cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...
. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands, and bays; the region was designated a WorldBiosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1989. Administratively, it comprises the Charlevoix and
Charlevoix-Est
Charlevoix-Est is a regional county municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Clermont.
Subdivisions
There are 9 subdivisions within the RCM:
;Cities & Towns (2)
* Clermont
* La Malbaie
;Municipalities ...
administrative region
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
explorer and historian who travelled through the area in the 18th century. The community of La Malbaie was known as the first resort area in Canada. As early as 1760, Scottish noblemen Malcolm Fraser and John Nairn hosted visitors at their manors. For much of its history, Charlevoix was home to a thriving
summer colony
The term summer colony is often used, particularly in the United States, to describe well-known resorts and upper-class enclaves, typically located near the ocean or mountains of New England or the Great Lakes. In Canada, the term cottage countr ...
From an administrative point of view, the "Charlevoix region" does not exist in itself, but is rather made up of the regional county municipalities of
Charlevoix-Est
Charlevoix-Est is a regional county municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Clermont.
Subdivisions
There are 9 subdivisions within the RCM:
;Cities & Towns (2)
* Clermont
* La Malbaie
;Municipalities ...
Manoir Richelieu
The Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu is a historic hotel operated by Fairmont Hotels in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada. The hotel was first built in 1899 but then burned down in 1928. The hotel was rebuilt in 1929 in the Châteauesque style, designed by ...
and the
Casino de Charlevoix
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
Commission scolaire de Charlevoix
Commission or commissioning may refer to:
Business and contracting
* Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered
** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anothe ...
* the Museum of Charlevoix
Natural history
The topography of this region was dramatically altered by a
meteorite
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...
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.
This area was subsequently reshaped by glaciation during the last ice age.
There have been several major earthquakes in the region in recorded history:
*on February 5, 1663, centred south of La Malbaie. See
1663 Charlevoix earthquake
The 1663 Charlevoix earthquake occurred on February 5 in New France (now the Canadian province of Quebec), and was assessed to have a moment magnitude of between 7.3 and 7.9. The earthquake occurred at 5:30 p.m. local time and was estimated ...
.
*on December 6, 1791, centred near Baie-Saint-Paul
*on October 17, 1860, centred under the Saint Lawrence River
*on October 20, 1870, centred near Baie-Saint-Paul. See
1870 Charlevoix earthquake
The 1870 Charlevoix earthquake occurred on 20 October in the Canadian province of Quebec. It had a moment magnitude of 6.6 and a Modified Mercalli intensity rating of X (''Extreme''). The town of Baie-Saint-Paul was seriously damaged by the ev ...
*on February 28, 1925, centred under the Saint Lawrence River. See
1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake
The 1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake struck northeastern North America on February 28, reaching 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale. It was one of the most powerful measured in Canada in the 20th century, with a maximum perceived intensity o ...
.
Ecological characteristics
Situated some 80 km east of Quebec City, Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve borders the Saint Lawrence River to the south. Extending from 5 to 1,150 metres above sea level, the area comprises agricultural areas, river ecosystems,
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
Acer pensylvanicum
''Acer pensylvanicum'', known as the striped maple, moosewood, moose maple or goosefoot maple, is a small North American species of maple. The striped maple is a sequential hermaphrodite, meaning that it can change its sex throughout its lifetime ...
Sambucus pubens
''Sambucus pubens'', the American red elder, is a species of elder (''Sambucus'') native to eastern North America. The inflorescence is a rounded panicle, making the plant easy to distinguish from the more common '' S. canadensis'', which has a ...
Scirpus americanus
''Schoenoplectus americanus'' ( syn. ''Scirpus americanus'') is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names chairmaker's bulrush and Olney's three-square bulrush. It is native to the Americas, where it is known fro ...
Sagittaria cuneata
''Sagittaria cuneata'' is a species of flowering plant in the water plantain family known by the common name arumleaf arrowhead or duck potato. Like some other ''Sagittaria'' species, it may be called wapato. It is native to much of North Americ ...
'' and ''
S. latifolia
S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet.
S may also refer to:
History
* an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics
* Long s (Å¿), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where " ...
Kalmia spp.
''Kalmia'' is a genus of about ten species of evergreen shrubs from 0.2–5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae. They are native to North America (mainly in the eastern half of the continent) and Cuba. They grow in acidic soils, with different ...
'', ''
Ledum groenlandicum
''Rhododendron groenlandicum'' (bog Labrador tea, muskeg tea, swamp tea, or in northern Canada, Hudson's Bay tea; formerly ''Ledum groenlandicum'' or ''Ledum latifolium'') is a flowering shrub with white flowers and evergreen leaves that is used ...
''; stunted vegetation community (krummholz) with '' Picea mariana'' and '' Abies balsamea''; agro-ecosystems with cereals, fruits and legumes, and river ecosystems.
Animal species in the area include beluga whale (''
Delphinapterus leucas
The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the whi ...
Balaenoptera musculus
''Balaenoptera'' () is a genus of rorquals containing eight extant species. ''Balaenoptera'' comprises all but two of the extant species in its family (the humpback whale and gray whale); the genus is currently polyphyletic, with the two afor ...
'').
Socio-economic characteristics
About 30,000 people live in the biosphere reserve (1988), which covers 457,000 hectares. 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).
Today, the economic landscape has diversified and major factors in the local economy are now forestry, silica mining, agriculture and tourism. The forest education centre ‘Les Palissades’ or the ecological centre ‘Port-au-Saumon’ are important institutions for environmental education in the area.
Quebec Route 362
Route 362 is a scenic 50 km two-lane highway which follows the Saint Lawrence River in the Charlevoix region in Quebec, Canada. It starts at the junction of Route 138 in Baie-Saint-Paul and ends again at the junction of Route 138 in L ...
serving the riverside communities of
Les Éboulements
Les Éboulements is a municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada.
Its population centres include Les Éboulements (located along Route 362 on the plateau overlooking the Saint Lawrence River), Éboulements-Est (at the fe ...
Train de Charlevoix
The Train de Charlevoix is a tourist rail service between Beauport (Chutes Montmorency) and La Malbaie, Quebec, with an additional stop in Baie-Saint-Paul and in the winter at the Le Massif ski area, a distance of about . It is owned and oper ...