Jonquière

City in Chicoutimi County, southern Québec; population (1991) 58,000. Jonquière lies 8 km/5 mi west of Chicoutimi and 175 km/109 mi north of Québec City, on the Saguenay River and the River aux Sables.

Together with Chicoutimi, Jonquière forms the industrial hub of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean area. Founded in 1847, it was a farming community before about 1900, when it became a centre for lumber, sawmilling and wood-pulp production. In the 1920s, neighbouring Arvida was established as a company town by the Alcan aluminium concern. In 1976 Jonquière absorbed Arvida and Kénogami. Pulp and paper manufacture and aluminum smelting still form the basis of the economy. The Collège de Jonquière (1967) is sited here. The experimental Pont d'Aluminum (Aluminium Bridge, 1948) and the Shipshaw Dam attract visitors.