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Caraquet

Caraquet (English: /ˈkɑːrəkɛt/ French pronunciation: [kaʁakɛt]) is a town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada.

Situated on the shore of Chaleur Bay in the Acadian Peninsula, its name is derived from the Mi'kmaq term for meeting of two rivers. The Caraquet River and Rivière du Nord flow into the Caraquet Bay west of the town.

On 1 January 2023, the town was greatly enlarged by annexing the village of Bas-Caraquet and all or part of seven local service districts; the annexed communities' names remain in official use. Revised census figures have not been released.

Caraquet was first settled by Gabriel Giraud dit St-Jean who was a French trader and merchant. He married a Mi'kmaq woman and settled in Lower Caraquet. After the expulsion of the Acadians from southern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in 1755, some Acadians settled in Upper Caraquet. Led by Alexis Landry in 1757, the original town site was founded at what is now called Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage. The land was officially granted for the town in 1774 through the Royal Proclamation to 34 families of Acadian, Normand and Mi'kmaq origins.[citation needed]

The town is called Acadia's capital by its residents. Caraquet hosts the annual Acadian Festival held each August, with the culmination being the Tintamarre on August 15. 48.2% of people aged over 15 years have a certificate, diploma or post-secondary degree, compared to 44.6% for the province.

The Mi'kmaq were the first to have visited the region, as early as 4000 years ago. Objects have been discovered in the port but it is thought they used the place as a camp and not as a village. The Vikings had visited the region from the year one thousand. Jacques Cartier explored the surrounding area in 1534. In 1713, Great Britain obtained Acadia in the Treaty of Utrecht. Caraquet was founded around 1731 by the Breton Gabriel Giraud dit Saint-Jean. It stood on the present site of the border with Bas-Caraquet.

In 1755, the British took Fort Beauséjour and began the deportation of the Acadians. A group of survivors led by Alexis Landry took refuge in Caraquet in 1757 at a place called Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage. Several privateers, Captain Saint-Simon and survivors of the Battle of the Restigouche took refuge in the village of Gabriel Giraud in 1760. The following year, Pierre du Calvet made a census of the Chaleur Bay, whose purpose was to determine where and how many Acadians were hiding there. In retaliation for the Battle, Roderick MacKenzie captured most of the refugees, including 20 people of the 174 then in Caraquet. The rest of the population emigrated to other places in the Bay of Chaleur, especially Miscou and Bonaventure.

In 1763, Great Britain finally dispossessed Louis XV of North America in the Treaty of Paris. George III's Royal Proclamation of 1763 and administrative changes the next year then allowed Acadians on land not occupied by the British. Most families returned to Caraquet from 1766. Bourdages Raymond founded a fishing station in 1762 but it was the target of attacks by American privateers in 1776 and by Micmac in 1779. In 1784, François Gionet walked to Halifax where the Great Grant was obtained, legalizing the occupation of Caraquet by 34 families of 57 km2.[citation needed] Families of Norman fishermen had meanwhile established themselves in town and were followed by French Canadians.

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town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada
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