page_title: Saint Pierre and Miquelon
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Pierre and Miquelon / Geography
context_page_description: Saint Pierre and Miquelon, officially the Overseas Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France, situated in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the only part of New France that remains under French control, with an area of 242 square kilometres and a population of 6,008 at the March 2016 census.
  The islands are situated in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the entrance of Fortune Bay, which extends into the southwestern coast of Newfoundland, near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. They are 25 kilometres from the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland and 3,819 kilometres from Brest, the nearest city in Metropolitan France.
context_section_description: Located off the western end of the Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula, the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is composed of eight islands, totalling 242 square kilometres (93 sq mi), of which only two are inhabited. The islands are bare and rocky, with steep coasts, and only a thin layer of peat to soften the hard landscape. The islands are geologically part of the northeastern end of the Appalachian Mountains along with Newfoundland.
  Saint Pierre Island, whose area is smaller, 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi), is the most populous and the commercial and administrative center of the archipelago. Saint-Pierre Airport has been in operation since 1999 and is capable of accommodating long-haul flights from France.
  Miquelon-Langlade, the largest island, is in fact composed of two islands; Miquelon Island (also called Grande Miquelon, 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi)) is connected to Langlade Island (Petite Miquelon, 91 square kilometres (35 sq mi)) by the Dune de Langlade (also known as the Isthme de Langlade), a 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) long sandy tombolo. A storm had severed them in the 18th century, separating the two islands for several decades, before currents reconstructed the isthmus. Morne de la Grande Montagne, the highest point in the territory at 240m, is located on Grande Miquelon. The waters between Langlade and Saint-Pierre were called "the Mouth of Hell" (French: Gueule d'Enfer) until about 1900, as more than 600 shipwrecks have been recorded in that point since 1800. In the north of Miquelon Island is the village of Miquelon-Langlade (710 inhabitants), while Langlade Island was almost deserted (only one inhabitant in the 1999 census).
  A third, formerly inhabited island, Isle-aux-Marins, known as Île-aux-Chiens until 1931 and located a short distance from the port of Saint-Pierre, has been uninhabited since 1963. The other main islands are Grand Colombier, Île aux Vainquers and Île aux Pigeons.
caption: 3D image of the Saint Pierre and Miquelon archipelago
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