Rimouski
| Rimouski | |||
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.svg) coat of arms |
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| Motto : Legi patrum fidelis | |||
| Location in Quebec | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Province : | Quebec | ||
| Administrative region : | Bas-Saint-Laurent | ||
| MRC or equivalent : | Rimouski-Neigette | ||
| Coordinates : | 48 ° 27 ′ N , 68 ° 32 ′ W | ||
| Height : | 20 m | ||
| Area : | 339.84 km² | ||
| Residents : | 46,860 (as of 2011) | ||
| Population density : | 137.9 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Time zone : | Eastern Time ( UTC − 5 ) | ||
| Municipality number: | 10043 | ||
| Postal code : | G5L-G5N | ||
| Area code : | +1 418 | ||
| Mayor : | Eric Forest | ||
| Website : | www.ville.rimouski.qc.ca | ||
 Located in the MRC Rimouski-Neigette |
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Rimouski is a city in the southeast of the Canadian province of Quebec . It is located in the administrative region of Bas-Saint-Laurent , about 275 km northeast of the provincial capital Québec . Rimouski is the capital of Bas-Saint-Laurent and the regional county municipality (municipalité régionale du comté) Rimouski-Neigette , has an area of 339.84 km² and has 46,860 inhabitants (2011). The city, founded in 1696 on the estuary of the St. Lawrence River, is the seat of an archbishopric and a university.
geography
Rimouski is located on the southern bank of the Saint Lawrence River , whose estuary is over 50 km wide here. There are several islands off the coast, including the Île Saint-Barnabé, the Îlet Carnuel, the Île du Bic and the Île Bicquette. Starting from a narrow coastal strip, the terrain gradually rises to a height of almost 250 m and forms an extensive, predominantly wooded plateau with numerous streams and small lakes. The deeply cut valley of the Rivière Rimouski extends in a south-north direction . This 113 km long river flows into the estuary near the center of Rimouski. The city also includes several villages: Le Bic , Rimouski-Est and Pointe-au-Père are on the coast, Sainte-Odile-sur-Rimouski in the valley of the Rivière Rimouski, Sainte-Blandine and Mont-Lebel on the plateau. The Parc national du Bic stretches out to the west of the city, at the headland of Cap à l'Orignal .
Neighboring municipalities are Saint-Fabien in the west, Saint-Eugène-de-Ladrière in the southwest, Saint-Valérien and Saint-Narcisse-de-Rimouski in the south, Saint-Marcellin in the southeast, Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard in the east and Sainte- Luce in the northwest.
climate
Rimouski has a cold temperate , fully humid climate ( Köppen classification : Dfb), with cold and snowy winters and warm summers. The average annual snowfall is 271.7 cm, the annual average rainfall 915 mm. In January the average temperature drops to −11.7 ° C, in July it rises to 18.2 ° C. The coldest temperature ever measured is −33.0 ° C on January 15, 1984, the heat record is 36.0 ° C on July 4, 1983.
history
The oldest traces of human settlement date back to the Paleo-Indian era. Stone tools from the Plano era around 8000 years ago were discovered in 1992 during excavations during the construction of the motorway near Sainte-Odile-sur-Rimouski. Various finds at Cap à l'Orignal date from a second period around 4,000 to 3,000 years ago, known as the Maritime Archaic . At the end of August 1535, the French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the stretch of coast around Rimouski. He described, among other things, the islands of Bic, Bicquette and Saint-Barnabé. The first Frenchman to detailed explorations inland undertook, who was Jesuit -Missionar Henri Nouvel , who in December 1663 in support of indigenous peoples the Rivière Rimouski followed.
Jacques-René de Brisay , the governor of New France , transferred the Seigneurie Rimouski to Augustin Rouer de la Cardonnière on April 24, 1688 . The name comes from the Mi'kmaq language and means "land of the elk". Rouer never settled in the territory assigned to him and only used it for fishing. This displeased the colonial administration, which pushed for clearing in order to be able to settle farming families. For this reason, Rouer exchanged his property with René Lepage de Sainte-Claire on July 10, 1694 and received from him the Île d'Orléans in return . Lepage, who originally came from Ouanne in Burgundy , went there that same year and began to build a house. In 1696 he settled there with his family.
