The Mingan Archipelago is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

located east of

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. It consists of a chain of about 40

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s. Starting but 124 miles from the end of the

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

along the north shore of the

St. 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, connecting ...

(Le Fleuve), the

Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve The Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve (french: Réserve de parc national de l'Archipel-de-Mingan) is a national park reserve located in the eastern area of Quebec, Canada, on the north shore of Gulf of St. Lawrence. It features the Mingan ...

of Canada spreads about 109 miles eastward as it dots the coastline with over 2,000 islands and islets. To the southwest a 9 to 10 hour drive away lies

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

. Due south across a 12-mile channel is

Anticosti Island ; moe, Notiskuan; mic, Natigostec , sobriquet = , image_name = RiviereHuileAnticosti.jpg , image_caption = Salmon fisherman on Rivière à l'Huile , image_map ...

and below Anticosti another 25 miles is the eastern tip of the Gaspe Peninsula. To the east is a roadless coastline all the way to

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...

. To the north are

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

, lakes, bog and rock. In late June it is still Spring. Politically, most of the islands lie in the town of

Havre-Saint-Pierre Havre-Saint-Pierre is a town on Pointe-aux-Esquimaux, which is on the Quebec north shore (Côte-Nord) of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. Located along Route 138 some east of Sept-Îles, it is the largest town and seat of the Minganie RCM, ...

, but the westernmost of the chain lie in the municipality of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan. Includes ''Île Niapiskau'' and its limestone

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often ma ...

References

External links

Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada
Archipelagoes of the Atlantic Ocean Landforms of Côte-Nord River islands of Quebec Islands of the Saint Lawrence River Archipelagoes of Canada {{Quebec-geo-stub