Newfoundland & Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is Canada's youngest province and also the most eastern land in North America. The province is divided into two parts: Labrador is the mainland portion, and the large, roughly triangular island of Newfoundland is the smaller but more populous section of the province.

Labrador lies along the northeast boundary of Quebec and is about two-and-a-half times the size of Newfoundland. The island, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, lies off the coast of Labrador in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, northeast of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Newfoundland is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Belle Isle and Cabot Strait. A rocky coastal barrier hides the protected harbor where the capital city of St. John's now stands.

General Information

Name: In 1497, explorer John Cabot discovered a way through the coastal barrier into the harbor. After Cabot's discovery, the island became known as the New-Found-Land. The rocky coastline gives the province its nickname of the Rock. It was also known as Terra Nova, which is Latin for "new land." The province's official name was updated to "Newfoundland and Labrador" by consitutional amendment in 2001.

Provincial Symbols

• Bird: Atlantic puffin
• Flower: Pitcher plant
• Tree: Black spruce
• Motto: Quaerite Prime Regnum Dei (Latin: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God")

Capital: The harbor city of St. John's, on Newfoundland's southeastern Avalon Peninsula, is the capital, largest city, and commercial center of the province. It is said that Cabot made his discovery on St. John's Day and named the site accordingly.

People & Culture

Population: In 2021, the population of Newfoundland and Labrador was estimated at 520,553. Approximately 108,860 people lived in St. John's at the time of the 2016 census, while the metropolitan area included almost 100,000 more people. Other major cities in the province include Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor, and Bay Roberts.

Because of historic reliance on the fishing industry of the Grand Banks, the population of the province is heaviest on the Avalon Peninsula and in the northeastern part of Newfoundland. According to the 2016 census, more than 512,000 inhabitants of the province spoke English as their first language, and about 2,200 spoke French as their first language. Over 2,400 people reported another language as their first, and a significant minority were multilingual. In addition to the British and French, there are also many of Aboriginal, Eastern and Southern European, and East and Southeast Asian descent.

Newfoundland and Labrador is the only Canadian province with a majority of Protestants. The Roman Catholic Church, with 309,455 self-identified members in 2011, is the largest Christian denomination, but the combined totals of the Protestant denominations represent a roughly 60 percent majority among Christian groups in the province. An estimated 311,105 report having no religious affiliation.

Non-Christian religions, representing 5 percent of the population, include Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Islam.

Indigenous People: Among the original inhabitants of Newfoundland were the Beothuks, who spent the spring and summer along the coast and moved inland for fall and winter. After European colonization, they allied with neither the British nor the French. As Europeans began to heavily fish the region, they and the First Peoples were in direct competition for the same resource. The last known Beothuk died of tuberculosis in 1829.

The Naskapi, or Innu, traditionally lived in both Newfoundland and Labrador. Today, their descendants live primarily in two communities in central and northern Labrador. They are organized as the Innu Nation.

The Inuit arrived in Labrador from arctic Canada in the eleventh or twelfth century. They have five primary communities in northern Labrador and smaller communities throughout the peninsula. The Labrador Inuit Association represents this population.

The Qalipu Mi'kmaqs traditionally lived in Newfoundland and widely intermarried with settlers. The group only gained federal recognition as a First Nation in 2011. Controversy arose when tens of thousands of people subsequently tried to enroll as Qalipu Mi'kmaqs; some other Mi'kmaq groups questioned the legitimacy of many of these claims and therefore the Qalipu band as a whole. Some applicants were disqualified and an array of legal challenges were launched. The Canadian federal government and the Federation of Newfoundland Indians (FNI) extended a deadline to review enrollment applications multiple times, and negotiations carred on for years. In 2021 Indigenous Services Canada suspended talks around increasing Qalipu membership, noting the ongoing legal issues.

Europeans and First Peoples, especially Inuit, intermarried, giving rise to the Labrador Métis or NunatuKavut people. This group lives in several communities along Labrador's central and south coast. The NunatuKavut Community Council (formerly the Labrador Métis Association) has sought to win official Aboriginal status from the government.

