L'Anse-au-Loup (

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

) is located on the banks of L'Anse-au-Loup Brook and the

Strait of Belle Isle The Strait of Belle Isle ( ; ) is a waterway in eastern Canada, that separates Labrador from the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Location The strait is located in the southeast of the ...

, in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

province,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

History

In Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, on the north shore of the Strait of Belle Isle,

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

sites leads geologists and

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

to date the presence of humans around 9,000 years ago, i.e. after the retreat of the ice from the last

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

. After the glaciation,

was perhaps the last place to be populated by human groups. Small spear or dart points from

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

are very similar to early artifacts found on the north shore of the

. Archaeologists do not believe in coincidence, they rather put forward the thesis that the first Labradorians crossed the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

, travel East along the Lower North Shore, until arriving in Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, to end up settling there. So, the coasts of the Strait of Belle Isle, like those of Labrador, of which it is a part, have been populated for a very long time. Labrador is said to be the Markland of the Viking sagas, which probably describes the silver beaches of Groswater Bay. Long before the explorations of

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

fishermen hunted

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

on the northeast coast of the Strait of Belle-Île, in Red Bay. Located on the banks of L'Anse-au-Loup Brook and the Strait of Belle Isle, along the

Trans-Labrador Highway The Trans-Labrador Highway (TLH) is the primary public road in Labrador, the mainland portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The highway's total length is . The paving of the entire highway was completed in July 2022. The ...

(Route 510), the town of l'Anse-au-Loup is an integral part of the heroic and action-rich history of the Labrador fishery, the whaling and cod fishing industry, the disputes between the governments of Quebec, as well as the establishment of permanent communities. Rooted between

Forteau Forteau is a town in southern Labrador, an area of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The town had a population of 377 as of the Canada 2021 Census. The town is located along Route 510 in Labrador, between L'Anse-au-Clair and L ...

and

L'Anse-au-Diable L'Anse-au-Diable was a small settlement located south west of Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.https://toponymes.rncan.gc.ca/recherche-de-noms-de-lieux/unique?id=AALXN References See also * List of ghost towns in Newfoundland and Labrador ...

, the town was incorporated in 1975, the first mayor was Reginald O'Brien Sr.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, L'Anse au Loup had a population of residing in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

History

Demographics

See also

References

Further reading