New Brunswick

Hope was Restored

Where is it?

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Geography

    

Location:
 Eastern Canada.
Area:
 total: 72,908 sq km (28,150 sq mi)
land: 71,450 sq km (27,590 sq mi)
water: 1,458 sq km (563 sq mi)
coastline: 2,269 km (1410 miles)
Bordering Provinces:
 Quebec, Nova Scotia
Elevation extremes:
 highest point: Mount Carleton 817m (2,680 ft)
New Brunswick is bordered on the north by Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula and by Chaleur Bay. The eastern boundary is formed by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Northumberland Strait. The southeast corner of the province is connected to the Nova Scotia peninsula by the narrow Isthmus of Chignecto. The south of the province is bounded by the Bay of Fundy coast, (which with a rise of 16 m (52 ft), has amongst the highest tides in the world). The US state of Maine forms the western boundary. New Brunswick differs from the other Maritime provinces physiographically, climatologically, and ethnoculturally. Both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are either surrounded by, or are almost completely surrounded by water. Oceanic effects therefore tend to define their climate, economy, and culture. On the other hand, New Brunswick, although having a significant seacoast, is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean proper and has a large interior that is removed from oceanic influences. As a result, the climate tends to be more continental in character rather than maritime.

    

Population

    

Population:
 751,171 (2011)
Largest City:
 St. John: 70,063 (2011)

    

History

    

The original First Nations inhabitants of New Brunswick were members of three distinct tribes. The largest tribe was the Mi'kmaq, and they occupied the eastern and coastal areas of the province. They were responsible for the Augustine Mound, a burial ground built about 800 B.C. near Metepnákiaq (Red Bank First Nation). The western portion of the province was the traditional home of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) people. The smaller Passamaquoddy tribe occupied lands in the southwest of the province. Although it is possible that Vikings may have reached as far south as New Brunswick, the first known European exploration of New Brunswick was that of French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534, who discovered and named the Bay of Chaleur. The next French contact was in 1604, when a party led by Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain set up camp for the winter on St. Croix Island, between New Brunswick and Maine. The colony relocated the following year across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal, Nova Scotia. Over the next 150 years, a number of other French settlements and seigneuries were founded in the area occupied by present-day New Brunswick, including along the Saint John River, the upper Bay of Fundy region, in the Tantramar Marshes at Beaubassin, and finally at St. Pierre (site of present-day Bathurst). The whole maritime region (as well as parts of Maine) was at that time claimed by France and was designated as the colony of Acadia.

    

Government

    

Capital:
 Fredericton
Confederation:
 July 1, 1867
Provincial Tree:
 Balsam fir
Provincial Bird:
 Black-capped chickadee
Provincial Flower:
 Purple violet
New Brunswick has a unicameral legislature with 49 seats. Elections are held at least every five years, but may be called at any time by the Lieutenant Governor (the viceregal representative) on consultation with the Premier. The Premier is the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the legislature. There are two dominant political parties in New Brunswick, the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservative Party. While consistently polling approximately 10% of the electoral vote since the early 1980s, the New Democratic Party has elected few members to the Legislative Assembly. From time to time, other parties, such as the Confederation of Regions Party, have held seats in the legislature, but only on the strength of a strong protest vote. The dynamics of New Brunswick politics are different from those of other Canadian provinces. The lack of a dominant urban centre in the province means that the government has to be responsive to issues affecting all areas of the province. In addition, the presence of a large Francophone minority dictates that consensus politics is necessary, even when there is a majority government present. In this manner, the ebb and flow of New Brunswick provincial politics parallels the federal stage.

    

Economy

    

New Brunswick's urban areas have modern, service-based economies dominated by the health care, educational, retail, finance, and insurance sectors. These sectors are reasonably equitably distributed in all three principal urban centres. In addition, heavy industry and port facilities are found in Saint John; Fredericton is dominated by government services, universities, and the military; and Moncton has developed as a commercial, retail, transportation, and distribution centre with important rail and air terminal facilities. The rural primary economy is best known for forestry, mining, mixed farming, and fishing. The US is the province's largest export market, accounting for 92% of a foreign trade valued in 2014 at C$12,964bn. Refined petroleum accounts for 63% of the total, followed by seafood products, pulp, paper and sawmill products and non-metallic minerals (chiefly potash).

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