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The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Canada's population. [1]
It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. New Brunswick is bordered by Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to the west.
- Overview
- Relief, drainage, and soils
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
- Population composition
New Brunswick, Canadian province located on the eastern seaboard of the North American continent. It is Canada’s only officially bilingual province, French and English having equal status. It was one of the four original provinces making up the national confederation in 1867. Together with Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, it forms the regional grouping known as the Maritime Provinces. New Brunswick has a roughly rectangular shape, about 210 miles (340 km) from north to south and 185 miles (300 km) from east to west. It is bounded to the north by the province of Quebec, to the east by the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait, and to the south by the Bay of Fundy. The latter two bodies of water are separated by the narrow neck of the Chignecto Isthmus, which joins New Brunswick to Nova Scotia, to the southeast. To the west lies the U.S. state of Maine.
Chartered by King George III, the province was named for the royal house of Brunswick, and its capital, Fredericton, was named for King George III’s son Frederick. While New Brunswick has contributed significantly to the national life of Canada, it is one of the smaller provinces and has always occupied a lesser role in the national economy. Its beautiful forests, rivers, lakes, and seashore—attractions for tourists, hunters, and sport fishermen—have remained relatively unspoiled. Area 28,150 square miles (72,908 square km). Pop. (2021) 775,610.
The land rises abruptly and in some places spectacularly out of the Bay of Fundy in the south and undulates northward in a series of rolling hills and rocky outcroppings. Plains and flatlands are limited to sea-level marshlands in the southeast, river valley floodplains, and low-lying lands adjacent to the beaches of the east coast. There are no true mountains, although ranges of rugged and sometimes steep hills run east-west a few miles north of the Fundy coast and in the north-central part of the province, where the highest elevation is Mount Carleton at 2,680 feet (817 metres).
This hilly landmass is cut in every direction by an extensive river system. The St. Croix River follows the southwestern boundary. The 418-mile- (673-km-) long St. John River, with its numerous tributaries, drains the entire northwestern, central, and south-central parts of the province. The high tides of the Bay of Fundy reverse the rapids at the river’s mouth at the city of Saint John and raise the level of the lower river for up to 95 miles (150 km) inland. Additionally, a number of lake-size arms branch off the lower St. John on its eastern side, the largest of which is Grand Lake, about 60 miles (100 km) inland. The eastern part of the province is drained by the Restigouche River in the north, the many branches of the Miramichi in the north-central area, and the shorter Petitcodiac in the southeast. Spring flooding is common in many of the rivers.
Clearly distinguishable seasons characterize the climate. Winters are snowy and cold, and summers are mild and pleasant. The fall, with alternating cold nights and sunny warm days, is particularly spectacular, as the blazing colours of deciduous foliage contrast with the solid dark greens of conifers. Temperatures at Fredericton range from an extreme low of −35 °F (−37 °C) to an extreme high of 99 °F (37 °C). In January the mean daily temperature is 14 °F (−10 °C), and in July it is 67 °F (19 °C). Temperatures are more moderate in the southern coastal regions. Normal annual rainfall is slightly above 30 inches (800 mm), and snowfall averages about 115 inches (2,900 mm); annual precipitation (which factors in snowmelt) amounts to about 43 inches (1,100 mm).
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Forests cover the majority of the province, and coniferous trees commonly found in northern temperate climates—such as balsam fir, red and black spruce, pine, and hemlock—constitute the principal growth. Deciduous stands, especially along the river valleys, consist of sugar and red maple, trembling aspen, and yellow and white birch. Wild blueberrie...
The English-speaking majority consists largely of the descendants of Scottish, Irish, and English settlers of the 18th and 19th centuries, along with those descended from loyalists who fled the American Revolution. It is concentrated in the southern and western parts of the province. The French-speaking minority, which has grown to about one-third ...
Feb 7, 2006 · The word Maritimes is a regional designation for the Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. These provinces constitute a cluster of peninsulas and islands that form the northeastern extension of the Appalachian Highlands and are also significantly affected by the Atlantic Ocean.
Apr 3, 2008 · New Brunswick is one of three provinces collectively known as the "Maritimes." Joined to Nova Scotia by the narrow Chignecto Isthmus and separated from Prince Edward Island by the Northumberland Strait, New Brunswick forms the land bridge linking this region to continental North America.
While New Brunswick is one of Canada's Maritime Provinces, it differs from its neighbours both ethnoculturally and physiographically. Both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are either wholly or nearly surrounded by water and the ocean, therefore, tends to define their climate, economy and culture.
New Brunswick, the largest of Canada 's three Maritime Provinces, is located under Quebec 's Gaspé Peninsula and beside the State of Maine. Its northern border also includes the Restigouche River and the Baie des Chaleurs.
