Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!

Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!
Parish municipality
Church tower in Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!
Coat of arms
Motto(s):  Solidaire dans le labeur (French) "Solidarity in work"
Location within Témiscouata RCM
Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! Location in eastern Quebec
Coordinates: 47°40′N 68°59′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Bas-Saint-Laurent
RCM	Témiscouata
Named	1874
Constituted	14 July 1874
Government [2]
• Mayor	Mélissa Lord
• Federal riding	Rimouski-Neigette— Témiscouata—Les Basques
• Prov. riding	Rivière-du-Loup–Témiscouata
Area [2][3]
• Total	110.50 km^2 (42.66 sq mi)
• Land	112.23 km^2 (43.33 sq mi)
	There is an apparent contradiction between two authoritative sources
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	1,311
• Density	11.7/km^2 (30/sq mi)
• Pop 2016-2021	1.5%
• Dwellings	594
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G0L 3S0
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Highways	Trans-Canada Highway
Website	www.saintlouisduhaha.com

Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ lwi dy a a]) is a parish municipality in the Témiscouata Regional County Municipality of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. The population is 1,311.[3] Its economy is mainly agricultural. It is located southeast of Rivière-du-Loup and west of Cabano along the Trans-Canada Highway (Route 185), about halfway to Edmundston in New Brunswick.

A Canada Post sign in Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!

The Commission de toponymie du Québec asserts that the parish's name refers to nearby Lake Témiscouata, the sense of haha here being an archaic French word for an impasse;[4] see Ha-ha. The Louis may refer to Louis Marquis, one of the first colonists of the region, or Louis-Antoine Proulx, vicar of Rivière-du-Loup, or perhaps the abbot Louis-Nicolas Bernier.[1] Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! is the only town in the world with two exclamation points in its name, and shares the distinction of having an exclamation point in its name with Westward Ho!, a village in Devon, in south-west England.[4]

History

The parish began in 1860 as the site of a Catholic mission; it was named in 1874.[5]

In September 2017, the municipality established a Guinness World Record for the "Most exclamation marks in a town name".[6]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! had a population of 1,311 living in 552 of its 594 total private dwellings, a change of 1.5% from its 2016 population of 1,292. With a land area of 112.23 km^2 (43.33 sq mi), it had a population density of 11.7/km^2 (30.3/sq mi) in 2021.[7]

See also

• Baie des Ha! Ha!: A bay on the Saint Lawrence River in the Côte-Nord region.[8]
• Baie des Ha! Ha!: A bay on the Saguenay River in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region.[9]
• Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone
• Hamilton!, Ohio, United States, city that briefly added an exclamation point to its name
• List of parish municipalities in Quebec
• Rivière Ha! Ha!: A river in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.[10]
• Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, United States; a town that renamed itself after a radio show
• Westward Ho!, a village in Devon, England

The church of Saint-Louis-du-Ha!-Ha!

References

1. "Banque de noms de lieux du Québec: Reference number 57133". toponymie.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec.
2. "Répertoire des municipalités: Geographic code 13080". www.mamh.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation.
3. "Census Profile, 2021 Census, Statistics Canada - Validation Error".
4. Jeffries, Stuart (29 April 2009). "The joy of exclamation marks!". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
5. "TransCanadaHighway.com St Louis du Ha Ha, Quebec". TransCanada FoundLocally Inc. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
6. "Saint Louis du Ha!Ha! gets Guinness World Record nod for its exclamation marks". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
7. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
8. "Baie des Ha! Ha!". Commission de toponymie du Québec. Archived from the original on 2019-08-14. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
9. "Baie des Ha! Ha!". Commission de toponymie du Québec. Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
10. "Rivière Ha! Ha!". Commission de toponymie du Québec. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2012-02-29.

External links

Media related to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! at Wikimedia Commons

• Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official website (in French)
• fr:Ha! Ha! (in French), a disambiguation page in the French Wikipedia for "Ha! Ha!" place names in Quebec