L'Anse Amour is a small town on the Strait of Belle Isle in Labrador, a part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. As of 2006, it has a population of 8.
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The figures below pertain to Division No. 10, Subd. A, which includes L'Anse Amour.
No statistics for the town of L'Anse Amour itself are available, though a tourist Web site lists the town's population at 8.
Literally translated from French as "Cove of Love," L'Anse Amour is a corruption of an earlier name, L'Anse aux Morts, which means "Cove of the Dead."
Human settlement in the area dates back at least 7,500 years as evidenced by the burial mound of a Maritime Archaic boy here. His body was wrapped in a shroud of bark or hide and placed face down with his head pointed to the west. A sign at the site describes the significance of the burial mound and reproductions of artifacts found there are located at the Labrador Straits Museum in L'Anse au Loup, Labrador.
The Point Amour Lighthouse, located a short distance from L'Anse Amour, is the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada, and the second tallest one in all of Canada,[1] reaching a height of 109 feet (33 m). The cylindrical tower is built of limestone and is painted white with a black band. It was built in the series of Imperial Towers and is designated a Provincial Historic Site. The residential part of the lighthouse, completed in 1857, has been renovated and now serves as a museum.
A second order Fresnel lens with a focal plane at 152 ft (46 m) above sea level is in use. In 1996 the operation of the lighthouse was converted to an automatic system. The light characteristic is a period of light of 16 seconds with an adjacent pause of 4 seconds. A fog signal may be sounded from a separate building.
Icebergs and a narrow passage make the Strait of Belle Isle a hazardous body of water. However, the route provided a shortcut between the United Kingdom and larger ports such as Montreal.
The wreck of one of the ships to go aground in the passage, HMS Raleigh, is located near Point Amour. A trail along the shore allows visitors to see the rusting remains of the ship, which went aground on August 8, 1922 and was demolished by explosives in 1926.
The town has an official population of seven people who are descendants of the crew of the HMS Raleigh which ran aground in 1922 at Point Amour. The uniqueness of a community with a population so few and its many attractions has gained national recognition in the vote to become one of the seven wonders of Canada.
The tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada is located at Point Amour and one of the oldest funeral monuments in the new world, erected by the Maritime Archaic as a burial mound, is located nearby.