Lanaudière (, ) is one of the seventeen administrative

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. It has a total population ( 2016 Census) of 494,796 inhabitants, an increase of 4.9% over the 2011 census.

Geography

The region of Lanaudière is part of central Quebec and is located between the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

and the

Laurentian Mountains The Laurentian Mountains ( French: ''Laurentides'') are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of at Mont Raoul Blanchard, northeast of Quebec City in the Laurentid ...

, between Mauricie and the

Laurentides The Laurentides () is a region of Quebec. While it is often called the Laurentians in English, the region includes only part of the Laurentian mountains. It has a total land area of and its population was 589,400 inhabitants as of the 2016 Cens ...

. Lanaudière attracts a good deal of interest from vacationers due to its unique character founded largely on the harmony between its culture and the surrounding natural environment. Lanaudière's area of stretch northwest from a shoreline of on the Saint Lawrence River. Lanaudière is generally rural, while the urban areas are generally concentrated in the south of the region, such as Repentigny,

Terrebonne Terrebonne, meaning ''good earth'' in French, is a name of several places in North America: ;Canada *Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal ** Terrebonne station, a commuter railway station in Terrebonne, Quebec **Terrebonne City Council, the go ...

and

Berthierville Berthierville ()(also called Berthier-en-haut, and legally called Berthier before 1942) is a town located between Montreal and Trois-Rivières on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Berthierville is the seat of D'Autray ...

. The altitude rises as one goes northwards; it is near the Saint Lawrence River to almost at the top of mountains near Saint-Donat and Saint-Zénon. Lanaudière is made up of three distinct geographical groupings: the southern plain has cities and farming villages and includes many historical locations; the

piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in the centre has become a vacation spot due to its numerous lakes and natural attractions, and the

Laurentian Plateau 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 ...

in the far north in the forested country is known for its fishing and hiking. The three main ports of entry for Lanaudière are all in the south: Terrebonne, Repentigny and Berthierville. Lanaudière's road network was developed according to three north-south axes (25-125, 31-131, 347), all of which have few links with the neighbouring regions. Even though this internal network is almost exclusively composed of secondary roads, it is well-designed for long automobile trips or for biking. Lanaudière has two wildlife preserves, the Rouge-Matawin and the Mastigouche, as well as part of the

Mont Tremblant Mont may refer to: Places * Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state * Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium * Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France * Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France * Mont, ...

park. Further to the north, about an hour away from

Saint-Michel-des-Saints Saint-Michel-des-Saints is a municipality in the Matawinie Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. Agriculture, forestry, recreation, and tourism have been the main activities found within this region. History In 1863, Thomas-Léandre B ...

, there is the Atikamekw

indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

of Manawan.

History

The region of Lanaudière owes its name to history - it perpetuates the memory of Marie-Charlotte de Lanaudière, daughter of the lord of Lavaltrie and wife of the businessman

Barthélemy Joliette Barthélemy Joliette (September 9, 1789 – June 21, 1850) was a notary, businessman, seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada and Canada East. He was a descendant of Louis Jolliet. Early years He was born Barthélemy Jolliet in the ...

, descendant of the famous explorer

Louis Jolliet Louis Jolliet (September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore an ...

. The name ''Lanaudière'' evokes the lineage of the lords De Lanaudière who contributed, over seven generations, to the defence and the development of the French colonies in America, of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and of the region.

Administrative divisions

Regional county municipalities

Nation Atikamekw

* Manawan

School districts

The 10 French-language districts have service by the two

school service centre The school service centre (french: centre de services scolaire) is the model of public french school self-governance, which replaced school boards in 2020, in the province of Québec (Canada), appointed by the Ministry of Education. Autonomy Each ...

s of the region and two districts by centres of

: * Commission scolaire des Affluents; (

L'Assomption L'Assomption () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the L'Assomption River. It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of L'Assomption. It is located on the outer fringes of the Montreal urban area. ...

, Les Moulins (exepte a district part of

served by

Commission scolaire de la Seigneurie-des-Mille-Îles The Commission scolaire de la Seigneurie-des-Mille-Îles (CSSMI) is a former francophone school district in the Canadian province of Quebec. It comprises several primary schools and high schools across municipalities in the Laurentides region. The ...

)) *

Commission scolaire des Samares The Centre de services scolaire des Samares is a francophone school district headquartered in Saint-Félix-de-Valois, in the Canadian province of Quebec.

( D'Autray, Montcalm, Joliette et Matawinie (except the district of Saint-Donat served by Centre de services scolaire des Laurentides)).

Major communities

* Joliette *

L'Épiphanie L'Épiphanie () is a town in Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada, located on the bank of the L'Achigan river. It has nearly 9,000 inhabitants and was 150 years old in 2004. On May 23, 2018, the town was greatly enlarged when the Parish Municipality of ...

* Lavaltrie *

Mascouche Mascouche () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southern Quebec, Canada. The city is located on the Mascouche River within the Les Moulins Regional County Municipality and has a population of 51,183, ranking 20th among Quebec municipaliti ...

Notre-Dame-des-Prairies Notre-Dame-des-Prairies is a town in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Joliette Regional County Municipality. It is a suburb of Joliette, located along the eastern shores of the L'Assomption River. History In 1950, the Parish ...

* Rawdon

* Repentigny * Saint-Calixte *

Saint-Charles-Borromée Saint-Charles-Borromée, Quebec ( 2021 Population 15,285) is a city in southwest-central Quebec, Canada, on the l'Assomption River. In Joliette Regional County Municipality, Saint-Charles-Borromée has the Maison Antoine-Lacombe, a heritage hom ...

* Saint-Félix-de-Valois * Saint-Lin-Laurentides * Sainte-Julienne *

References

External links

Portail régional de Lanaudière
Official website
CRÉ

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