Val d'Or

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Val d'Or
Ville de Val-d'or.jpg
Location in Quebec
Val-d'Or (Québec)
Val d'Or
Val d'Or
State : CanadaCanada Canada
Province : Quebec
Administrative region : Abitibi-Témiscamingue
MRC or equivalent : La Vallée-de-l'Or
Coordinates : 48 ° 6 ′  N , 77 ° 47 ′  W Coordinates: 48 ° 6 ′  N , 77 ° 47 ′  W
Height : 301  m
Area : 3 551.79  km²
Residents : 31,862 (as of 2011)
Population density : 9 inhabitants / km²
Time zone : Eastern Time ( UTC − 5 )
Municipality number: 89008
Postal code : J9X, J9Y
Mayor : Fernand Trahan
Website : www.ville.valdor.qc.ca
Located in the MRC La Vallée-de-l'Or
Located in the MRC La Vallée-de-l'Or

Val-d'Or is a city in the western part of the Canadian province of Quebec . It is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue administrative region , about 530 km northwest of Montreal . The administrative seat of the regional county municipality (municipalité régionale du comté) La Vallée-de-l'Or has an area of ​​3551.79 km² and has 31,862 inhabitants (2011).

geography

The name of the city translates as "gold valley", but Val-d'Or lies on a spacious, slightly undulating plain of the Canadian shield . The city center is bordered by three lakes to the west and north, Lac Lemoine , Lac De Montigny and Lac Blouin . All three belong to the catchment area of ​​the Rivière Harricana , which flows north to James Bay . The eastern part of the predominantly forested urban area belongs to the catchment area of ​​the Rivière Bell , the southern part with the Réservoir Decelles to that of the Ottawa . The Réserve écologique des Caribous-de-Jourdan is an important protected area .

Neighboring parishes are La Corne and Barraute in the north, Belcourt and the parish of Senneterre , the city of Senneterre in the east, Lac-Metei , Réservoir-Dozois and Lac-Granet in the south-east, Les Lacs-du-Témiscamingue in the south, Rouyn-Noranda , Rivière- Héva and Malartic in the west and La Motte in the northwest. In the eastern part of the urban area is the 3.2 km² enclave Lac-Simon , an Indian reserve of the Algonquin .

history

City center of Val-d'Or

In the previously largely untouched area, which was only inhabited by a few Algonquians , prospectors began to carry out detailed geological explorations at the beginning of the 20th century, as they suspected rich deposits of mineral resources here. In 1911 gold was found at Lac De Montigny , whereupon the Sullivan Consolidated company put the first mine into operation. Other mining companies followed suit. When the United States devalued the dollar in 1934 by increasing the price of gold, this led to a boom in gold mining in western Québec. The small mining settlement of Val-d'Or grew so rapidly that it was declared a municipality in 1935 and only two years later it received city status. In 1954, the Canadian Armed Forces established an air force base that was in operation until the mid-1970s. The municipalities of Bourlamarque and Lac-Lemoine merged with Val-d'Or in 1968. In 2002, Sullivan, Dubuisson, Val-Senneville and Vassan also merged with Val-d'Or.

population

According to the 2011 census, Val-d'Or had 31,862 inhabitants, which corresponds to a population density of 9.0 inh / km². 94.3% of the population stated French as their main language, the share of English was 2.9%. 0.7% said they were bilingual (French and English), other languages ​​and multiple answers accounted for 2.1%. Only French spoke 67.4%. In 2001, 94.4% of the population were Roman Catholic , 1.9% Protestant and 3.2% non-denominational.

Transport and economy

Val-d'Or is on route 117 ; this national main road connects Montreal with Rouyn-Noranda . The route 113 leading towards Chibougamau , the route 111 according to Amos . The city can be reached by long-distance bus lines , while the Senneterre –Val-d'Or – Rouyn-Noranda line of the Canadian National Railway is reserved for freight traffic. Five kilometers south of the city center is a regional airport, where the airline Air Creebec has its headquarters.

Gold is still mined in the area, but the mining of base metals such as copper , zinc and lead has become much more important. Tourism is also important: the Cité de l'Or theme park in a disused mine explains the history of gold mining, while the miners' daily life is presented in the listed mining settlement of Bourlamarque.

education

The Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue , based in Rouyn-Noranda , which is part of the network of the state Université du Québec , has a second campus in Val-d'Or.

Sports

The city's best- known sports team is the Foreurs de Val-d'Or ice hockey team in the Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec ; the home games are played in the Center Air Creebec , which can accommodate up to 3,500 spectators.

Personalities

photos

  • Opencast mine near Val-d'Or

  • Center Air Creebec

  • Val-d'Or airport

  • Bourlamarque miners' settlement

literature

  • Denys Chabot, Jean L'Houmeau, Jean Robitaille: Histoire de Val-d'Or: des origines à 1995 . Ed .: Société d'histoire de Val-d'Or. Val-d'Or 1995, ISBN 2-9804719-0-9 ( online ).
Fiction
  • Jocelyne Saucier : Les heritiers de la mine. Bibliothèque Québecoise, XYZ, 2000 etc. (Family novel, related to mining )
    • Übers. Sonja Finck , Frank Weigand: Never without them. Insel Verlag , 2019
    • Translator Rhonda Mullins: 21 Cardinals. Coach House, 2015

Web links

Commons : Val-d'Or  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Val d'Or. Commission de toponymie du Québec, accessed February 3, 2014 (French).
  2. ↑ Population profile of the commune of Val-d'Or. In: 2011 Census. Statistics Canada , 2011, accessed February 3, 2014 (French).
  3. ↑ Population profile of the commune of Val-d'Or. In: 2001 Census. Statistics Canada , 2001, accessed February 3, 2014 (French).