Rigolet Tikigâksuagusik[1] | |
|---|---|
Inuit community | |
 | |
  Rigolet Rigolet (Canada) Show map of Canada | |
| Coordinates:54°10′47″N58°25′44″W / 54.17972°N 58.42889°W /54.17972; -58.42889 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Region | Nunatsiavut |
| Settled | 1735 |
| Incorporated | 1977 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (AngajukKâk) | Charlotte Wolfrey |
| • Federal MP | Yvonne Jones(L) |
| • Provincial MHA | Lela Evans(PC)[2] |
| • Nunatsiavut Assembly members | Melva Williams[3] |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 327 |
| Time zone | UTC−04:00 (AST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−03:00 (ADT) |
| Area code | 709 |
Rigolet (Inuttitut:Tikigâksuagusik) (population 327) is a remote, coastalLabrador community established in 1735 by French-Canadian traderLouis Fornel. The town is the southernmost officially recognizedInuit community in the world.[4] Located onHamilton Inlet, which is at the entrance to fresh waterLake Melville; Rigolet is on salt water and is accessible to navigation during the winter. Although there is no road access, the community is accessible by snowmobile trail, theRigolet Airport, or seasonally via a coastal ferry (MV Kamutik W) fromHappy Valley-Goose Bay.[5][6]
TheHudson's Bay Company established its trading post in Rigolet in 1836. The Hudson's Bay Company remained an active part of the community until 1987 when it was bought by the North West Company and was renamed the "Northern Store".[7]
Rigolet is part of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims area and is overseen by theNunatsiavut government.[8] Approximately 5% of Rigolet's population is non Inuit.
Although there are stillconiferous trees surrounding the village, a few kilometres northeast into Hamilton Inlet, the terrain changes drastically to a sub-arctictundra.Minke andhumpback whales are commonly observed in nearby waters.
InJohn Wyndham's post-apocalyptic novelThe Chrysalids, set at an unspecified future date, Rigolet has become the town of Rigo and the capital of Labrador (which is one of the few habitable areas left in North America).[9]
Rigolet is home to the longestboardwalk inNorth America. Rigolet's boardwalk stretches over 8 km, from Rigolet to Double Mer Point. The first phase of the boardwalk was completed in 1997 and the last extension of the boardwalk was completed in 2015.[10]
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Rigolet had a population of327 living in125 of its134 total private dwellings, a change of7.2% from its 2016 population of305.[11] With a land area of 5.27 km2 (2.03 sq mi), it had a population density of62.0/km2 (160.7/sq mi) in 2021.[12]
