Les Basques Regional County Municipality

Les Basques (French pronunciation: [le bask], the Basques) is a regional county municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region in eastern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence River halfway between Rimouski and Rivière-du-Loup.

Les Basques
Regional county municipality
Coordinates: 48°06′N 69°04′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Bas-Saint-Laurent
Effective	April 1, 1981
County seat	Trois-Pistoles
Government [2]
• Type	Prefecture
• Prefect	Bertin Denis
Area [2][3]
• Total	1,130.70 km2 (436.57 sq mi)
• Land	1,121.82 km2 (433.14 sq mi)
Population  (2016)[3]
• Total	8,694
• Density	7.7/km2 (20/sq mi)
• Change 2011-2016	4.9%
• Dwellings	5,185
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (EDT)
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Website	www.mrcdesbasques.com

The county seat is in Trois-Pistoles.

Subdivisions

There are 11 subdivisions within the RCM:^[2]

Cities & towns (1) Trois-Pistoles

Municipalities (7) Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Saint-Clément Sainte-Rita Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Saint-Mathieu-de-Rioux Saint-Médard Saint-Simon-de-Rimouski

Parishes (2) Sainte-Françoise Saint-Éloi

Unorganized territory (1) Lac-Boisbouscache

Demographics

Trois-Pistoles

Population

	2021	2016	2011
Population	8,873 (+2.1% from 2016)	8,694 (-4.9% from 2011)	9,142 (-3.5% from 2006)
Land area	1,120.03 km2 (432.45 sq mi)	1,121.82 km2 (433.14 sq mi)	1,122.76 km2 (433.50 sq mi)
Population density	7.9/km2 (20/sq mi)	7.7/km2 (20/sq mi)	8.1/km2 (21/sq mi)
Median age	56.8 (M: 56.0, F: 57.6)	55.6 (M: 55.1, F: 56.1)	52.6 (M: 51.7, F: 53.5)
Private dwellings	5,182 (total)  4,244 (occupied)	5,185 (total)	5,144 (total)
Median household income	$53,600	$44,809	$42,510

Canada census – Les Basques community profile

References: 2021^[4] 2016^[5] 2011^[6]

Historical census data - Les Basques Regional County Municipality, Quebec^[7][3]

Year Pop. ±% 1991 10,325 —     1996 10,204 −1.2% 2001 9,848 −3.5%

Year Pop. ±% 2006 9,475 −3.8% 2011 9,142 −3.5% 2016 8,694 −4.9%

Language

Canada Census mother tongue - Les Basques Regional County Municipality, Quebec[7][3]
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2016		8,580		8,530	5.0%	99.42%		30	40.0%	0.35%		10	50.0%	0.12%		10	100%	0.12%
2011		9,055		8,980	0.1%	99.17%		50	233.3%	0.55%		20	n/a%	0.22%		5	96.4%	0.06%
2006		9,125		8,970	6.0%	98.30%		15	40.0%	0.17%		0	0.0%	0.00%		140	1300.0%	1.53%
2001		9,580		9,545	2.7%	99.64%		25	73.7%	0.26%		0	100.0%	0.00%		10	n/a%	0.10%
1996		9,920		9,805	n/a	98.84%		95	n/a	0.96%		20	n/a	0.20%		0	n/a	0.00%

Transportation

Access routes

Quebec Route 293 in Saint-Jean-de-Dieu

Highways and numbered routes that run through the municipality, including external routes that start or finish at the county border:^[8]

Autoroutes A-20

Principal highways R-132

Secondary highways R-293 R-295 R-296

External routes None

See also

• List of regional county municipalities and equivalent territories in Quebec