Saguenay, Quebec
Saguenay | |
|---|---|
| Ville de Saguenay | |
From top, left to right: Downtown Chicoutimi borough, the UQAC, the Ha! Ha! Pyramid, the Cégep de Jonquière, and Rio Tinto's aluminium smelters in Arvida | |
| Coordinates: 48°25′N 71°04′W / 48.417°N 71.067°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Region | Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean |
| RCM | None |
| Settled | 1840s |
| Constituted | February 18, 2002 |
| Boroughs | |
| Government | |
| • Type | Saguenay City Council |
| • Mayor | Julie Dufour |
| • Federal riding | Chicoutimi—Le Fjord and Jonquière |
| • Prov. riding | Chicoutimi, Dubuc and Jonquière |
| Area | |
| 1,279.70 km2 (494.09 sq mi) | |
| • Land | 1,124.63 km2 (434.22 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 107.67 km2 (41.57 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 3,133.53 km2 (1,209.86 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 166 m (545 ft) |
| Population (2021) | |
| 148,886 | |
| • Density | 128.7/km2 (333/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 117,284 |
| • Urban density | 1,089.3/km2 (2,821/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 170,380 |
| • Metro density | 51.6/km2 (134/sq mi) |
| • Pop (2016–21) | 0.8% |
| • Dwellings | 71,017 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Postal code(s) | |
| Area code(s) | 418 and 581 |
| GDP (Saguenay CMA) | CA$6.7 billion (2016) |
| GDP per capita (Saguenay CMA) | CA$41,639 (2016) |
| Website | ville |
Saguenay (/ˈsæɡəneɪ, ˌsæɡəˈneɪ/ SAG-ə-nay, -NAY, French: [saɡnɛ], locally [-ne]) is a city in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, on the Saguenay River, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Quebec City by overland route. It is about 126 kilometres (78 mi) upriver and northwest of Tadoussac, located at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River. It was formed in 2002 by merging the cities of Chicoutimi and Jonquière and the town of La Baie. Chicoutimi was founded by French colonists in 1676. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 148,000 and the metropolitan area had a population of 170,000.
The city of Saguenay constitutes a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE); its geographical code is 941. Together with the regional county municipality of Le Fjord-du-Saguenay, it forms the census division (CD) of Le Saguenay-et-son-Fjord (94). The mayor of Saguenay since 2021 is Julie Dufour. Prior to its use as the name of the city, the term "the Saguenay" or (less commonly) "Saguenay Valley" had already been used for the whole Saguenay River region (see Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean). Saguenay is the seat of the judicial district of Chicoutimi.
The city is divided into three boroughs: Chicoutimi (which includes the former city of Chicoutimi, as well as Laterrière and Tremblay township), Jonquière (which includes the former city of Jonquière, Lac-Kénogami, and Shipshaw) and La Baie (which corresponds to the former city of La Baie).
The name Saguenay is possibly derived from the Innu word "Saki-nip", which means "where water flows out".