# Madawaska County, New Brunswick

Madawaska County (2021 population 32,603), also known as the "New Brunswick Panhandle", is located in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada. Over 90% of the county's population speaks French. Its Francophone population are known as "Brayons." Forestry is the major industry in the county.

## History

The first inhabitants of what is now called Madawaska County were the Maliseet or Wolastoqiyik, who occupied and used the land along the Saint John River Valley north to the St. Lawrence River and south to the Penobscot River. There is debate concerning the true origin of the word "Madawaska". The earliest settlers were from Quebec. The area was the focus of the bloodless Aroostook War, a border dispute led by businessman and political activist John Baker.
The earliest settlers of the Upper Saint John River Valley have been clearly verified, with census results of the Madawaska region taken in 1820 showing where most families had originated from Quebec.

## Census subdivisions
### Communities

There are ten municipalities within Madawaska County (listed by 2016 population):
| Official Name | Designation | Area km$^2$ | Population | Parish |
| Edmundston | City | 106.85 | 16,580 | Madawaska, Saint-Basile, Saint-Jacques, Saint-Joseph |
| Saint-Léonard | Town | 5.22 | 1,300 | Saint-Léonard |
| Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska | Village | 9.19 | 957 | Sainte-Anne |
| Clair | Village | 10.61 | 781 | Clair |
| Saint-André | Rural community | 8.04 | 772 | Saint-André Parish |
| Rivière-Verte | Village | 6.70 | 724 | Rivière-Verte |
| Lac-Baker | Village | 37.18 | 690 | Lac-Baker |
| Baker-Brook | Village | 12.27 | 564 | Baker Brook |
| Saint-François-de-Madawaska | Village | 6.39 | 470 | Saint-François |
| Saint-Hilaire | Village | 5.68 | 252 | Saint-Hilaire |

### First Nations

There is one First Nations reserve in Madawaska County (listed by 2016 population):
| Official Name | Designation | Area km$^2$ | Population | Parish |
| St. Basile 10 | Reserve | 3.22 | 214 | Saint-Basile |

### Parishes

The county is subdivided into fourteen parishes (listed by 2016 population):
| Official Name | Area km$^2$ | Population | Municipalities or equivalents | Unincorporated communities |
| Saint-Jacques | 299.49 | 1,596 | Edmundston | Ennemond / Grandmaison / Moulin-Morneault / Patrieville / Petite-Rivière-à-la-Truite / Saint-Jacques / St. Joseph Settlement |
| Saint-Joseph | 322.89 | 1,538 | Edmundston | Deuxième-Sault / Francoeur / Lévesque / Rang-des-Bossé / Rang-des-Couturier / Saint-Joseph-de-Madawaska / Sicard / Toussaint / Violette |
| Saint-André | 128.18 | 1,129 | Saint-André | Comeau Ridge / Gaudreau Park / Lévesque Settlement / McManus Siding / Powers Creek / Saint-Amand / Woodville |
| Saint-Léonard | 343.39 | 975 | Saint-Léonard | Bellefleur / Coombes Road / Cyr Junction / Grand-Ruisseau / Martin Siding / Poitras / Rang-des-Bourgoin / Saint-Léonard-Parent |
| Sainte-Anne | 368.89 | 964 | Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska | Fourche-à-Clark / Miller Line Cache / Prime / Rang-des-Deschêne / Ringuette Settlement / Siegas / Siegas Lake Settlement / Sirois |
| Rivière-Verte | 715.86 | 711 | Rivière-Verte | Beardsley Depot / Davis Mill / Montagne-de-la-Croix / Montagne-des-Roy / Rang-des-Hubert |
| Saint-François | 344.59 | 606 | Haut-Madawaska | Concession-des-Jaunes / Concession-des-Viel / Connors / Lac-Unique / Little River Mills / Mouth of St. Francis / Pelletiers Mill / Val Oakes |
| Saint-Basile | 129.61 | 592 | Edmundston St. Basile 10 (native reserve) | Boniface Bridge / Green River Settlement / Jalbert / Maillet / Montagne-des-Therrien / Rang-des-Lavoie / |
| Saint-Hilaire | 41.90 | 478 | Haut-Madawaska | Riceville |
| Clair | 43.92 | 283 | Haut-Madawaska | Caron Brook / Concession-des-Lang / Concession-des-Vasseur / Crockett / Les Rapides |
| Baker Brook | 125.17 | 275 | Haut-Madawaska | Concession-de-Baker-Brook / Concession-des-Ouellette / Rang-des-Morneault / Rang-Saint-Joseph / Val-Lambert / Val-Nadeau |
| Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes | 187.18 | 275 | | Durette Settlement / Flemming / Harrison Brook Settlement / La Montagne / Lower Siegas / Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes |
| Madawaska | 173.18 | 10 | Edmundston Haut-Madawaska | |
| Lac Baker | 24.30 | 5 | Lac-Baker Haut-Madawaska | Boundary / Portage-du-Lac / Rang-des-Collin / Saint-Castin / Pelletiers Mill / Soucy |

## Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Madawaska County had a population of 32,603 living in 14,905 of its 15,851 total private dwellings, a change of -0.4% from its 2016 population of 32,741. With a land area of 3,454.97 km$^2$ (1,333.97 sq mi), it had a population density of 9.4/km$^2$ (24.4/sq mi) in 2021.

### Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Madawaska County, New Brunswick :
| Census | Total | French | French | French | English | English | English | French & English | French & English | French & English | Non-official languages | Non-official languages | Non-official languages |
| Year | Responses | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % |
| 2016 | 32,105 | 29,765 | 2.5% | 92.71% | 1,645 | 7.5% | 5.12% | 372 | 24.0% | 1.17% | 320 | 77.8% | 1.00% |
| 2011 | 32,510 | 30,500 | 2.2% | 93.82% | 1,530 | 8.1% | 4.71% | 300 | 13.2% | 0.92% | 180 | 54.4% | 0.55% |
| 2006 | 33,510 | 31,185 | 4.7% | 93.06% | 1,665 | 6.1% | 4.97% | 265 | 26.4% | 0.79% | 395 | 119.4% | 1.18% |
| 2001 | 34,845 | 32,735 | 3.8% | 93.94% | 1,570 | 14.2% | 4.51% | 360 | 14.3% | 1.03% | 180 | 44.0% | 0.52% |
| 1996 | 36,300 | 34,030 | n/a | 93.75% | 1,830 | n/a | 5.04% | 315 | n/a | 0.87% | 125 | n/a | 0.34% |

## Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits: