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Flag of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean

Map of Quebec showing Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean

The Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region in Quebec, Canada is distinguished by its physical beauty, especially the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region. It is also known as Sagamie in French, from the first part of "Saguenay" and the last part of "Piekouagami", the Montagnais name (meaning « flat lake »), for Lac Saint-Jean, with the final "e" added to follow the model of other existing region names such as Mauricie, Témiscamie, Jamésie, and Matawinie. [1] Ranging over 104,000 km², the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean is, after the Nord-du-Québec and Côte-Nord regions, the third largest of Quebec regions in area.

This region is bathed by two major watercourses, Lac Saint-Jean and the Saguenay River, both of which mark its landscape deeply and have been the main drives of its development in history. It is also irrigated by several other large watercourses. Bordered by forests and mountainous massifs, the region constitutes a fertile enclave in the Canadian Shield. Both the scenery and the cultural sites and activities of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean attract tourists every year. Lac Saint-Jean itself is a popular destination for residents of the more urban regions of Quebec to escape to in the summer.

The region is considered the heartland of the Quebec sovereignty movement.

The beauty of the region can be seen in the 1991 film Black Robe, directed by Bruce Beresford.

The population of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region was 277,007 in 2001, representing 6.8 % of Quebec population. It is concentrated into three large clusters: Ville de Saguenay (born of the merging of the cities of La Baie, Chicoutimi, Jonquière and a few smaller agglomerations) (pop. 148,179), Alma (pop. 30,126) and Roberval (pop. 10,906) - Saint-Félicien - Dolbeau-Mistassini (pop. 36,407). The largest settlement (Ville de Saguenay) is located slightly west of the fjord, mostly south of the river.

Following the Saguenay municipal reorganization in 2002, the region now counts 49 municipalities.

Regional County Municipalities

• MRC du Fjord-du-Saguenay (pop. 19,929)
• MRC Lac-Saint-Jean-Est (pop. 53,346)
• MRC Domaine-du-Roy (pop. 32,089)
• MRC Maria-Chapdelaine (pop. 27,945)

Independent City

• Ville de Saguenay (pop. 154,000)

Indian Reserve

• Mashteuiatsh, Quebec (pop. 1,908 Montagnais over a total of 289,121 indigenous in the region)

Sources: Government of Quebec, 2003; Statistics Canada, 2001 Survey

• List of people from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
• List of Quebec regions

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Regions	Abitibi-Témiscamingue · Bas-Saint-Laurent · Capitale-Nationale · Centre-du-Québec · Chaudière-Appalaches · Côte-Nord · Estrie · Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine · Lanaudière · Laurentides · Laval · Mauricie · Montérégie · Montréal · Nord-du-Québec · Outaouais · Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
Territories	Basse-Côte-Nord · Jamésie · Kativik · Nunavik
Separated cities	Gatineau · Lévis · Notre-Dame-des-Anges · Rouyn-Noranda · Saguenay · Saint-Augustin · Shawinigan · Sherbrooke · Trois-Rivières
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