The municipality is bordered on the north side by the Petite-Nation River and on the south side by Pentecost Bay of the Ottawa River.
History
The Parish of Sainte-Angélique was formed in 1851, and the parish municipality with the same name was created in 1855. It was named after Angélique-Louise Cornud, wife of Denis-Benjamin Papineau, who donated land for the construction of the church and the rectory.[4]
Also in 1855, a post office was established with the name Papineauville. This may be named in honour of one of two persons named Papineau: Joseph Papineau (1752–1841), father of Louis-Joseph Papineau, who in 1801 bought the lordship of the Petite-Nation where the town formed; or Denis-Benjamin Papineau (1789–1854), brother of Louis-Joseph and husband of Angélique-Louise, and considered the founder of this place.[5]
In 1896, the Village Municipality of Papineauville separated from Sainte-Angélique. Its first mayor was Henri Bourassa.[5]
On November 29, 2000, the Village Municipality of Papineauville and the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Angélique were reunited and merged into the new Municipality of Papineauville.[5] The name Sainte-Angélique now identifies the sector of Papineauville which corresponds to the territory of the former parish municipality.[4]
On January 1, 2002, about 13 square kilometres (5.0 sq mi) of the Presqu'île Peninsula in the Ottawa River was transferred to the municipality of Plaisance.