In 1701 the parish of Saint-Germain-de-Rimouski was founded. In the 1780s, due to financial distress, Lepage's descendants gradually pawned the seigneurie to Joseph Drapeau, a merchant from the city of Québec . When the Lepages were unable to repay their debts, Drapeau took over the entire property in 1790 and became the new Seigneur. Rimouski then had 333 inhabitants, most of whom lived near the river bank. In 1792, the seigneur and the residents petitioned the Lower Canada legislative assembly to extend the road to Rimouski , which ended in Trois-Pistoles . This project could not be completed until 1817. Around 1820 Rimouski began to develop into a center of forestry , using the Rivière Rimouski for rafting .
A year after the seigneurie was abolished, Rimouski was granted parish status in 1855 and town status in 1869. With the opening of a branch of the Intercolonial Railway in 1873, Rimouski was connected to the railway network. This improved accessibility led the farmers in the region to specialize in milk production . Forestry continued to grow in importance; Lumber , pulp, and other items of wood were exported to the United States and Great Britain . By 1910, Rimouski and the surrounding area were responsible for almost a seventh of the total wood production in the province of Québec.
From the 1950s onwards, the timber industry fell sharply, on the one hand due to overexploitation of the forests and on the other hand due to falling demand. On May 6, 1950, a devastating major fire occurred, which went down in history as nuit rouge ("red night"). The fire broke out in the wood store of the Price Brothers Company sawmill, was swiftly carried over the Rivière Rimouski due to strong winds and destroyed 230 houses (about a third of all buildings). Although there were no fatalities, over a quarter of the population were temporarily homeless. The destroyed part of the city was then rebuilt according to modern urban planning principles.
Rimouski, which was officially named after the parish of Saint-Germain-de-Rimouski until 1920, developed into a center of administration, education and services from the 1960s. In 1967 the western suburbs of Nazareth and Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Cœur were incorporated. Further incorporations followed in 2002 as part of an administrative reform: the municipalities of Mont-Lebel, Pointe-au-Père, Rimouski-Est, Sainte-Blandine and Sainte-Odile-sur-Rimouski joined the town of Rimouski. In 2009 Le Bic was finally incorporated.
Attractions
There is a historic site in Rimouski that is a National Historic Site . It is the Phare de Pointe-au-Père , the second tallest lighthouse in eastern Canada. Despite the devastating fire of 1950, some historic buildings have been preserved. The city's landmark is the Saint-Germain Cathedral, which was completed in 1859 and is the seat of the Archdiocese of Rimouski . There are also various residential buildings such as the Maison Lamontagne (1745), the Maison Letendre (1857), the Maison Perron (1745), the Maison Joseph-Gauvreau (1907) and the Maison Roy (1810).
Saint Germain Cathedral
Rimouski Regional Museum
The Desjardins-Telus room
Maison Lamontagne
Parc Lepage
Lake promenade
Onondaga submarine in Pointe-au-Père
population
According to the 2011 census, Rimouski had 46,860 inhabitants, which corresponds to a population density of 137.9 inh / km². 98.2% of the population stated French as their main language, the share of English was 0.6%. 0.3% said they were bilingual (French and English), other languages and multiple answers accounted for 0.9%. Only French spoke 76.5%. In 2001, 95.4% of the population were Roman Catholic , 0.6% Protestant and 3.5% non-denominational.
Transport and economy
On the southern outskirts of Rimouski, a segment of Autoroute 20 runs between Le Bic and Mont-Joli . Although classified as a motorway, this road has two lanes (with a few overtaking lanes); it serves primarily as a bypass. An important national main road is Route 132 , which connects the provincial capital Québec with the Gaspésie . VIA Rail express trains from Montreal to Gaspé and Halifax stop at Rimouski station . Rimouski has a port; From there there is a ferry connection over the St. Lawrence River to Forestville in the Côte-Nord region (no operation in winter when the river is partially frozen). Three kilometers northeast of the city center is a regional airport for general aviation with a 1,400 m long runway.
The main industries nowadays are metalworking, carpentry and food processing, while the once important paper industry is no longer present. The service sector contributes by far the largest share of economic activity, particularly due to Rimouski's role as an administrative and educational focus. Tourism is also important.
education
The Université du Québec à Rimouski is part of the network of the state Université du Québec . It was founded in 1969, has around 6,500 students and has a branch in Lévis . There are also several important centers of education and research in the maritime sector: the Institut maritime du Québec (vocational training for ship officers , ship mechanics , shipbuilding , professional divers ), the Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski ISMER ( oceanographic research institute of the university) and in neighboring Sainte -Flavie the Maurice Lamontagne Institute (oceanographic research institute with a focus on marine biology ).
