Abitibi-Témiscamingue
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | |
|---|---|
| Administrative region | |
 |
|
| Coordinates: 48°14′N 79°01′W / 48.233°N 79.017°WCoordinates: 48°14′N 79°01′W / 48.233°N 79.017°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
|
| Province |
 Quebec
|
| Regional County Municipalities (RCM) and Equivalent Territories (ET) |
4 RCM, 1 ET
|
| Government | |
| • Regional conference of elected officers of Abitibi-Témiscamingue | Ulrick Chérubin (deceased in 2014) (President) |
| Area | |
| • Land | 57,738.95 km2 (22,293.13 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 145,690 |
| • Density | 2.5/km2 (6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Postal code | J |
| Area code | 819, 873 |
| Website | www |
Abitibi-Témiscamingue (French pronunciation: [abitibi temiskamɛ̃ɡ]) is an administrative region located in southwestern Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of 57,674.26 km2 (22,268.16 sq mi). The region is divided into five regional county municipalities (French: municipalité régionale de comté, or MRC) and 79 municipalities. Its economy continues to be dominated by resource extraction industries. These include logging, mining all along the rich geologic Cadillac Fault between Val d'Or and Rouyn-Noranda, as well as agriculture.
The 2013 statistics for the region show the following:
The following languages predominate as the primary language spoken at home:
At the arrival of the French Algonquins settled the region. The first land expeditions were made in 1670 by Radisson as part of the development of the fur trade industry across the Hudson Bay region and through most of the New France colony. Fort Témiscamingue, located on the east banks of Lake Timiskaming and erected by a French merchant on Anicinabeg lands in 1720, was an important crossroads of the fur trade along the Hudson Bay trading route.
Until 1868, Abitibi was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company; it was then purchased by Canada and became part of the North-West Territories. After negotiations with the federal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Abitibi was annexed to the province of Quebec on June 13, 1898 by a federal decree. For its part, Témiscamingue had been part of Lower Canada and so was already part of Quebec at Confederation.
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