tongue of 84.9% of residents in 2021. The next most common mother tongues were the Cree-Innu languages at 7.8% total, followed by English at 4.5%. 0.6% reported both English and French as their first language. Additionally, there were 0.8% who reported both French and a non-official language as their mother tongue, mostly speakers of Cree-Innu languages. Speakers of Cree-Innu languages mostly live in Pessamit and Uashat-Maliotenam. English speakers mostly live in Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality. As of 2021, Indigenous peoples comprised 16.2% of the population and visible minorities contributed 1.5%. The largest visible minority groups in Côte-Nord are Black (0.7%), Arab (0.2%), and Latin American (0.2%). The region is home to 280 recent immigrants (i.e. those arriving between 2016 and 2021). 130 of them come from various African countries. In 2021, 71.3% of the population identified as Catholic, while 19.6% said they had no religious affiliation. Anglicans were the largest religious minority, at 1.9% of the population, while Muslims were the largest non-Christian religious minority, making up 0.4% of the population. Counting both single and multiple responses, the most commonly identified ethnocultural ancestries were: (Percentages may total more than 100% due to rounding and multiple responses). Major communities Baie-Comeau Fermont Forestville Havre-Saint-Pierre Pessamit Port-Cartier Sept-Îles Exploration The Côte-Nord region was gradually explored by French colonists during the centuries with the help of natives. However it is worth noting the contribution of Henry de Puyjalon (1841-1905), a pioneer in ecology who devoted his life to the exploration of this region. See also Mingan Archipelago Quebec Route 138 Maritime Quebec References External links Regional Portal Côte-Nord Tourism Administrative regions of Quebec