Arts & Entertainment: Farley Mowat, author of Never Cry Wolf (1963), A Whale for the Killing (1972), and other books on nature and the north, lived in Newfoundland for several years. In 1989, he published New Founde Land, about the history of Newfoundland. Husband and wife painters Chris and Mary Pratt and poet E. J. Pratt, who won the Lorne Pierce Medal, also called Newfoundland home.

The province abounds in museums celebrating provincial and local history, aviation, transatlantic communication, and the trades of fishing and logging. The cultural facility known as the Rooms is based in St. John's, and also has three regional museums. The Grand Bank branch is also known as the Provincial Seamen's Museum. The Mary March Provincial Museum, located in Grand Falls-Windsor, contains the only known artifacts of the extinct Beothuk and highlights five thousand years of Aboriginal history. The Labrador Interpretation Centre displays information about the First Peoples and settlers of Labrador. The Logger's Life Provincial Museum, which closed in 2017, was dedicated to the logging industry.

Theatre companies include Theatre Newfoundland Labrador based in Corner Brook and the Stephenville Theatre Festival in Stephenville.

The province has a strong tradition of folk music and celebrates numerous folk festivals throughout the summer. The South Coast Arts Festival in English Harbour West, Newfoundland, held in June, features musicians, poets, photographers, and representatives of other arts and crafts. A campsite is located next to the festival grounds.

Environment & Geography

Newfoundland and Labrador is the largest of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, with 405,720 square kilometers (252,103 square miles) of land area. Numerous lakes and rivers contribute to the 34,030 square kilometers (21,145 square miles) of water area. The coastline is 17,000 kilometers (10,900 miles) long.

Natural resources include fish, minerals, wood pulp, oil, gas, and hydroelectric power.

Topography: The province lies at the northeastern end of the Appalachian Mountain range. The Torngat Mountains dominate the northern Labrador coast. Southern Labrador includes large expanses of wetlands such as bogs and fens. Newfoundland and southern and central Labrador support a boreal (northern) forest.

The largest lakes in the province are Michikamau (5,050 square kilometers; 1,950 square miles) in southwest Labrador, saltwater Melville Lake (2,934 square kilometers; 1,133 square miles) on the southeast Labrador coast, Grand Lake (531 square kilometers; 205 square miles) near Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and Lake Double Mer (1,960 square kilometers; 140 square miles) in southeast Labrador.

The largest river is the Churchill, at 335 kilometers (208 miles) long, which rises near Quebec and flows to the Atlantic Ocean. The Exploits River, at 322 kilometers (200 miles), is the longest river in Newfoundland, rising in the southwestern part of the island and flowing east-northeast to Exploits Bay. The Gander River, 177 kilometers (110 miles) long, rises south of Grand Falls, Newfoundland, and flows northeast to Gander Bay.

The province's highest point is Mount Caubvik, 1,652 meters (5,419 feet), in Quebec and Labrador.

National Parks: Two of the province's national parks are on Newfoundland. Terra Nova, at Glovertown on the east coast, offers interpretive programs, boat tours, hiking, fishing, and picnicking. Gros Morne, on the west coast, provides facilities for camping and fishing. The third national park, Torngat Mountains, stretches from Saglek Fjord to the northern tip of Labrador and offers visitors guided excursions to Inuit spiritual and cultural sites.

In addition, the province has several official national historic sites. One of them, L'Anse aux Meadows, is the site of the only known Viking settlement in North America. Signal Hill in St. John's is where Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal in 1901.

Plants and Animals: Plants in northern Labrador include low shrubs, mosses, lichens, small herbaceous plants, and spruce. Southern Labrador also has some deciduous trees such as aspen and mountain ash. Small herbaceous plants, lichen, and moss are common on Newfoundland, and seaweed grows on the coast.

Animals commonly found in the north include the polar bear, caribou, musk ox, arctic wolf, arctic fox, arctic hare, lemming, and a variety of voles. Many birds nest in the area. Southern animals include moose, black bear, Canada lynx, red fox, pine marten, short-tailed weasel, mink, beaver, muskrat, and river otter.

