Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Northumberland County, New Brunswick
Northumberland County (2001 population 50,817), having the largest area of any county in the province, is located in northeastern New Brunswick, Canada. The county is dominated by the Miramichi River, world famous for its salmon fishing. Northumberland County is covered by thick forests, whose products stimulate the economy. The lower portion of the river is an estuary which widens into Miramichi Bay, a part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
The county is a mostly English speaking region in the otherwise Francophone northeastern New Brunswick. The lower regions along the north and south shores of Miramichi Bay are French speaking. The former town of Chatham has traditionally been an Irish stronghold, while its sister town of Newcastle has had a more English and Scottish Protestant flavour. Both are now amalgamated into the new city of Miramichi. There are three communities in the county which are part of the Mi'kmaq Nation: Red Bank , at the junction of the Northwest Miramichi River and the Little Southwest Miramichi River; Eel Ground , close to the junction of the Northwest and Southwest Miramichi Rivers near Newcastle; and Burnt Church on the northern shore of Miramichi Bay.
The city of Miramichi itself is a local service centre for the county and surrounding regions with schools, hospitals and government offices and retail locations. The county has several saw mills in the city of Miramichi and up the Southwest Branch of the Miramichi River. There is a large pulp and paper mill at Newcastle, and another pulp mill at Chatham. Chatham was also home to an air force base, CFB Chatham , until 1996. Renous , located along the Southwest Miramichi was also home to an army post - a federal maximum security penitentiary is now located on the site.
List of towns in Northumberland County, with 2001 populations given:
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