Quaqtaq is a northern village (Inuit community) in Nunavik, northern Quebec, Canada. Its population was 453 in the Canada 2021 Census. The village is one of the northernmost inhabited places in Quebec, located on the eastern shore of Diana Bay (Tuvaaluk in the Inuktitut language), on a peninsula which protrudes into the Hudson Strait where it meets Ungava Bay. The name Quaqtaq signifies tapeworm. According to local folklore, this name derives from a man who once came to the area to hunt beluga and found live parasites in his feces. His hunting companions began to call the place Quaqtaq. Inaccessible by road, Quaqtaq is served by the small Quaqtaq Airport.

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that people have occupied the area around Quaqtaq for about 3500 years. Thule people, the ancestors of today's Inuit, arrived around 1400 or 1500 AD. In 1947, a Roman Catholic mission opened in Quaqtaq. The present-day settlement was established after a trading post first established in 1927 at Iggiajaaq, a few kilometres south-west, was finally closed in 1950. After a measles epidemic killed 11 adults in 1952, the Canadian government began delivering basic services to the community. A nursing station was built in 1963. In the 1960s, the Quebec government opened a store and a post office equipped with a radio-telephone. In 1974, the store became a co-operative and, in 1978, Quaqtaq was legally established as a Northern village. Since 1996, policing is provided by the Kativik Regional Police Force.

Climate

Quaqtaq is located on the coast of Ungava Bay. Due to its location at 61 degrees north latitude and the influence of cold currents, the temperature in this area is much lower than other areas at the same latitude. The climate type of Quaqtaq is a typical tundra climate (Köppen: ETf), because the average temperature in the warmest July and August is only 6.3 C, while the hottest month in areas with similar latitudes is much higher than it, such as Anchorage is 15.3 C, and Bergen is 15.6 C, while inland Yakutsk can reach 19.9 C.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Quaqtaq had a population of 453 living in 144 of its 173 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 403. With a land area of 25.82 km2, it had a population density of in 2021. Population trend: Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 144 (total dwellings: 173)

Education

The Kativik School Board operates the Isummasaqvik School.

People

Notable people from the community include musicians Beatrice Deer and Jaaji Uppik.