Pointe-aux-Outardes, Quebec

Pointe-aux-Outardes is a village municipality in Quebec, Canada, on the southern point of the Manicouagan Peninsula between the mouths of the Outardes and Manicouagan Rivers.

Pointe-aux-Outardes
Village municipality
Pointe-aux-Outardes Location in Côte-Nord region of Quebec.
Coordinates: 49°03′N 68°26′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Côte-Nord
RCM	Manicouagan
Constituted	January 1, 1964
Government [2]
• Mayor	André Lepage
• Federal riding	Manicouagan
• Prov. riding	René-Lévesque
Area [2][3]
• Total	111.40 km^2 (43.01 sq mi)
• Land	74.69 km^2 (28.84 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[3]
• Total	1,330
• Density	17.8/km^2 (46/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	7.8%
• Dwellings	604
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G0H 1M0
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Highways	Route 138
Website	www.pointe-aux-outardes.ca

The place is named after a piece of land that juts out into the Saint Lawrence River and partially encloses the Outardes Bay: Pointe aux Outardes. It literally means "Point of Bustards", but Outarde can also be translated as "Canada goose".[4] In fact, Canada geese and snow geese use the nearby Manicouagan River as a corridor in their annual migration and stopover at the point. The Innu called it Piletipistu Neshkâu, meaning "point of the Partridge River". But the term Outardes was used on Guérard's map of 1631 and on Franquelin's map of 1685 to identify the river that flows past the point into the St. Lawrence.[1]

Pointe-aux-Outardes is exceptionally rich in flora and fauna. Among its salt marshes, more than 175 species of birds have been counted.[1]

Demographics

Population trend:[5]

• Population in 2011: 1330 (2006 to 2011 population change: -7.8%)
• Population in 2006: 1443
• Population in 2001: 1413
• Population in 1996: 1339
• Population in 1991: 1109

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 562 (total dwellings: 604)

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 0%
• French as first language: 97.6%
• English and French as first language: 0%
• Other as first language: 2.4%

References

1. "Pointe-aux-Outardes (Municipalité de village)" (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
2. Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire - Répertoire des municipalités: Pointe-aux-Outardes Archived 2012-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
3. Statistics Canada 2011 Census - Pointe-aux-Outardes census profile
4. Office québécois de la langue française - Le grand dictionnaire terminologique
5. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census