Matane is a town on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Matane River. The town is the seat for the La Matanie Regional County Municipality. In addition to Matane itself, the town's territory also includes the communities of Petit-Matane and Saint-Luc-de-Matane. There is a ferry service which crosses the river to Baie-Comeau and

Godbout Godbout is a village municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the mouth of the Godbout River on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Godbout is accessible via Quebec Route 138 and by ferry from Matan ...

on the north shore as well as a rail ferry service to Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles.

Etymology

The name Matane was first assigned to the river by

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

as "''Mantanne''" in 1603. Its meaning is open to different interpretations, with the most common one being that it comes from the Mi'kmaq word ''mtctan'' meaning "beaver pond", since the region had an abundant beaver population. It could also be a

Maliseet The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory ...

word for "spinal cord", referring to the course of the Matane River; or from the word ''Mattawa''/''Matawin'', meaning "meeting of the waters". Finally, it could be an abbreviation of the word ''matandipives'', meaning "shipwreck".

History

In 1603,

visited the area and considered the location as "pleasant enough". In 1616 merchants known as the Rochelais from La Rochelle were the first Europeans to spend the winter. Matane was used as a trading post for the Rochelais who were exchanging European goods for furs with the

Mi'kmaq people The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's ...

. In 1672, the land on both sides of the Matane River was granted as a seignory to Mathieu D'Amours, which led to the first settlements shortly after. The

lived there until 1845. In 1845, the place was first incorporated as the Municipality of Matane, but dissolved two years later. In 1855, it was reestablished as the Parish Municipality of Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane, named after the local parish. In 1893, the main population centre at the mouth of the Matane River separated from the parish municipality and was incorporated as the Village Municipality of Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane, which changed status and name to City of Matane in 1937 when city status was granted. After

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Matane merchants decided to strengthen their economic and maritime bonds with the North side of the Saint Lawrence River. They ran a service of a regular ferry in 1962. In 1978 a train ferry system was in place. On September 26, 2001, the neighbouring municipalities of Petit-Matane, Saint-Luc-de-Matane, and Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane were amalgamated into the Town of Matane.

Tourism

Since Matane is the first step to Gaspé's tourist circuit it receives and accommodates many passing tourists. The old lighthouse of Matane was transformed into a tourist information centre with a panoramic view of its surroundings. The Matane River is known as the "River-School" in Quebec because so many people learn to fish there. The river itself is 101 km in length and is the only place in Quebec where you can fish in the town square. A number of people from Matane and the area are well known locally or internationally, including artist

Claude Picher Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

and

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

players such as Yves Racine. There are a number of art galleries in Matane that support local talent. In 2000 Matane was named East Quebec's industrial capital.

Districts

The town is divided in 4 districts that match the former municipalities before amalgamation in 2001: *District 1 - Matane *District 2 - Saint-Jérome-de-Matane *District 3 - Petit-Matane *District 4 - Saint-Luc-de-Matane

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; french: Statistique Canada), 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 ...

, Matane had a population of living 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. Population trend: * Population total in 2001: 14,948 ** Matane (''ville''): 11,635 ** Petit-Matane (municipality): 1365 ** Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane (parish municipality): 1154 ** Saint-Luc-de-Matane (municipality): 839 * Population in 1996: ** Matane (''ville''): 12,364 ** Petit-Matane (municipality): 1360 ** Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane (parish municipality): 1165 ** Saint-Luc-de-Matane (municipality): 899 Mother tongue: * English as first language: 0.5% * French as first language: 98.5% * English and French as first language: 0.4% * Other as first language: 0.5%

Industry

Matane has a diversified economy. The city is known for its shrimp, which are processed there: the

northern prawn ''Pandalus borealis'' is a species of caridean shrimp found in cold parts of the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans, although the latter population now often is regarded as a separate species, ''P. eous''. The Food and Agriculture Orga ...

(known locally as ''crevettes de Matane'') are renowned throughout the world for their high quality. Recent advances in wind power have also helped raise awareness of the region. Matane has the largest wind farm in Quebec in addition to having two windmill manufacturing plants: Marmen and Enercon. The city also has a Sappi factory in the field of pulp and paper (separated thermochemical pulp). There is also a

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...

product processing plant: ''Les Cuisines gaspésiennes'', which exports to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and China. Matane also has a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

and a large concrete pipe factory, Béton Provincial, and a sawmill. Matane was also home of the first Dollarama wich open in April 1992. The former Larry Rossy chain decided to transform its banner into Dollarama and, with the success of the Matane store, the management decided to change all the Larry Rossy banners into Dolloramas.https://www.dollarama.com/en-CA/corp/about-us

References

External links

* *

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec