What is "mauricie"

Mauricie is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,855.22 km² (13,843.78 sq mi) and a 2006 census population of 258,928 residents. Its largest cities are Trois-Rivières and Shawinigan.

The word Mauricie was coined by local priest and historian Albert Tessier and is based on the Saint-Maurice river which runs through the region on a North-South axis.

Mauricie administrative region was created on August 20, 1997 from the split of Mauricie–Bois-Francs administrative region into Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec. However, the concept of Mauricie as a traditional region long predates this.