The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Gaspé

GASPÉ, Canada, a district in the province of Quebec, consisting of the counties of Gaspé and Bonaventure, and forming the northern part of the peninsula that lies between the Bay of Chaleur and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Area, 8,015 square miles. Pop. (1911) 63,111. The name is sometimes extended to the whole peninsula. Cape Gaspé is a bold headland of the Schikshock or Notre Dame Mountains, terminating the peninsula and forming the north shore of Gaspé Bay. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in important fisheries, which, with the export of lumber, form the staple industries. Gaspé, a village and port of entry in Gaspé Bay where Cartier landed in 1534, set up a cross and assumed formal possession in the name of the king of France, is the capital and commercial centre of the district. Pop. 606.