Prince Edward Island!

Geography…  The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population.  Known as the Garden of the Gulf, the Island is located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence west of Cape Breton Island, north of the Nova Scotia peninsula, and east of New Brunswick. Its southern shore forms the Northumberland Strait.  The island's landscape is pastoral: rolling hills, pristine forests, reddish white sand beaches, ocean coves and the famous red soil have given Prince Edward Island a reputation as a province of outstanding natural beauty.  The coastline of the island consists of a combination of long beaches, dunes, red sandstone cliffs, salt water marshes and numerous bays and harbours.

History…  Prince Edward Island was originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq people. They named the island Abegweit, meaning Land Cradled on the Waves.  As part of the French colony of Acadia, the island was called Île Saint-Jean. Roughly one thousand Acadians lived on the island. However, many fled to the island from mainland Nova Scotia during the British- ordered expulsion of Acadians in  In 1798, Great Britain changed the colony's name from St. John's Island to Prince Edward Island to distinguish it from similar names in the Atlantic, such as the cities of Saint John and St. John's. The colony's new name honoured the fourth son of King George III, Prince Edward Augustus, the Duke of Kent  Prince Edward Island entered Confederation on July 1, 1873.

$ Economy $  The provincial economy is dominated by the seasonal industries of agriculture, tourism, and the fishery. The province is limited in terms of heavy industry and manufacturing. Although commercial deposits of minerals have not been found, exploration for natural gas beneath the eastern end of the province has resulted in the discovery of an as yet undisclosed quantity of gas.  Agriculture remains the dominant industry in the provincial economy, as it has since colonial times. During the twentieth century, potatoes have replaced mixed farming as the leading cash crop, accounting for one-third of provincial farm income.  Many of the province's coastal communities rely upon shellfish harvesting, particularly lobster fishing as well as oyster fishing and mussel farming.

Spud Island!  Just as connoisseurs of fine wine say they can taste the soil in which the grapes are grown, the Prince Edward Island potato has a flavour that is unique because of the Island's rich red soil. The province currently accounts for a third of Canada's total potato production, producing approximately 1300 million kg annually. Comparatively, the state of Idaho produces approximately 6200 million kg annually, with a population approximately 9.5 times greater than PEI. PEI is a major producer of seed potatoes, exporting to more than twenty countries around the world  If you could visualize the perfect place for growing potatoes, it would be Prince Edward Island. The Island's rich sandy soil, clean air and water, and its long cold winters that naturally cleanse the soil, provide the perfect environment for growing high quality potatoes.

Random Facts….. Currently 15% of all electricity consumed on the island is generated from renewable energy (largely wind turbines); the provincial government has set renewable energy targets as high as 30-50% for electricity consumed by In recent decades, the province has shown statistically significant and abnormally high rate of diagnosed rare cancers. Health officials, ecologists and environmental activists point to the use of pesticides for industrial potato farming as a primary contaminant. There are twenty-seven Canadian cities with a larger population than Prince Edward Island, fourteen in Ontario alone. It is also the first province in Canada to elect a female Premier (Catherine Callbeck) in 1993

Author Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton, P.E.I., in She began earning money with her writing in the late 1890s, but it was her first novel, Anne of Green Gables - published in that put her on the literary map. In 1911, she married Rev. Ewan Macdonald and moved to Ontario. Montgomery published seven more Anne stories, as well as the autobiographical Emily trilogy and some 500 short stories and 450 poems. Montgomery's ear for dialogue and insight into human nature has made her Canada's most enduring literary export. She died in Toronto on April 24, 1942.