Editing Bas-Saint-Laurent (section)

=== Situation and political divisions ===
[[File:MRC Bas-Saint-Laurent.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Map of Bas-Saint-Laurent with regional counties]]
The Bas-Saint-Laurent is a region in the East of Quebec, delimited to the north by the [[Saint Lawrence River]], to the south by [[New-Brunswick]] and [[Maine]], to the east by the [[Gaspé Peninsula]] and to the west by Côte-du-Sud.{{sfn|Fortin|Lechasseur|1993|p=30}} It extends over an area of {{convert|28319|km2|abbr=on}}, with {{convert|22141|km2|abbr=on}} of land area, which represents a bit less than 2% of the total area of [[Quebec]],{{sfn|Bulletin statistique régional|2013|p=2}} however, this area also represents 10% of the inhabited area of Quebec, or about half the land area of [[Switzerland]].{{sfn|Fortin|Lechasseur|1993|p=30}}

The region is divided into eight [[Regional county municipality|Regional county municipalities]] (RCM), which contain 130 municipalities.{{sfn|Bulletin statistique régional|2013|p=2}} Bas Saint-Laurent contained 200,462 inhabitants in 2011, of which 55,400 were in its most populous RCM, [[Rimouski-Neigette Regional County Municipality|Rimouski-Neigette]]. Otherwise, the least populous RCM of the region is [[Les Basques RCM|Les Basques]], with only 9,000 inhabitants in 2011, a number which decreased by 1,300 since 1996, making it also the RCM with the highest annual rate of population decrease of the region, with a rate of 9.6% between 2006 and 2011.{{sfn|Bulletin statistique régional|2013|p=3}}

Forested areas and waterways dominate the land use of Bas-Saint-Laurent. The region counts {{convert|100071|km2|abbr=on}} of [[Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest|mixed forests]], {{convert|4918|km2|abbr=on}} of [[Temperate coniferous forest|coniferous forests]] and {{convert|6177|km|abbr=on}} of waterways. Humid lands only covers {{convert|58|km2|abbr=on}} and the land devoted to agriculture covers {{convert|2819|km2|abbr=on}}, while developed areas represent only {{convert|143|km2|abbr=on}}, which equals to 0.5% of the total land area of the region.{{sfn|Bulletin statistique régional|2013|p=2}}