Culture
Rimouski is known for its regular cultural events. These include the Festi Jazz international de Rimouski (international jazz festival), the Carrousel international du film de Rimouski (film festival for children's and youth films) and the Salon du livre de Rimouski (oldest literary festival in Québec). The Musée de la mer (Museum of the Sea), near the Pointe-au-Père lighthouse, covers Canada's maritime history. You can see the only publicly accessible submarine in the country (the HMCS Onondaga ) and an exhibition about the sinking of the transatlantic passenger ship Empress of Ireland . The Musée régional de Rimouski deals with history, science and contemporary art. The exhibitions at Maison Lamontagne bring the way of life in the 18th and 19th centuries closer.
Sports
The city's best- known sports team is the Océanic de Rimouski ice hockey team in the Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec ; Vincent Lecavalier and Sidney Crosby played here before in 1998 and 2005 in the NHL Entry Draft were selected in the first place. The home games are played in the Colisée de Rimouski , which can accommodate more than 5,000 spectators. This multifunctional hall was the venue for the Memorial Cup 2009 . The ATP Challenger Rimouski , a tennis tournament of the ATP Challenger Tour , was held annually from 2006 to 2014 . The Rimouski Marathon, which has been held since 2002, is also of supraregional importance.
sons and daughters of the town
- Gabriel Bourque (* 1990), ice hockey player
- Eugène Fiset (1874–1951), politician
- André Parent (1953–1989), medical historian (* in Saint-Gabriel-de-Rimouski)
- Denis Grondin (* 1954), auxiliary bishop
- Arthé Guimond (1931–2013), Archbishop
- Pierre Harvey (* 1957), cross-country skier and racing cyclist
- Bruno Langlois (* 1979), racing cyclist
- Jean-Philippe Roy (* 1979), ski racer
- Monique Vézina (* 1935), politician
Web links
- Rimouski Official Website (French)
- Rimouski Tourist Information Office (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rimouski. In: Données des stations pour le calcul des normales climatiques au Canada de 1971 à 2000. Environment and Climate Change Canada , November 12, 2013, accessed on February 1, 2014 (French).
- ^ Paul Larocque: Rimouski depuis ses origines . Société d'histoire du Bas-Saint-Laurent, Rimouski 2006, ISBN 2-920270-79-6 , p. 17 .
- ^ Jean-Charles Fortin, Antonio Lechasseur: Histoire du Bas-Saint-Laurent . Société d'histoire du Bas-Saint-Laurent, Québec 1993, ISBN 2-89224-194-4 , pp. 66-67 .
- ↑ Fortin, Lechasseur and others: Histoire du Bas-Saint-Laurent. P. 74.
- ^ Joseph-Marie Levasseur: Mosaïque rimouskoise: une histoire de Rimouski . Ed .: Comité des fêtes du cent cinquantième anniversaire de la paroisse Saint-Germain de Rimouski. Montmagny 1979, ISBN 2-9800008-0-9 , pp. 33 .
- ↑ a b Rimouski. Commission de toponymie du Québec, accessed February 1, 2014 (French).
- ^ Béatrice Chassé: Rimouski et son île: les seigneurs Lepage . Société d'histoire du Bas-Saint-Laurent, Rimouski 2003, ISBN 2-920270-73-7 , p. 9-10 .
- ↑ Larocque: Rimouski depuis ses origines. Pp. 75-77.
- ↑ Larocque: Rimouski depuis ses origines. Pp. 95-99.
- ^ Histoire, Rimouski avant 2002. City of Rimouski, accessed February 1, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Fortin, Lechasseur and others: Histoire du Bas-Saint-Laurent. Pp. 399-400.
- ^ "La Nuit Rouge", l'incendie de Rimouski en 1950. (No longer available online.) Encyclobec, 2003, archived from the original on February 2, 2014 ; accessed on February 1, 2014 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Population profile of the Rimouski municipality. In: 2011 Census. Statistics Canada , 2011, accessed February 1, 2014 (French).
- ^ Population profile of the Rimouski municipality. In: 2001 Census. Statistics Canada , 2001, accessed February 1, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Population profile of Portrait socio-économique. (No longer available online.) Center local de développement Rimouski-Neigette, archived from the original on February 19, 2014 ; accessed on February 1, 2014 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
