 The last phase of this evolution took place when some inland communities started to decline and its centres of activity were reinforced.The Bas-Saint-Laurent is a region in the East of Quebec, delimited to the north by the Saint Lawrence River, to the south by New-Brunswick and Maine, to the east by the Gaspé Peninsula and to the west by Côte-du-Sud.It extends over an area of , with of land area, which represents a bit less than 2% of the total area of Quebec, however, this area also represents 10% of the inhabited area of Quebec, or about half the land area of Switzerland.