Inbreeding and kinship in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean: a study of newborn samples 1956-1971

Samples of individuals born between 1956 and 1971 proportional to the population size of each parish of Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean (SLSJ) were extracted from a computerized population register. The mean inbreeding and kinship coefficients were calculated for each sample. Our results showed that inbreeding and kinship were unevenly distributed in the SLSJ region. The highest values of inbreeding and kinship were found in Bas-Saguenay, an isolated subregion of SLSJ, and in rural parishes. It was also found that the mean inbreeding and kinship coefficients had higher values in parishes that opened between 1872 and 1901 than those opened earlier or later.