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Charlevoix | |
|---|---|
 Looking north across the hills of Charlevoix fromBaie-Saint-Paul | |
| Coordinates:47°39′N70°09′W / 47.650°N 70.150°W /47.650; -70.150 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Administrative region | Capitale-Nationale |
| Major settlements | |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| Postal code prefixes | |
Charlevoix (/ˈʃɑːrləvwɑː/SHAR-lə-vwah,[1]French:[ʃaʁləvwa]ⓘ) is acultural andnatural region inQuebec, on the north shore of theSaint Lawrence River as well as in theLaurentian Mountains area of theCanadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands, and bays; the region was designated aWorldBiosphere Reserve byUNESCO in 1989. Administratively, it comprises theCharlevoix andCharlevoix-Estregional county municipalities within the largerCapitale-Nationaleadministrative region.
The region was named afterPierre François-Xavier de Charlevoix, aFrenchJesuit explorer and historian who travelled through the area in the 18th century. The community ofLa Malbaie was known as the first resort area in Canada. As early as 1760, Scottish noblemen Malcolm Fraser and John Nairne hosted visitors at their manors.[citation needed] For much of its history, Charlevoix was home to a thrivingsummer colony of wealthy Americans, including PresidentWilliam Howard Taft.[2]
From an administrative point of view, the "Charlevoix region" does not exist in itself, but is rather made up of theregional county municipalities ofCharlevoix-Est andCharlevoix.
Features of note include:
The topography of this region was dramatically altered by ameteorite impact that occurred 350 million years ago creating theCharlevoix impact structure:
The impact created the forty-mile-wide crater that is the heart of Quebec's Charlevoix region, ranging from just west of Baie-Saint-Paul to just east of La Malbaie. Today, the area inside the crater is home to 90 percent of Charlevoix residents and is a very pastoral setting by comparison to what it could have been.[3]
This area was subsequently reshaped byglaciation during thelast ice age.
There have been several majorearthquakes in the region in recorded history:
Situated some 80 km (50 mi) east of Quebec City, Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve borders the Saint Lawrence River to the south.[4] Extending from 5 m (16 ft) to 1,150 m (3,770 ft) above sea level, the area comprises agricultural areas, river ecosystems,estuarinetidal marshes and flats, coniferous and mixed forests, stunted vegetation (krummholz) andmountain tundra ecosystems.[4]
Maple forests including paper birch (Betula papyriferae), alder (Alnus spp.) and elm (Ulmus spp.) and with an understory of sumac (Rhus typhina),Acer pensylvanicum andCornus alternifolia; mixed fir (Abies sp.) forest withCorylus cornuta,Sambucus pubens andTaxus canadensis;boreal forests up to an altitude of 300 metres with fir and spruce (Picea spp.); estuarine tidal marsh and flats dominated byScirpus americanus meadows includingZizania palustris,Sagittaria cuneata andS. latifolia; tundra withericaceous zones consisting ofKalmia spp.,Ledum groenlandicum; stunted vegetation community (krummholz) withPicea mariana andAbies balsamea; agro-ecosystems with cereals, fruits and legumes, and river ecosystems.[4]
Animal species in the area include beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), wolf (Canis lupus), boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou),North American cougar (Puma concolor couguar) and blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus).[4]
About 30,000 people live in the biosphere reserve (1988), which covers 157,000 hectares (390,000 acres). In former times, the population of Charlevoix used to rely on the river and the sea, for example on coastal navigation, marine constructions and fisheries (e.g. beluga, eel).[4]
Today, the economic landscape has diversified and major factors in the local economy are now forestry, silica mining, agriculture and tourism.[4] The forest education centre ‘Les Palissades’ or the ecological centre ‘Port-au-Saumon’ are important institutions for environmental education in the area.[4]
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Quebec Route 138 is the major highway through the region, which closely follows the shoreline of theSaint Lawrence River. BetweenBaie-Saint-Paul andLa Malbaie, the highway turns inland withQuebec Route 362 serving the riverside communities ofLes Éboulements andSaint-Irénée.
TheTrain de Charlevoix, atourist rail service, linked the coastal communities of Charlevoix toQuebec City, from 2008 to 2024.[5]
Charlevoix Airport is a small regional airport serving the region.
This article incorporates text from afree content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken fromCharlevoix Biosphere Reserve, UNESCO.
