Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!

Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!
Aerial view of Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!
Motto: 
Solidaire dans le labeur (French)
"Solidarity in work"
Location within Témiscouata RCM
Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!
Location in eastern Quebec
Coordinates: 47°40′13″N 68°58′54″W / 47.6703°N 68.9817°W / 47.6703; -68.9817[1]
CountryCanada
ProvinceQuebec
RegionBas-Saint-Laurent
RCMTémiscouata
Named1874
Constituted14 July 1874
Government
 • MayorMélissa Lord
 • Federal ridingCôte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata
 • Prov. ridingRivière-du-Loup–Témiscouata
Area
 • Total
112.23 km2 (43.33 sq mi)
 • Land110.08 km2 (42.50 sq mi)
 The provincial and federal governments disagree on the total area; the latter makes no claim regarding the land area.
Population
 • Total
1,311
 • Density11.7/km2 (30/sq mi)
 • Pop 2016-2021
1.5%
 • Dwellings
594
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)
Area codes418 and 581
Highways A-85 (TCH)
Websitewww.saintlouisduhaha.com

Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ lwi dy a a]) is a parish municipality in the Témiscouata Regional County Municipality of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. The population is 1,311 as of 2021.[3] Its economy is mainly agricultural. It is located southeast of Rivière-du-Loup and west of Cabano along the Trans-Canada Highway (A-85), about halfway to Edmundston in New Brunswick.

The Commission de toponymie du Québec asserts that the parish's name refers to nearby Lake Témiscouata, the sense of ha-ha here being an archaic French word for an impasse.[4] The Louis may refer to Louis Marquis, one of the first colonists of the region, or Louis-Antoine Proulx, vicar of Rivière-du-Loup, or perhaps the abbé Louis-Nicolas Bernier.[1]

Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! is the only town in the world with two exclamation marks in its name. (Westward Ho!, in Devon, England has a single exclamation mark in its name.) In September 2017, the municipality established a Guinness World Record for the most exclamation marks in a town name.[5]

History

The parish began in 1860 as the site of a Catholic mission; it was named in 1874.[6]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! had a population of 1,311 living in 552 of its 594 total private dwellings, a change of 1.5% from its 2016 population of 1,292. With a land area of 112.23 km2 (43.33 sq mi), it had a population density of 11.7/km2 (30.3/sq mi) in 2021.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Banque de noms de lieux du Québec: Reference number 57133". toponymie.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec.
  2. ^ a b "Répertoire des municipalités: Geographic code 13080". www.quebec.ca (in French). Gouvernement du Québec.
  3. ^ a b c "Census Profile, 2021 Census, Statistics Canada - Validation Error".
  4. ^ Jeffries, Stuart (29 April 2009). "The joy of exclamation marks!". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  5. ^ "Saint Louis du Ha!Ha! gets Guinness World Record nod for its exclamation marks". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  6. ^ "TransCanadaHighway.com St Louis du Ha Ha, Quebec". TransCanada FoundLocally Inc. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  7. ^ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  8. ^ "Baie des Ha! Ha!". Commission de toponymie du Québec. Archived from the original on 2019-08-14. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  9. ^ "Baie des Ha! Ha!". Commission de toponymie du Québec. Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  10. ^ "Rivière Ha! Ha!". Commission de toponymie du Québec. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2012-02-29.

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