Newfoundland has fewer native species, but introduced animals include the beaver, muskrat, moose, snowshoe hare, red squirrel, striped chipmunk, and masked shrew. Along the shore there are barnacles, limpets, periwinkles, mussels, sea anemones, sea slugs, sea urchins, sea stars, and crabs. Puffins and northern gannets nest there.

The Grand Banks, one of the greatest fishing spots in the world, are located off Newfoundland. Marine life includes cod, sculpins, cunners, dolphins, porpoises, whales, and seals. Fishing rights and overfishing in the area have become international issues of concern. The killing of seals for their fur also remains a contested issue.

Climate: Newfoundland has a moderate, maritime climate, with winter temperatures ranging from around -5 to 0 degrees Celsius (23 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit) and summer temperatures of about 10 to 20 degrees Celsius (50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit). Labrador, with a continental climate, experiences winter temperatures of approximately -25 to -10 degrees Celsius (-13 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit). The mainland summers are shorter, with average temperatures of about 5 to 15 degrees Celsius (41 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit).

Economy

For much of Canadian history, Newfoundland and Labrador has been one of the nation's poorer provinces. Historically heavily dependent on the fishing and forestry industries, the provincial economy suffered greatly with the depletion of hardwood trees and then the moratorium on cod fishing in the early 1990s due to the collapse of the fish population. Unemployment skyrocketed and many workers left the province. However, in the twenty-first century Newfoundland and Labrador experienced a major economic boom thanks to its important energy production and other natural resources. Still, many manufacturing jobs are seasonal and subject to market volatility.

Energy has become Newfoundland and Labrador's most important export. The companies Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Newfoundland Power generate far more electricity than used in the province itself, and analysts suggest that there is even more untapped generating capacity, mainly from hydropower. Despite a focus on renewable resources due to the threat of climate change, the oil industry also remains important. There are several major offshore oil rigs that are subject to provincial tax through special agreement with the federal government.

Major goods-producing industries in Newfoundland and Labrador include mining, manufacturing, and construction. Iron ore, nickel, and copper are the primary minerals mined in the province. Most of the iron ore comes from the Labrador City-Wabush area. Newfoundland and Labrador is the major producer of iron ore in Canada.

Processed fish and seafood also remain important exports. The fishing industry has recovered as the emphasis has moved from cod to other species, including salmon and shellfish, and aquaculture (fish farms) have developed. Forestry has been reduced to the production of pulp and paper, particularly newsprint, for export and limited amounts of lumber used domestically.

As in other provinces, service jobs have become a mainstay of the economy. Most of these are located in St. John's.

Tourism: Tourism is a growing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. Hunting, fishing, ecotours, and adventure activities attract tourists, primarily from Ontario, the Maritimes, and the United States.

Agriculture: Poor land and a short growing season limit the agricultural production of the province. Most agricultural products are consumed domestically. However, some grains and furs are sold outside the province.

Transportation: The province has no railroad or highway connecting it to the rest of Canada. Even Labrador and Newfoundland are accessible to each other only by boat or plane. A railroad across northern Newfoundland was replaced by an efficient bus service in 1988. A privately owned Quebec railway crosses western Labrador, with a branch to the iron ore mines.

Newfoundland has about 13,100 kilometers (8,100 miles) of good highways. Labrador has one highway, the unpaved 500-kilometer Trans-Labrador Highway.

Most of the province's eight main airports are on Newfoundland. Gander, in the middle of the island, is a major international stop. Other large airports are at St. John's, Stephenville, and Torbay. On the mainland, Goose Bay, Wabush, and St. Anthony have airports. Bush flights remain an important method of transportation in more remote areas.

Government & History

Government: The nominal head of the government of Newfoundland is the lieutenant governor, who acts as the queen's representative.

The real leader of the government is the premier. After each general election, the lieutenant governor asks the leader of the party with the most seats to form a government. A general election is held at least every five years.

The House of Assembly has forty-eight members, and the province is represented in Parliament by seven members of Parliament and six senators.

History: Archaeologists have suggested evidence of human inhabitation in Newfoundland and Labrador dating back as far as 8000 BCE. Ancient cultures in the region have been labeled the Maritime Archaic, the Palaeo-eskimo, and the Recent Indians. The latter are believed to have given rise to the Beothuk on Newfoundland and the Innu in Labrador. The Labrador Inuit descended from a people known as the Thule.

The first Europeans to visit Newfoundland were the Vikings, who are believed to have landed around 1000 CE. It is now widely thought that the island is the same one that Leif Erikson named Vinland. What is certain is that the Vikings built a settlement at what is now L'Anse aux Meadows. It is not known how long they stayed, though precise dating methods indicate they were there in 1021 CE. They called the native people they met Skraelings. Viking ships continued to cross the Atlantic to Newfoundland for about a hundred years.

The Indigenous peoples were then left alone until 1497 when John Cabot, sailing for England, found the way to St. John's harbor. For nearly another century, the New-Found-Land a few British merchants and the fishermen they hired attempted to keep the land's existence secret in order to avoid paying taxes to the British Crown. But with thirty thousand fishermen from half a dozen countries fishing the Grand Banks and rich harvests of fish arriving regularly in England, the secret eventually leaked out.

In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the island for Queen Elizabeth I and set up a trading stall on what is now the St. John's waterfront. He also began the tradition of the fishing admiral. The first captain to enter any harbor on the island each year was designated the fishing admiral and dictated the fishing industry for that season.

Settlement on Newfoundland was forbidden, but the law was widely disobeyed, even though to violate it was to risk death. Merchants and colonists were locked in a bitter struggle over the island.

In 1711, the island was placed under the naval governors, and the tradition of the fishing admiral ended. For the next hundred years, more laws forbidding settlements were passed, but settlement continued, abetted by the New England colonies. In 1811, settlement was finally made legal, land was granted, and settlers were allowed to build houses. By 1855, Newfoundland was a self-governing dominion within the British Empire.

By 1934, a world war and worldwide depression had bankrupted the dominion. Newfoundland once again became a colony of Great Britain. During World War II, the colony prospered, but after the war, the governor proposed joining Canada. A bitter campaign was waged, a referendum was held, and on March 31, 1949, Newfoundland joined with Labrador to become the youngest province in Canada.

Even into the twenty-first century, there were those who maintained that Confederation was a mistake and that Newfoundland should demand and receive its independence.

Trivia

• Newfoundland has its own, unique time zone, one-half hour ahead of the Atlantic Time Zone. While most of Labrador is in the Atlantic Time Zone, its southeast coast from L'anse Au Clair to Norman Bay is on Newfoundland time.
• Moose, an introduced species, are now so common on the island of Newfoundland that locals have referred to them as "Newfie speed bumps."
• On the island of Newfoundland there are no snakes, skunks, raccoons, porcupines or ragweed.

Bibliography

Conrad, Margaret. A Concise History of Canada. New York: Cambridge UP, 2012.

Economic Research and Analysis Division, Dept. of Finance. The Economy 2013. St. John's: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mar. 2013. PDF file.

Gibson, Diana, and Gregory L. Flanagan. Newfoundland and Labrador: Options for a Strong Economy. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2015. Digital file.

Marland, Alexander J., and Matthew Kerby. First among Unequals: The Premier, Politics, and Policy in Newfoundland and Labrador. Montreal: McGill-Queen's UP, 2014. Digital file.

Natcher, David C., Andrea H. Procter, and Larry Felt. Settlement, Subsistence and Change among the Labrador Inuit: The Nunatsiavummiut Experience. Winnipeg: U of Manitoba P, 2012.

"Newfoundland and Labrador." Census Profile, 2016 Census, Statistics Canada, 18 June 2019, www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm. Accessed 8 Nov. 2021.

Slumkoski, Corey James Arthur. Inventing Atlantic Canada: Regionalism and the Maritime Reaction to Newfoundland's Entry into Canadian Confederation. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2011.

Summers, W. F. "Newfoundland and Labrador." The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, 16 Apr. 2021, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/newfoundland-and-labrador. Accessed 8 Nov. 2021.