Editing Labrador Peninsula

{{Short description|Peninsula in eastern Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox country geography
| name                 = Labrador Peninsula - Quebec-Labrador Peninsula
| image name           = KillinekIsland-Labrador-2008.JPG
| image size           = 
| image alt            = 
| map                  = File:Labrador-Peninsula.PNG
| image caption        =[[Killiniq Island|Killinik Island]], [[Torngat Mountains National Park|Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve]]
| map size             = 
| map_alt              = 
| continent            = [[North America]]
| region               = [[Eastern Canada]]
| coordinates          = <!-- Use {{Coord}} -->
| km area              = 1,400,000
| miles area           = 540,000
| percent land         = 
| percent water        = 12
| km coastline         = 
| miles coastline      = 
| borders              = 
| highest point        = [[Mount Caubvick]]
| lowest point         = Sea level
| longest river        = [[La Grande River]]
| largest lake         = [[Caniapiscau Reservoir]]
| climate              = Largely [[Subarctic climate|subarctic]]
| terrain              = Flat and rolling except in the [[Torngat Mountains|Torngat]], [[Otish Mountains|Otish]] and [[Laurentian Mountains|Laurentian]] mountain ranges.
| natural resources    = 
| natural hazards      = 
| environmental issues = 
}}
{{Contains special characters|Canadian}}
The '''Labrador Peninsula''', also called '''Quebec-Labrador Peninsula''',<ref name="“Indigenous people and the fur trade in the Quebec-Labrador peninsula”">{{cite web |author1=François Trudel |title="Indigenous people and the fur trade in the Quebec-Labrador peninsula" |url=https://atlas.cieq.ca/le-nord/autochtones-et-traite-des-fourrures-dans-la-peninsule-du-quebec-labrador.pdf |website=Les Presses de l’Université Laval (coll. “Historical Atlas of Quebec”) |publisher=Centre interuniversitaire d’études québécoises (CIEQ) |access-date=27 August 2024 |pages=3 of 52 |date=2001 |quote=The Peninsula of Quebec-Labrador, sometimes also called Ungava, Labrador, Ungava-Labrador or, politically, New Quebec and Labrador, is a vast territory of approximately one million square kilometers.}}</ref><ref name="Quebec Labrador Peninsula">{{cite web |title=Quebec Labrador Peninsula |url=https://toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/Fiche.aspx?no_seq=285985 |website=Gouvernement of Quebec |publisher=Commission de Toponymy Quebec |access-date=23 August 2024 |date=18 June 1993 |quote=Over the years, many variations of the name have been used: Terraagricule (1558); Land of Labor (1575); Estotilandt (1597) or Estotilande (1656); Terra Cortereale (1597); New Britain (1656).}}</ref> is a large [[peninsula]] in eastern [[Canada]]. It is bounded by [[Hudson Bay]] to the west, the [[Hudson Strait]] to the north, the [[Labrador Sea]] to the east, [[Strait of Belle Isle]] and the [[Gulf of St. Lawrence]] to the southeast. The peninsula includes the region of [[Labrador]],<ref name="Albert Peter Low and the exploration of Quebec-Labrador">{{cite web |author1=Fabien Caron |title=Albert Peter Low and the exploration of Quebec-Labrador |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cgq/1965-v9-n18-cgq2593/020595ar.pdf |website=Érudit |publisher=Center for Nordic Studies, Laval University |access-date=23 August 2024 |pages=16 |language=en, fr |date=1965 |quote=... he had the consuming curiosity of the born explorer which must always see the other side of the hill or the other end of the river.}}</ref> which is part of the province of [[Newfoundland and Labrador]], and the regions of [[Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean]], [[Côte-Nord]], and [[Nord-du-Québec]], which are in the province of [[Quebec]]. It has an area of {{cvt|1,400,000|km2|sqmi|sigfig=3}}.

==Location and geography==
[[File:Typical landscape scenery of the Labrador Peninsula.jpg|right|thumb|Typical landscape scenery of the interior of the Labrador Peninsula, taken near [[Schefferville, Quebec]], in summer, 2021]]
[[File:Nain Labrador 2008.JPG|thumb|A hillside at [[Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador|Nain]], east coast of the peninsula on a September 2008 autumn day]]
The peninsula is surrounded by sea on all sides, except for the southwest where it widens into the general continental mainland. The northwestern part of the Labrador Peninsula is shaped as a lesser peninsula, the [[Ungava Peninsula]], surrounded by Hudson Bay, the [[Hudson Strait]], and [[Ungava Bay]]. The northernmost point of the Ungava Peninsula, [[Cape Wolstenholme]], also serves as the northernmost point of the Labrador Peninsula and of the province of Quebec. The peninsula is a [[plateau]] threaded by river valleys. There are several mountain ranges. The [[Torngat Mountains]], located in the northern part of the peninsula, contain the highest point of the peninsula, [[Mount Caubvick]], which at {{convert|1652|m|ft}} is also the highest point of mainland Canada east of [[Alberta]]. The mountains also host [[Torngat Mountains National Park]], the only national park of Canada on the Labrador Peninsula. The park is located in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, whereas the adjacent [[Kuururjuaq National Park]] is located in the province of Quebec.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

