Montérégie () is an administrative

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in the southwest part of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay,

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie, Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the South Shore (Montreal), south shore o ...

Saint-Hyacinthe Saint-Hyacinthe ( , ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie regi ...

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal, located roughly halfway between Montreal and the Canada–United States border with the state of Vermont. It is sit ...

, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and

Vaudreuil-Dorion Vaudreuil-Dorion () is a suburb of Greater Montreal, in the Montérégie region of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The result of the merger of two towns, Vaudreuil and Dorion, it is located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. ...

. The region had a population of 1,507,070 as of the 2016 census and a land area of , giving it a population density of . With approximately 18.5% of the province's population, it is the second most populous region of Quebec after

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The majority of the population lives near the

Saint 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. Lawrenc ...

, on the south shore of

. Montérégie is known for its

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s, maple trees, panoramas, and the Monteregian mountains. The region is both urban (second in terms of population in Quebec) and

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

. The regional

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

is based on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and the production of

goods and services Goods are items that are usually (but not always) tangible, such as pens or Apple, apples. Services are activities provided by other people, such as teachers or barbers. Taken together, it is the Production (economics), production, distributio ...

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

also makes up a significant portion of the economy.

History

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 ...

named Mont Royal in October 1535.

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

built several forts to protect the Settler, colonists against the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

from south of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, and against the English, who were colonizing

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

to the southeast. The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

comes from the Latinized form of Mount Royal, ''mons regius''. Montérégie is named for the Monteregian Hills, which are, in turn, named for ''Mont Royal'' (English:

Mount Royal Mount Royal (, ) is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city's name is derived from the mountain's name. The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentian M ...

). The term for naming the set of hills in the St. Lawrence Plain was originally created in 1903 in English by geologist Frank Dawson Adams to designate a new petrographic province. Mount Royal on

Montreal Island The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...

, although outside the Montérégie region, is one of the Monteregian Hills. In addition to Mount Royal, two other Montérégie hills are not located in Montérégie: Mount Mégantic, in

Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...

, and the hills of Oka, in the Lower Laurentians. Montérégie was populated by the St. Lawrence Iroquoian people when the French began to colonize here in the early 16th century. Later colonists found their villages abandoned, and the area controlled as hunting grounds by the nations of the Iroquoian Confederacy based south of the

. Some of the later battles among the European-Canadians that decided the destiny of

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 ...

took place in Montérégie. For instance, in the 1830s, ethnic French patriots rebelled against

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

troops. The

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

(also called a United Canada ( French: ''Canada-Uni'')) was formed through the Union Act in 1840 and February 1841, from the former provinces of

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

and

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. Originally, the administrative territory of the Montérégie

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es were taken from the territory of the canonical Diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil.

Subregions

The Montérégie has three administrative subregions, each consisting of its own regional county municipalities (RCM) or equivalent territories. The territorial administration of the region was conducted by three regional conferences of elected officers () (CRE) separate and independent in their territory: *

, * Montérégie-Est (eastern RCMs) and * Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent (western RCMs). Each sub-region was organized in the same way as other administrative regions of Quebec.

Regional county municipalities

There are 12 regional county municipalities and one equivalent territory in Montérégie. In 2021, Brome-Missisquoi and La Haute-Yamaska transferred to

Montérégie-Est

As of 2021, there are seven RCMs in Montérégie Est. Its seat is McMasterville, and the president is Arthur Fauteux. Its territory occupies and there are 656,287 inhabitants, with a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of .

Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent

There are five RCMs in Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent. Its seat is Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, and its president is Yves Daoust. Its territory occupies and there are 435,436 inhabitants, with a population density of .

Equivalent territory

Native Reserves

The population of both of these reserves are majority- Mohawk, one of the historic Five Nations of the ''Haudenosaunee'', or Iroquois League. Kahnawake was established south of Montreal in 1719 as a mission village.

Akwesasne The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( ; ; ) is a Mohawk Nation (''Kanienʼkehá:ka'') territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) borders and provincial (Ontario and Quebec) boundaries on both banks of the St ...

was established upriver by Mohawk leaders and their families in the mid-18th century, accompanied by French

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

. Akwesasne spans the boundaries of Canada and the United States, extending across the St. Lawrence River into

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, where it is referred to as the St. Regis Reservation. *

* Kahnawake

Major communities

* Beloeil * Boucherville * Brossard * Candiac * Chambly * Châteauguay * La Prairie

* Mont-Saint-Hilaire * Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville * Saint-Constant *

* Saint-Lambert

* Saint-Lazare * Sainte-Catherine * Sainte-Julie * Salaberry-de-Valleyfield *

Sorel-Tracy Sorel-Tracy (; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Champlain Valley. It is located at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre, down ...

* Varennes *

References

External links

Portail régional de la Montérégie
Official website
Site officiel de la CRÉ de Longueuil

Site officiel de la CRÉ de la Montérégie-Est

Site officiel de la CRÉ de la Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent

Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de la Montérégie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monteregie Administrative regions of Quebec