Island of Montreal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Island of Montreal
Native name: Île de Montréal
The island in winter, as seen from the International Space Station
The island in winter, as seen from the International Space Station
Geography
Location Montreal
Coordinates 45°30′N 73°40′W / 45.5, -73.667Coordinates: 45°30′N 73°40′W / 45.5, -73.667
Archipelago Hochelaga Archipelago
Area 499 km² (193 sq mi)
Length 50 km (31 mi)
Width 16 km (9.9 mi)
Highest point Mount Royal
233 m (760 ft)
Administration
Flag of Canada Canada
Province Flag of Quebec Quebec
City Flag of Montreal Montreal
Demographics
Population 1,861,900
"Montreal Island" redirects here. For the island in Nunavut, see Montreal Island (Nunavut).

The Island of Montreal (French: Île de Montréal), in extreme southwestern Quebec, Canada, is located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. It is separated from Île Jésus (Laval) by the Rivière des Prairies

The island is boomerang-shaped (one end pointing roughly west, the other roughly north). It is the largest island in the Hochelaga Archipelago, and in fact in the entire Saint Lawrence River, only Anticosti Island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence is larger.

The St. Lawrence widens into Lake Saint-Louis south-west of the island, narrows into the Lachine Rapids, then widens again into the Bassin de La Prairie before becoming the St. Lawrence again and flowing toward Quebec City. Saint Helen's Island and Île Notre-Dame are in the Saint Lawrence southeast of downtown Montreal.

The Ottawa widens and becomes Lac des Deux-Montagnes north-west of the island. The Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal, between the western tip of the island and Île Perrot, connects Lac des Deux-Montagnes and Lake Saint-Louis. Another outlet of Lac des Deux-Montagnes, the Rivière des Prairies, flows along the north shore of the island and into the St. Lawrence at the northeastern tip of the island.

The island is approximately 50 km long and 16 km wide at its widest point and has a total area of 499 km² [1]. It has 266.6 km of shoreline. At its centre are the three peaks of Mount Royal. The southwest of the island is separated by the Lachine Canal between Lachine and Montreal's Old Port; this portion of the island is partially divided further by the Canal de l'Aqueduc, running roughly parallel to the Lachine Canal, beginning in the borough of LaSalle and continuing between the boroughs of Le Sud-Ouest and Verdun.

The island of Montreal is the major component of the territory of the city of Montreal, along with Île Bizard, Saint Helen's Island, Île Notre-Dame, Nuns' Island, and some 69 smaller islands. With a population of 1,861,900 inhabitants (25% of the population of Quebec), it is by far the most populous island in Canada as well as the world's most populous island on fresh water. It is also the 6th most populous island of the Americas and the 37th most populated island on Earth, outranking Manhattan Island in New York City. Montreal and the other municipalities on the island are part of the administrative region of Montréal (region).

The crossings which connect the island to its surroundings are some of the busiest bridges in the country and the world. The Champlain Bridge and the Jacques Cartier Bridge together handle 101 million vehicles a year.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Name

The first French name for the island was "l'ille de Vilmenon," noted by Samuel de Champlain in a 1616 map, and derived from the sieur de Vilmenon, a patron of the founders of Quebec at the court of Louis XIII. However, by 1632 Champlain referred to the "Isle de Mont-real" in another map. The island derived its name from Mount Royal (French Mont Royal, then pronounced IPA: [mõrwɛjal]), and gradually spread its name to the town, which had originally been called Ville-Marie.

In the Mohawk language, the island is called Tiohtià:ke Tsi (a name referring to the Lachine Rapids to the island's southwest) or Ka-wé-no-te.

[edit] Municipalities

Municipalities on the Island of Montreal.
Municipalities on the Island of Montreal.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Information about Montreal, Quebec accessed October 19, 2006

[edit] Further reading

  • Adams, Frank D., and O. E. LeRoy. The Artesian and Other Deep Wells on the Island of Montreal. Montreal: [s.n.], 1906. ISBN 0665722087
  • Bosworth, Newton. Hochelaga Depicta The Early History and Present State of the City and Island of Montreal. Toronto: Coles Pub. Co, 1974. (Table of Contents)
  • Fisher, John. Memorial in Support of the Petition of the Inhabitants and Proprietors of the City and Island of Montreal Praying That the Ecclesiastics of St. Sulpice May Not Be Constituted a Body Corporate and Ecclesiastical, and Their Title Confirmed to Certain Valuable Seigniories and Estates. Montreal?: s.n, 1840. ISBN 0665640870
  • Mackay, Murdo. The Language Problem and School Board Reform on the Island of Montreal. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1988. ISBN 0315382902
  • Parks Canada. Montréal, a City Steeped in History Guide to Nationality Significant Places, Persons and Events on the Island of Montréal. Québec: Parks Canada, 2004. ISBN 0660192748
  • Russell, Ken. Metropolitan Government on the Island of Montreal. Toronto: Osgoode Hall Law School, 1972.
  • Sancton, Andrew. Governing the Island of Montreal Language Differences and Metropolitan Politics. Lane studies in regional government. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. ISBN 0520049063
  • Savoie, Josée. Neighbourhood Characteristics and the Distribution of Crime on the Island of Montréal. Crime and justice research paper series, no. 007. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2006. ISBN 0662433955
  • Stansfield, John. The Pleistocene and Recent Deposits of the Island of Montreal. Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau, 1915.

[edit] External links