===Hydrology===
Due to it being covered almost entirely by the [[Canadian Shield]] — a vast, rocky plateau with a history of glaciation — the peninsula has a large number of lakes. The province of Quebec alone has more than half a million<ref>{{Citation |title=L'eau. La vie. L'avenir. Politique nationale de l'eau |language=fr |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale du Québec |url=http://www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/eau/politique/politique-integral.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/eau/politique/politique-integral.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |isbn=2-550-40074-7 |year=2002}}</ref> lakes of varying size. The largest body of water on the Labrador Peninsula is the [[Smallwood Reservoir]], but the largest natural lake is [[Lake Mistassini]]. Other lakes of note include the [[Manicouagan Reservoir]], the [[Caniapiscau Reservoir]], and the [[La Grande 2 Reservoir|La Grande 2]] and [[La Grande 3 Reservoir|La Grande 3]] reservoirs. Due to a history of hydroelectric development, the majority of the larger freshwater lakes on the peninsula are reservoirs. In addition to an abundance of lakes, the peninsula also has many rivers. The longest, the La Grande River, is {{convert|900|km|mi}} long and flows westwards across nearly half the peninsula. Other rivers of note include the [[Eastmain River]], [[Rupert River]], and [[Churchill River (Atlantic)|Churchill River]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}

==History==
Prior to European colonization, the peninsula was inhabited chiefly by [[Cree]] people, notably the [[Innu]] Nation in the southeast area of the peninsula, who referred to their country as ''[[Nitassinan]]'' (ᓂᑕᔅᓯᓇᓐ), meaning "our land" in the [[Innu language]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Nitassinan: The Innu Struggle to Reclaim Their Homeland |publisher=[[Douglas & McIntyre]] |date=December 1991 |page=240 |last=Wadden |first=Marie |author-link=Marie Wadden |isbn=978-1-55365-731-6 |url=http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/nitassinan |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121161501/http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/nitassinan |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-21 |access-date=2012-11-19 }}</ref> Other peoples on the peninsula include the East Cree of [[Eeyou Istchee (territory)|Eeyou Istchee (ᐄᔨᔨᐤ/ᐄᔨᔫ/ᐄᓅ ᐊᔅᒌ)]], the [[Naskapi]] whose territories are called ''St'aschinuw'' (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, also meaning "our land")<ref>{{cite book|last=MacKenzie|first=Marguerite|title=Naskapi Lexicon|year=1994|publisher=Naskapi Development Corp|location=Kawawachikamach, Quebec}}</ref> as well as the [[Inuit]] of [[Nunavik]], [[Nunatsiavut]] and [[NunatuKavut]]. The area became known as ''[[Markland]]'' in [[Greenlandic Norse]] and its inhabitants were known as the ''[[Skræling]]''.

It is widely accepted that the peninsula is named after Portuguese explorer [[João Fernandes Lavrador]]. He was granted a patent by King [[Manuel I of Portugal]] in 1499 that gave him the right to explore that part of the Atlantic Ocean as set out in the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]]. Together with [[Pero de Barcelos]], he first sighted Labrador in 1498, and charted the coasts of southwestern [[Greenland]] and of adjacent the northeastern [[North America]] around 1498 and gave notice of them in Portugal and Europe. His landowner status allowed him to use the title ''lavrador'', Portuguese for "farmer" or "landholder", but "labrador" in Spanish and Galician means "agricultural worker" ({{IPA|pt|lɐvɾɐˈðoɾ}}). He actually gave the name of ''Terra do Lavrador'' to Greenland, which was the first land that he sighted, but eventually, the name was spread to all areas until it was set for Labrador.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/portuguese.html |title=The Portuguese Explorers |publisher=Memorial University of Newfoundland |access-date=24 October 2011}}</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Peninsulas of Quebec]]
[[Category:Peninsulas of Newfoundland and Labrador]]
[[Category:Landforms of Nord-du-Québec]]
[[Category:Landforms of Côte-Nord]]
[[Category:Landforms of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean]]