Atlantic Canada facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Atlantic Canada Provinces de l'Atlantique  (French)
Atlantic Canada (red) within the rest of Canada
Composition	New Brunswick  Newfoundland and Labrador  Nova Scotia  Prince Edward Island
Largest metro	Halifax
Area
• Total	500,531 km2 (193,256 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	2,409,874
• Estimate  (Q1 2022)	2,488,472
• Density	4.814635/km2 (12.469847/sq mi)

Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces, is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime Provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island – and the easternmost province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The population of the four Atlantic provinces in 2016 was about 2,300,000 on half a million km². The provinces combined had an approximate GDP of $121.888 billion in 2011. The term Atlantic Canada was popularized following the admission of Newfoundland as a Canadian province in 1949.

History

The first Premier of Newfoundland, Joey Smallwood, coined the term "Atlantic Canada" when Newfoundland joined the Dominion of Canada in 1949. He believed that it would have been presumptuous for Newfoundland to assume that it could include itself within the existing term "Maritime Provinces", used to describe the cultural similarities shared by New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. The three Maritime provinces entered into confederation during the 19th century: New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were founding members of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, and Prince Edward Island joined in 1873. Today Atlantic Canada is a culturally distinct region of Canada, with the original founding cultures of Celtic, English and French remaining strong and vibrant to this day.

Although Quebec has physical Atlantic coasts on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Ungava Bay, and the Hudson Strait, it is generally not considered an Atlantic Province.

Communities

2016 census figures for "Metropolitan Areas" (broadest definition, includes entire municipalities and all commuter municipalities) and "Population Centres" (limited to actual continuously-built-up area) in Atlantic Canada. The list includes communities above 15,000, by Metropolitan Area population, or 10,000 by Population Centre population.

Demographics

The following table provides 2021 census figures for "Metropolitan Areas" (built from entire municipalities) and "Population Centres" (limited to actual continuously-built-up areas) in Atlantic Canada. The list includes communities above 15,000, by Metropolitan Area population, or 10,000 by Population Centre population.

Images for kids

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  French map of New France and Atlantic Canada, published around 1799

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  Historical map showing parts of the Atlantic Canada

See also

In Spanish: Provincias atlánticas de Canadá para niños