Baie-Comeau
Baie-Comeau | |
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Downtown Baie-Comeau | |
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Coat of arms | |
Map of RCM with Baie-Comeau highlighted | |
Baie-Comeau Location in Côte-Nord region of Quebec | |
| Coordinates: 49°13′N 68°09′W / 49.217°N 68.150°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Region | Côte-Nord |
| RCM | Manicouagan |
| Founded | 1936 |
| Constituted | June 23, 1982 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Michel Desbiens |
| • Federal riding | Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan |
| • Prov. riding | René-Lévesque |
| Area | |
• Total | 434.54 km2 (167.78 sq mi) |
| • Land | 334.83 km2 (129.28 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 19.95 km2 (7.70 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 682.89 km2 (263.67 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 21.60 m (70.9 ft) |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 20,687 |
| • Density | 61.8/km2 (160/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 20,247 |
| • Urban density | 1,014.9/km2 (2,629/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 26,643 |
| • Metro density | 39/km2 (100/sq mi) |
| • Change (2016-21) | 3.9% |
| • Dwellings | 10,163 |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| Postal code(s) | |
| Area codes | 418 and 581 |
| Highways | R-138 R-389 |
| Website | www |
Baie-Comeau (French pronunciation: [bɛ kɔmo]) is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan River, named after the adjacent Comeau Bay. It has a population of 20,687 in the 2021 Canadian census, and the census agglomeration population is 26,643.
Baie-Comeau is the birthplace of Brian Mulroney, former prime minister of Canada.
Although the city is officially named in honour of Napoléon-Alexandre Comeau, the origin of the name actually comes from his father Antoine-Alexandre Comeau, who was an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company and had a camp there. Travelers would spontaneously think of “the bay of the Comeau camp”, perpetuated by word of mouth until the employees of the Geography Commission wrote Anse à Comeau (Comeau Cove) on plans. When Baie-Comeau was founded however, the authorities were unaware of the origin of this name, and specified that it honored Napoléon-Alexandre Comeau (1848-1923).