Central Labrador is the most populous region of Labrador, Canada, that extends from the shores of

Lake Melville Lake Melville is an estuary of Hamilton Inlet (itself an extension of Groswater Bay) on the Labrador coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Comprising and stretching inland to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, it forms part of the l ...

into the interior. It is also home to Happy Valley – Goose Bay, the largest community in Labrador.

Geography

It contains the Churchill River, the largest river in Labrador and one of the largest in Canada. The hydroelectric dam at Churchill Falls is the second largest underground power station in the world, but most of the supply is bought by

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Canadian province of Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeast United States. It was established by the ...

under a long-term contract. The Lower Churchill Project will develop the remaining potential of the river and supply it to provincial consumers.

Cities

Known as "the heart of the Big Land", the area's population comprises people from all groups and regions of Labrador. Central Labrador is also home to Happy Valley – Goose Bay, the largest community in Labrador. Once a refueling point for plane convoys to Europe in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, CFB Goose Bay is now a NATO low-level tactical flight training site. CFB Goose Bay saw a reduction of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

low-level tactical flight training in the decade 1996–2005, and the town faced an uncertain future as the federal government reduced the number of permanent

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

personnel to fewer than 100 all-ranks. The last NATO nations to use CFB Goose Bay for flight training,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, did not renew their leases after terminating in early 2006. The runway at Happy Valley-Goose Bay was also an alternative, but unused, landing site for the now-decommissioned

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

, because of its size and length.

Transportation

Central Labrador can be accessed by the highways 389 and 500 leading from

Baie Comeau Baie-Comeau (; 2021 city population 20,687; CA population 26,643) is a city located approximately north-east of Quebec City in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River nea ...

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 ...

into areas in West Labrador, such as Labrador City and Churchill Falls. Air access is provided by

Air Canada Jazz The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

Provincial Airlines Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

from St. John's, Deer Lake, Halifax, or Montreal. Central Labrador is connected by the Trans-Labrador Highway with Labrador City and

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau (; 2021 city population 20,687; CA population 26,643) is a city located approximately north-east of Quebec City in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River nea ...

in Quebec. The road was extended south to link with an existing road from the Blanc Sablon-St Barbe ferry. It opened in December 2009.

References

Geography of Newfoundland and Labrador Labrador {{Labrador-geo-stub

Geography

Cities

Transportation

See also

References