The first inhabitants of the area were varying cultures of aboriginal peoples. The
Montagnais or
Innu people, who call it
Uashat ("Great Bay"), have lived there since before the time of European encounter.
Jacques Cartier sailed by the islands in 1535 and made the first written record of them, calling them the
Ysles Rondes ("Round Islands"). He was not the first European in the area, as he encountered
Basque fishermen who came annually from Europe for whaling and cod fishing. In 1875, the parish of Saint-Joseph-des-Sept-Îles was created, and in 1886, its post office opened under the English name "Seven Islands" (which was francized to "Sept-Îles" in 1933). In 1952, the HBC built a new store, which was extended in 1954, and expanded with a groceteria in 1956 and a distribution warehouse in 1959. With the iron ore business, the Sept-Îles deep-water seaport was second in Canada only to
Vancouver in terms of yearly tonnage. The huge engineering project led to a major increase in population, and housing was quickly built to accommodate them. The town grew from 2,000 inhabitants in 1951 to 14,000 in 1961, and 31,000 in 1981. The decline in worldwide iron ore prices in recent decades has since caused employment and population to decrease. On January 11, 1986, the HBC store closed. During the early 1990s, some new jobs accompanied the construction and operation of the new Aluminerie Alouette inc. aluminum processing plant. Construction for Phase 1 began in September 1989, and operation started in 1992. Construction of Phase 2 began in 2003. In February 2003, the city amalgamated with the municipalities of Gallix and
Moisie. The city includes the neighbourhoods of Arnaud,
Clarke-City,
De Grasse, de la Pointe, de la Rivière, Ferland, La Boule, Lac Labrie, Matamec, Plages,
Pointe-Noire and Val-Marguerite. ==Geography ==