Madawaska County, New Brunswick

Madawaska County, also known as the "New Brunswick Panhandle", is located in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada. 94% of the county’s population speaks French. Its Francophone population are known as "Brayons." Forestry is the major industry in the county.

History

The first inhabitants of what is now called Madawaska County were the Maliseet or Wolastoqiyik, who occupied and used the land along the Saint John River Valley north to the St. Lawrence River and south to the Penobscot River. There is debate concerning the true origin of the word "Madawaska". The earliest settlers were from Quebec. The area was the focus of the bloodless Aroostook War, a border dispute led by businessman and political activist John Baker.
The earliest settlers of the Upper Saint John River Valley have been clearly verified, with census results of the Madawaska region taken in 1820 showing where most families had originated from Quebec.

Census subdivisions

Communities

There are ten municipalities within Madawaska County :

Official name	Designation	Area km²	Population	Parish
Edmundston	City	106.85	16,580	Madawaska, Saint-Basile, Saint-Jacques, Saint-Joseph
Saint-Léonard	Town	5.22	1,300	Saint-Léonard
Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska	Village	9.19	957	Sainte-Anne
Clair	Village	10.61	781	Clair
Saint-André	Rural community	8.04	772	Saint-André Parish
Rivière-Verte	Village	6.70	724	Rivière-Verte
Lac-Baker	Village	37.18	690	Lac-Baker
Baker-Brook	Village	12.27	564	Baker Brook
Saint-François-de-Madawaska	Village	6.39	470	Saint-François
Saint-Hilaire	Village	5.68	252	Saint-Hilaire

First Nations

There is one First Nations reserve in Madawaska County :

Official name	Designation	Area km²	Population	Parish
St. Basile 10	Reserve	3.22	214	Saint-Basile

Parishes

The county is subdivided into fourteen parishes :

Official name	Area km²	Population	Municipalities or equivalents	Unincorporated communities
Saint-Jacques	299.49	1,596	Edmundston	Ennemond / Grandmaison / Moulin-Morneault / Patrieville / Petite-Rivière-à-la-Truite / Saint-Jacques / St. Joseph Settlement
Saint-Joseph	322.89	1,538	Edmundston	Deuxième-Sault / Francoeur / Lévesque / Rang-des-Bossé / Rang-des-Couturier / Saint-Joseph-de-Madawaska / Sicard / Toussaint / Violette
Saint-André	128.18	1,129	Saint-André	Comeau Ridge / Gaudreau Park / Lévesque Settlement / McManus Siding / Powers Creek / Saint-Amand / Woodville
Saint-Léonard	343.39	975	Saint-Léonard	Bellefleur / Coombes Road / Cyr Junction / Grand-Ruisseau / Martin Siding / Poitras / Rang-des-Bourgoin / Saint-Léonard-Parent
Sainte-Anne	368.89	964	Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska	Fourche-à-Clark / Miller Line Cache / Prime / Rang-des-Deschêne / Ringuette Settlement / Siegas / Siegas Lake Settlement / Sirois
Rivière-Verte	715.86	711	Rivière-Verte	Beardsley Depot / Davis Mill / Montagne-de-la-Croix / Montagne-des-Roy / Rang-des-Hubert
Saint-François	344.59	606	Haut-Madawaska	Concession-des-Jaunes / Concession-des-Viel / Connors / Lac-Unique / Little River Mills / Mouth of St. Francis / Pelletiers Mill / Val Oakes
Saint-Basile	129.61	592	Edmundston St. Basile 10 (native reserve)	Boniface Bridge / Green River Settlement / Jalbert / Maillet / Montagne-des-Therrien / Rang-des-Lavoie /
Saint-Hilaire	41.90	478	Haut-Madawaska	Riceville
Clair	43.92	283	Haut-Madawaska	Caron Brook / Concession-des-Lang / Concession-des-Vasseur / Crockett / Les Rapides
Baker Brook	125.17	275	Haut-Madawaska	Concession-de-Baker-Brook / Concession-des-Ouellette / Rang-des-Morneault / Rang-Saint-Joseph / Val-Lambert / Val-Nadeau
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes	187.18	275		Durette Settlement / Flemming / Harrison Brook Settlement / La Montagne / Lower Siegas / Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
Madawaska	173.18	10	Edmundston Haut-Madawaska
Lac Baker	24.30	5	Lac-Baker Haut-Madawaska	Boundary / Portage-du-Lac / Rang-des-Collin / Saint-Castin / Pelletiers Mill / Soucy

Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Madawaska County had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.

Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:

Highways
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Principal Routes
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Secondary Routes:
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External Routes:
* U.S. Route 1
* Quebec Autoroute 85 (TCH)
* Quebec Route 289