Laval (surname)

Laval is a French surname that may refer to

Laval

Laval is the name of several places and people:

Places

Belgium

Canada

France

Laval, Quebec

Laval (/ləˈvæl/; French pronunciation: [laval]) is a Canadian city located in southwestern Quebec, north of Montreal. It forms its own administrative region of Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the thirteenth largest city in Canada with a population of 401,553 in 2011.

Laval is geographically separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. Laval occupies all of Île Jésus as well as the Îles Laval.

Laval constitutes region 13 of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec as well as a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) with geographical code 65. It also constitutes the judicial district of Laval.

History

The first European Settlers were Jesuits in 1636 when they were granted a seigneury there. Agriculture first appeared in Laval in 1670. In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval gained control of the seigneury. In 1702 a parish municipality was founded, and dedicated to Saint-François de Sales (not to be confused with the modern-day Saint-François-de-Sales in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean). The first municipalities on the island were created in 1845, after nearly 200 years of a rural nature. The only built-up area on the island, Sainte-Rose, was incorporated as a village in 1850, and remained as the main community for the remainder of the century. With the dawn of the 20th century came urbanization. Laval-des-Rapides became Laval's first city in 1912, followed by L'Abord-à-Plouffe being granted village status three years later. Laval-sur-le-Lac was founded in the same year on its tourist-based economy from Montrealers. Laval began to grow throughout the following years, due to its proximity to Montreal that made it an ideal suburb.

Laval (electoral district)

Laval was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917, 1949 to 1979, and from 2004 to 2015.

Geography

The district included the neighbourhoods of Chomedey, Laval-des-Rapides and Fabreville in the City of Laval. The neighbouring ridings were Papineau, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, Laval—Les Îles, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, and Alfred-Pellan.

History

The electoral district of Laval was created in 1867 covering the entire County of Laval (now the City of Laval). In 1914, Laval riding was abolished. The district of Laval—Two Mountains was created from Laval and Two Mountains.

In 1947, the new district of Laval was created from Laval—Two Mountains and Mercier. In 1976, riding was abolished when it was redistributed into Laval-des-Rapides and Mille-Îles ridings.

In 1977, a new Laval riding was created. In 1990, it was renamed Laval West.

In 2003, a new Laval riding was created from Laval Centre and Laval West ridings.