Anticosti Island (; ; ) is an island in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in administrative region of Côte-Nord, the province of Quebec, Canada.
This island is located at the outlet of the St. Lawrence River into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, between 49° and 50° N., and between 61° 40' and 64° 30' W. At in size, it is the 90th largest island in the world and 20th largest island in Canada. Anticosti Island is separated on the north from the Côte-Nord region of Quebec (the Labrador Peninsula) by the Jacques Cartier Strait, and on the south from the Gaspé Peninsula by the Honguedo Strait.
Anticosti Island is larger than Prince Edward Island but sparsely populated (218 people in 2016), with most of the permanent population in the village of Port-Menier on the western tip of the island; this population once consisted chiefly of the keepers of the lighthouses erected by the Canadian government. The entire island constitutes one municipality known as L'Île-d'Anticosti.
Due to more than 400 shipwrecks off its coasts, Anticosti Island is sometimes called the "Cemetery of the Gulf".
Geography
Anticosti Island is part of the eastern Saint Lawrence lowlands. It is long and has a maximum breadth of – times as large as the province of Prince Edward Island. Its coastline is long, and is rocky and dangerous, offering little shelter for ships except in Gamache, Ellis, and Fox Bays. There are large shoals to the south.
The largest lake on the island is Lake Wickenden, which feeds the Jupiter River. There are numerous rivers on Anticosti, many of which flow through deep gorges and canyons to the north and south shores.
Topographically, Anticosti Island can be divided into three distinct regions: two lowland areas, rarely exceeding in elevation, in the eastern and western thirds of the island linked along the coast; and a central highland forming a plateau that rises to just over . This plateau is an unidirectional structure slightly tilted to the south, and is characterized by rolling cuestas. The rocks exposed on the island form a continuous sedimentary stratum more than thick. These are the most complete strata in eastern North America of the Ordovician and Silurian periods.
The main rivers are:
South shore of Anticosti Island (from west to east):
Plantain River
Gamache River (Anticosti Island) Trois Milles River Rivière aux Canards (Anticosti Island) La Petite Rivière (Anticosti Island - Western part) Rivière aux Graines (Anticosti Island) Bec-Scie River Sainte-Marie River (Anticosti Island) Rivière aux Cailloux Sainte Anne River (Anticosti Island) Rivière à la Loutre (Anticosti Island) Rivière au Fusil Jupiter River Rivière à la Chute (Anticosti Island) Rivière du Brick Galiote River Rivière aux Rats (Anticosti Island) Chicotte River Rivière aux Plats Pavillon River Pavillon East River Ferrée River (Anticosti Island) Maccan River (Anticosti Island) Bilodeau River Little Chaloupe River Chaloupe River (Anticosti Island) Dauphiné River Bell River (Anticosti Island) Petite rivière de la Loutre Loups Marins River (Anticosti Island) Cormoran River La Petite Rivière (Anticosti Island - Eastern part)
North shore of Anticosti Island (from west to east):
Huile River
Patate River
Observation River
Vauréal River
Des Petits Jardins River
Rivière de l'Ours
Natiscotec River
Métallique River
Rivière aux Saumons (Anticosti Island) Schmitt River Prinsta River Renard River (Anticosti Island)
Climate
Anticosti Island has a subarctic climate (Dfc), tempered by the maritime influence of the Gulf of St. Lawrence which reduces the temperature differences. The average annual temperature is . The month of July is the warmest with an average temperature of . Conversely, February is the coldest month, on average . Snow precipitation is abundant, usually accumulating over in the western and central parts.
History
Indigenous history
For thousands of years, Anticosti Island was the territory of the indigenous peoples who lived on the mainland and used it as a hunting ground. The Innu called it Notiskuan, translated as "where bears are hunted" and the Mi'kmaq called it Natigôsteg, meaning "forward land".
