Kuujjuaq
| Kuujjuaq | |||
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| Location in Quebec | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Province : | Quebec | ||
| Administrative region : | North du Quebec | ||
| MRC or equivalent : | Nunavik | ||
| Coordinates : | 58 ° 9 ′ N , 68 ° 18 ′ W | ||
| Residents : | 2400 (as of 2015) | ||
| Time zone : | Eastern Time ( UTC − 5 ) | ||
| Postal code : | J0M 1C0 | ||
| Mayor : | Larry Watt | ||
| Website : | www.nvkuujjuaq.ca | ||
Kuujjuaq , "Great River" on Inuktitut , is the largest Inuit settlement in the Nunavik region , administrative region of North du Québec , with around 2,100 inhabitants . The place is located on the west bank of the Rivière Koksoak , about 50 kilometers above its confluence with Ungava Bay , and has been the regional administrative center since 1975. All major regional organizations have their headquarters here, according to Makivik , the Kativik Regional Government, the Council for Regional Kativik Development ("Katutjiniq" in Inuktitut), the Regional Administration for Health and Social Services in Nunavik and the Nunavik Research Center.
The former name of the settlement Kuujjuaq was Fort Chimo , whereby this word is also derived from Inuktitut: saimuuq , "Peace be upon you!"
The Moravian missionaries Benjamin Kohlmeister and George Knoch were the first Europeans to come here in 1811. In 1830 the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) began the fur trade with the Inuit resident here, but also with Montagnais and Naskapi, who soon appeared here. They built a trading post about 5 kilometers below today's settlement on the east bank of the Rivière Koksoak, which they closed again in 1842, but reopened in 1866. During the Second World War, the US armed forces maintained an air force base ("Crystal 1") at the current location of the settlement from 1941 to 1945 and handed it over to the Canadian federal government after the war. In 1948, a Roman Catholic missionary station was finally established here, and a health station, a school and a weather station soon followed. When the HBC moved its activities near the runways in 1958, the Inuit families who lived near the former Fort Chimo on the other side of the river also moved here. In 1961 the Inuit founded a cooperative so as not to be completely dependent on the HBC.
After the signing of the agreement between the Baie James and North Quebec, which is important for the development of the country, in 1975, Kuujjuaq became the administrative center of Nunavik. With its two well-developed runways, Kuujjuaq is now an important stopover for flights to Nunavut and the starting point for regional flights to the other settlements in Nunavik.