24.30	5	Lac-Baker Haut-Madawaska	Boundary / Portage-du-Lac / Rang-des-Collin / Saint-Castin / Pelletiers Mill / Soucy

Demographics

Population

Canada census – Madawaska County, New Brunswick community profile
	2016	2011	2006
Population:	32,741 (-2.0% from 2011)	33,422 (-1.9% from 2006)	34,071 (-4.3% from 2001)
Land area:	3,461.89 km^2 (1,336.64 sq mi)	3,463.05 km^2 (1,337.09 sq mi)	3,461.46 km^2 (1,336.48 sq mi)
Population density:	9.5/km^2 (25/sq mi)	9.7/km^2 (25/sq mi)	9.8/km^2 (25/sq mi)
Median age:	50.1 (M: 49.0, F: 51.0)	47.3 (M: 46.3, F: 48.1)	43.9 (M: 43.1, F: 44.6)
Total private dwellings:	15,774	15,514	15,888
Median household income:	$53,146	$47,385	$42,709
References: 2016[6] 2011[7] 2006[8] earlier[9]

Historical Census Data - Madawaska County, New Brunswick

Year Pop. ±% 1991 36,554 —     1996 36,814 +0.7%	Year Pop. ±% 2001 35,611 −3.3% 2006 34,071 −4.3%	Year Pop. ±% 2011 33,422 −1.9% 2016 32,741 −2.0%
[10][1]

Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Madawaska County, New Brunswick[10][1]
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2016		32,105		29,765		92.71%		1,645		5.12%		372		1.17%		320		1.00%
2011		32,510		30,500	2.2%	93.82%		1,530	8.1%	4.71%		300	13.2%	0.92%		180	54.4%	0.55%
2006		33,510		31,185	4.7%	93.06%		1,665	6.1%	4.97%		265	26.4%	0.79%		395	119.4%	1.18%
2001		34,845		32,735	3.8%	93.94%		1,570	14.2%	4.51%		360	14.3%	1.03%		180	44.0%	0.52%
1996		36,300		34,030	n/a	93.75%		1,830	n/a	5.04%		315	n/a	0.87%		125	n/a	0.34%

Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:[11]

Highways Route 2 (TCH) Route 17

Principal Routes Route 120 Route 144

Secondary Routes: Route 205 Route 215

External Routes: U.S. Route 1 Quebec Autoroute 85 (TCH) Quebec Route 289

Protected areas and attractions

Notable people

See also

• Republic of Madawaska
• Brayon
• List of communities in New Brunswick

References

1. "Census Profile, 2016 Census Madawaska, County [Census division], New Brunswick". Statistics Canada. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
2. "Rivers of Canada - St. John River : Can Geo Education". www.cangeoeducation.ca. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
3. "Visit of the Bishop of Québec to the upper St.John River valley, 1686". C. Gagnon. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
4. "1820 US Census of Penobscot County, Maine - Matawasca Parish, French Settlement". C. Gagnon. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
5. "Census Profile, 2016 Census - Select Region". Statistics Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
6. "2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 21, 2017. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
7. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. July 5, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
8. "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
9. "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012.
10. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
11. Atlantic Canada Back Road Atlas ISBN 978-1-55368-618-7