Newfoundland (/n(j)uːfənˈlæn(d)/; Irish: Talamh an Éisc, Scottish Gaelic: Talamh an Èisg/Eilean a' Trosg, Spanish: Terranova, Portuguese: Terra-Nova or Terra Nova, French: Terre-Neuve, Basque: Ternua, Mi'kmaq: Taqamkuk, Old Norse: Vínland), is a large Canadian island off the east coast of the North American mainland, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The province's official name was also "Newfoundland" until 2001, when its name was changed to "Newfoundland and Labrador" (the postal abbreviation was later changed from NF to NL).The island of Newfoundland (originally called Terra Nova, from "New Land" in Latin) was visited by the Icelandic Viking Leif Eriksson in the 11th century, who called the new land "Vinland". The next European visitors to Newfoundland were Portuguese, Spanish, French and English migratory fishermen. The island was visited by the Italian John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), working under contract to King Henry VII of England on his expedition from Bristol in 1497. In 1501, Portuguese explorers Gaspar Corte-Real and his brother Miguel Corte-Real charted part of the coast of Newfoundland in a failed attempt to find the Northwest Passage.Cabot's landing has been treated as the founding of the British Empire.[citation needed] On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I of England, thus officially establishing a fore-runner to the much later British Empire. Newfoundland is considered Britain's oldest colony. According to 2006 official Census Canada statistics, 57% of responding Newfoundland and Labradorians claim British or Irish ancestry, with 43.2% claiming at least one English parent, 21.5% at least one Irish parent, and 7% at least one parent of Scottish origin. Additionally 6.1% claimed at least one parent of French ancestry. The island's total population as of the 2006 census was 479,105.The island of Newfoundland is separated from the Labrador Peninsula by the Strait of Belle Isle and from Cape Breton Island by the Cabot Strait. It blocks the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, creating the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. Newfoundland's nearest neighbour is the French overseas community of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.With an area of 108,860 square kilometres (42,031 sq mi), Newfoundland is the world's 16th-largest island, and Canada's fourth-largest island. The provincial capital, St. John's, is located on the southeastern coast of the island; Cape Spear, just south of the capital, is the easternmost point of North America, excluding Greenland. It is common to consider all directly neighbouring islands such as New World, Twillingate, Fogo and Bell Island to be 'part of Newfoundland' (as distinct from Labrador). By that classification, Newfoundland and its associated small islands have a total area of 111,390 square kilometres (43,008 sq mi).While there is archaeological evidence of ancient indigenous peoples on the island, it was abandoned when the Norse arrived from Scandinavia. L'Anse aux Meadows was a Norse settlement near the northernmost tip of Newfoundland (Cape Norman), which has been dated to be approximately 1000 years old. The site is considered the only undisputed evidence of Pre-Columbian contact between the Old and New Worlds, if the Norse-Inuit contact on Greenland is not counted. The island is a likely location of Vinland, mentioned in the Viking Chronicles, although this has been disputed.The indigenous people on the island at the time of European settlement were the Beothuk, who spoke an Amerindian language of the same name. Later immigrants developed a variety of dialects associated with settlement on the island: Newfoundland English, Newfoundland French.[citation needed] In the nineteenth century, it also had a dialect of Irish known as Newfoundland Irish.[citation needed] Scottish Gaelic was also spoken on the island during the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the Codroy Valley area, chiefly by settlers from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The Gaelic names reflected the association with fishing: in Scottish Gaelic, it was called Eilean a' Trosg, or literally, "Island of the Cod". Similarly, the Irish Gaelic name Talamh an Éisc means "Land of the Fish".
Area total (m2)
108860000000.000000
Elevation (µ)
814.000000
Population total
479105
Comment
0