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Motto: Parva Sub Ingenti (The small under the protection of the great) | |||||
Capital | Charlottetown | ||||
Area - Total - % fresh water | 13th largest (10th lgst prov.) 5 660 km² -- | ||||
Population
- Total (2001) - Density | Ranked 10th
138 500 24.47/km² | ||||
Admittance into Confederation
- Date - Order |
PEI colony joined Confed. 1873 8 | ||||
Time zone | UTC -4 | ||||
Postal information
Postal abbreviation Postal code prefix | PE C | ||||
ISO 3166-2 | CA-PE | ||||
Parliamentary representation House seats Senate seats |
4 4 | ||||
Premier | Pat Binns (P.C.) | ||||
Lieutenant-Governor | J. Léonce Bernard | ||||
Government of Prince Edward Island |
The province, in the Canadian Maritimes comprises the island of the same name located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence northeast of New Brunswick from which it is separated by the Northumberland Strait. The strait was recently spanned by Confederation Bridge.
The population is 138 500 (Prince Edward Islanders). The capital and largest city is Charlottetown. See also a list of communities in Prince Edward Island.
PEI is known for its potatoes, and is also known as the setting for Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series.
Table of contents |
2 Politics 3 See also |
The island has been known in Mi'kmaq as Abegweit, and as part of New France was called Île Saint-Jean. Having taken it over in 1759, the British changed its name to Prince Edward Island in 1798 to disambiguate from other St. Johns in the Atlantic area, such as Saint John, New Brunswick and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. It was named for the brother of King George III, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, who was then commanding troops in Halifax.
In 1864, Prince Edward Island hosted the conference that led to the Articles of Confederation and the creation of Canada in 1867. Nevertheless, it only joined Canada as a province in 1873.
In the most recent provincial election, Premier Pat Binns was returned to power.
Little known PEI facts:
History
Politics
See also