PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

one of the four Atlantic Provinces of Canada. The country's smallest province, it lies in the southern sector of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and is separated from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the Northumberland Strait. Its capital is Charlottetown. Before the European explorations, the island was frequently used by Micmac Indians for fishing, hunting, and some planting. The Micmacs called the island Abegweit, meaning "cradled on the waves." Historians credit the European discovery of the island to Jacques Cartier, the French navigator, in June 1534. In 1720 the island, then called le Saint-Jean, was colonized by 300 French settlers, sponsored by a commercial company of the Count de Saint-Pierre. The island was ceded to Great Britain in 1763 and renamed (1799) in honour of Edward, duke of Kent, who was then commander of the British forces in North America. Prince Edward Island is known as the "Cradle of Confederation" because the Charlottetown Conference, held there in 1864, instigated the movement toward Canada's federation. The island became a province in 1873. Prince Edward Island has numerous streams, bays, and tidal estuaries. On the south and east sides, the bays provide good natural harbours. Because there has been little industrial development, the island's water pollution problem is not as extensive as in some other parts of Canada. The island has a mild climate and fertile soil, and more than half the island is used for agriculture. Potatoes are the most important crop, and dairying is a major industry. Fishing for lobster, cod, tuna, scallops, and Malpeque oysters is important, as is the harvesting of Irish moss (a seaweed). The great majority of the residents are descendants of early Scottish, Irish, and English settlers. Several thousand are descended from 18th-century Acadian immigrants. About three-fifths of residents live in rural areas. Prince Edward Island is a low-wage area with limited opportunities for employment. From the late 1960s the provincial and federal governments instituted economic reforms to enable residents to create viable economic enterprises. Government and service sectors account for the largest share of the provincial economy, but there was significant growth in manufacturing in the late 20th century. Machinery, chemical products, and food products are important. Regular ferry services operated between the island and the provinces until 1997, when a bridge was completed across Northumberland Strait, connecting the island to New Brunswick. Regular airline flights connect Charlottetown with Toronto, Montreal, and major cities in the United States. In 1989 the Canadian National Railway closed its rail services on the island. The provincial government consists of the 27-seat Legislative Assembly, whose members serve five-year terms; the premier, who is the head of the majority party in the assembly and who selects therefrom the members of the Executive Council; and the lieutenant governor, who represents the British monarch and is appointed by Canada's governor-general. Judges are appointed by the federal government. Primary and secondary education is free and compulsory through the 12th grade and may include technical or vocational training. The leading institution of higher education is the University of Prince Edward Island, in Charlottetown. The cultural centre of Prince Edward Island is the Charlottetown Confederation Centre of the Arts. The centre's art gallery has a rich collection, including works of Robert Harris, the province's best-known artist. An annual summer festival performs a musical version of the novel Anne of Green Gables (1908), written by the province's best-known author, Lucy Maud Montgomery. Handicrafts are encouraged by government and social institutes. Area 2,185 square miles (5,660 square km). Pop. (1991) 129,765; (1995 est.) 136,100. one of the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Curving from North Cape to East Point, the island is about 140 miles (225 kilometres) long, ranging from 2 to 40 miles (3 to 65 kilometres) in width. It lies between 46 and 47 N latitude, and 62 and 64 W longitude. On the south the Northumberland Strait separates the island by about nine miles from the mainland provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. There are three counties: Prince, Queens, and Kings. The land area is 2,185 square miles (5,660 square kilometres), making it the smallest of the Canadian provinces. The original Micmac Indian metaphor Abegweit-popularly translated "Cradled on the Waves"-aptly describes the slender crescent of land. During the French regime (1720-58) it was called le Saint-Jean, but when the British took over they first Anglicized the name to Saint John's Island, then attempted to call it New Ireland, and finally named it for the Duke of Kent, commander of the British forces in North America. In 1867 Prince Edward Island became the seventh province of Canada. The name of its capital, Charlottetown, commemorates the wife of King George III. one of the two Prince Edward Islands (the other being Marion Island) in the southern Indian Ocean. The subantarctic island lies about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southeast of Cape Town and 12 miles (19 km) north-northeast of Marion Island and covers an area of 18 square miles (47 square km). Discovered in January 1772 by the French explorer Marion du Fresne, the island was given its present name by the British navigator James Cook, who explored the area in 1776. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was frequented by whaling ships and seal hunters. South Africa claimed the island in 1947, annexing it in 1948. Prince Edward Island is volcanic in origin. It has steep escarpments on its northwest and southwest coasts, rising to 2,370 feet (722 m) in the centre of the island. The climate is cool and stormy; dominant westerly winds bring heavy rain (on an average of 300 days a year) and snow. The mean annual temperature is 40 F (4.4 C); yearly rainfall averages 100 inches (2,500 mm). Plants include the Kerguelen cabbage, peculiar to that part of the world. The island is uninhabited except for occasional biological research teams. Additional reading Joseph-Henri Blanchard, The Acadians of Prince Edward Island, 1720-1964 (1964, reprinted 1976; originally published in French, 1956), is a particularly rich source of familial and parochial history. Georges Arsenault, The Island Acadians: 1720-1980 (1989; originally published in French, 1987), traces the evolution of the local community. Other historical works include Andrew H. Clark, Three Centuries and the Island: A Historical Geography of Settlement and Agriculture in Prince Edward Island, Canada (1959); Frank MacKinnon, The Government of Prince Edward Island (1951, reprinted 1974); and Francis W.P. Bolger (ed.), Canada's Smallest Province: A History of P.E.I. (1973), and Prince Edward Island and Confederation, 1863-1873 (1964). Brendan Anthony O'Grady