The national parks of Quebec are protected areas created by the provincial government of Quebec in order to protect territories representative of natural regions of the province or sites of exceptional character while making them accessible to the public for educational purposes or extensive recreation. As of December 2013, there are 29 national parks in Quebec which protect an area of 37,444.91 kilometres (23,267.19 mi), or about 2.2% of the territory of the province. Most of them are administered by the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (Sépaq) with the exception of four parks administered by Nunavik Parks, and one park jointly administered by Parks Canada and Sépaq.