The original settled indigenous peoples were of theDorset culture, and the area was visited by the Vikings, as their settlement atL'Anse aux Meadows was only 46 km away. By the sixteenth century the area was occupied by theBeothuk.
When the French settled the northern peninsula ("The French Shore") of Newfoundland they established several fishing stations including Great Brehat. The people were fromBrittany and named their village afteran island off the Brittany coast.[2] The exact date of the French settlement is not known. In 1713, with theTreaty of Utrecht, the French ceded the peninsula to Great Britain. Until the decline of the fishery in the 20th century, the primary catch wascod for export.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a co-operative store was opened in the village with the assistance of the medical missionary SirWilfred Grenfell.[2] The first road linking the coastal communities of the area was completed in 1971,[2] with Great Brehat being the northern terminus.
Great Brehat is inNewfoundland withinSubdivision D ofDivision No. 9.[3] Great Brehat is located on a small bay, Great Brehat Bay, on the eastern side of the Great Northern Peninsula. Flat Point Lookout is located at the northern end of the bay. Brehat Point forms the southern boundary of the bay. The blackshales in the area may yield precious metals.[4]
As a designated place in the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Great Brehat recorded a population of 78. With a land area of 0.8 km2 (0.31 sq mi), it had a population density of110.0/km2 (284.9/sq mi) in 2016.[5]
Great Brehat is a local service district (LSD)[6] that is governed by a committee responsible for the provision of certain services to the community.[7] The chair of the LSD committee is Ryan Cull.[6]
Canada
Newfoundland and Labrador
