This region includes the provinces of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and a small portion of Quebec. This region is also known as ‘ Atlantic Canada ’.

1. “ Old ” Mountains This region is part of a low range of mountains that have worn down over millions of years.

2. Sea Coast Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick have many kilometres of sea coast. Cliffs and beaches are a common sight.

3. Inlets Millions of years ago the glaciers carved grooves in the land. Eventually these filled with ocean water and created inlets. An example of an inlet is the Bay of Fundy.

Twice a day at the Bay of Fundy tidal waters flow in and out of the Bay's opening. Twice daily, 200 billion tonnes of water enter and leave the Bay. This is an equal amount of water to all the rivers on the planet! The ocean water rises as high as a four-story building. This is the highest tide in the world!

4. Rich Soil Little land is used for farming but Prince Edward Island and the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia have very rich soil.

5. Rock Much of the land is also rocky or boggy.

How do you think the physical features of the Atlantic region affect the kinds of jobs found in this region?

The climate can vary depending on where you are in the Appalachian Region. Some areas, like New Brunswick have colder winters. Ocean waters can keep the summers cool and the winters mild. Nova Scotia is the warmest province. Some of the storms can be quite severe, bringing much snow or rain and wind.

On Monday September 29, 2003, Hurricane Juan reached Nova Scotia. It was one of the most powerful and damaging hurricanes ever to hit Canada.

This storm tossed this sailboat into a house in Nova Scotia. Photo: Roger Percy and Andre Laflamme

Some streets were impassable after Hurricane Juan.

All areas get a lot of precipitation, especially along the coast. Fog is also very common.

Coal, copper, gold, lead, iron ore, silver, and zinc are mined in parts of the Appalachians.

Coal mining has been a major industry in the Cape Breton region of Nova Scotia since the early 1700s.

The Hibernia oil field is the largest oil field on the Grand Banks offshore of Newfoundland. It is located about 315 kilometres east- southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland.

Newfoundland and Labrador have many forests which are logged. Much of this wood is made into paper.

Although the region is small, some areas in the Appalachians are farmland. New Brunswick is famous for its potatoes. Sheep, cattle, poultry and hogs are common.

In Nova Scotia, most farming occurs in the Annapolis Valley. As well as livestock farms there are also fruit and vegetable farms.

Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island New Brunswick Annapolis Valley

Scallops, crabs, clams, haddock, herring, salmon, and lobster are fished off the eastern coast. Many people work at fish packaging plants in this region.

In the early 1980's, fishermen were catching as much as 775,000 tonnes of fish along the eastern coast each year. Cod was a primary fish caught. Then the amount of catch began to decline. By 1994 only 50,000 tonnes of fish were caught. Fishermen could not all make a living anymore. There were about 1000 communities affected where fishing supplied more than 90 percent of the jobs. People worked in fish plants, boat building, equipment supplying, and transport. In 1992 the government put a moratorium on cod fishing. That meant no cod could be fished at all.

They hoped that by leaving the cod alone, their numbers would grow and they could then be fished again. But the cod supply has not grown back to a healthy number. About 12,000 fishermen and 15,000 fish plant workers have lost their jobs since Biologists think that many reasons impacted the cod fish. They think many of the cod caught were not reported. Foreign boats would overfish and then leave, and the fishing methods caught and killed too many young fish that should have been left to grow. They also think there were too many fishermen and boats catching these fish.

Many people come to the Atlantic region on holiday. They come to enjoy the seafood, and see the beautiful sights. Lighthouses, the red soil of Prince Edward Island, the Bay of Fundy, the house of Anne of Green Gables and the Atlantic Ocean are some of the many attractions here.

People rely on the water for transportation because there is so much coastline. Ferries, yachts and ships transporting goods can be seen coming in and out of port.

Confederation Bridge is the longest bridge in the world! Confederation Bridge is 13 km long and links P.E.I. to New Brunswick. People now can drive between these 2 provinces rather than take the ferry.

Pick one of the following tourist attractions and make a brochure to encourage people to come to the Appalachians.