Prince Edward Island (PEI or P.E.I.; , Scottish Gaelic: Eilean a' Phrionnsa) is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population (excluding the territories). The island has a few other names: "Garden of the Gulf" referring to the pastoral scenery and lush agricultural lands throughout the province; and "Birthplace of Confederation", referring to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864.

According to the 2009 estimates, Prince Edward Island has 122,000 residents. It is located in a rectangle defined roughly by 46°–47°N, and 62°–64°30′W and at in size, it is the 104th largest island in the world, and Canada's 23rd largest island.The island was named for Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767–1820), the fourth son of King George III and the father of Queen Victoria.

Geography

Prince Edward Island is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence west of Cape Breton Island, north of the Nova Scotia peninsula, and east of New Brunswick. Its southern shore bounds the Northumberland Strait. The island has two urban areas. The largest surrounds Charlottetown Harbour, situated centrally on the island's southern shore, and consists of the capital city Charlottetown, and suburban towns Cornwall and Stratford and a developing urban fringe. A much smaller urban area surrounds Summerside Harbour, situated on the southern shore west of Charlottetown Harbour, and consists primarily of the city of Summerside. As with all natural harbours on the island, Charlottetown and Summerside harbours are created by rias.

The island's landscape is pastoral: rolling hills, woods, 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 provincial government has enacted laws that attempt to preserve the landscape through regulation, although the lack of consistent enforcement and absence of province-wide zoning and land-use planning has resulted in some aesthetically displeasing development in recent years.

The island's lush landscape has had a strong bearing on its economy and its culture. Author Lucy Maud Montgomery drew inspiration from the land during the late Victorian Era for the setting of her classic novel Anne of Green Gables. Today, many of the same qualities that Montgomery and others found in the island are enjoyed by tourists who visit during all seasons. They enjoy a variety of leisure activities, including beaches, various golf courses, eco-tourism adventures, and simply touring the countryside and enjoying cultural events in local communities around the island.

The smaller rural communities as well as the towns and villages throughout the province proudly retain a slower-paced, old-world flavour, something that factors heavily into Prince Edward Island's popularity as a destination for relaxation. The economy of most rural communities on the island is based on small-scale agriculture, given that the size of farm properties is small when compared with other areas in Canada. There is an increasing amount of industrial farming as older farm properties are consolidated and modernised.

The coastline consists of a combination of long beaches, dunes, red sandstone cliffs, salt water marshes and numerous bays and harbours. The beaches, dunes and sandstone cliffs consist of sedimentary rock and other material with a high iron concentration which oxidises upon exposure to the air. The geological properties of a white silica sand found at Basin Head are unique in the province; the sand grains cause a scrubbing noise as they rub against each other when walked on, aptly named the singing sands. Large dune fields on the north shore can be found on barrier islands at the entrances to various bays and harbours. The magnificent sand dunes at Greenwich are of particular significance. The shifting, parabolic dune system is home to a variety of birds and rare plants and is also a site of significant archeological interest.

Climate

Winters are moderately cold, with clashes of cold Arctic air and milder Atlantic air causing frequent temperature swings. From December to April, P.E.I. typically has many storms (which may produce rain as well as snow) and blizzards. Springtime temperatures typically remain cool until the sea ice has melted, usually in late April or early May. Summers are moderately warm, but rarely uncomfortable, with the daily maximum temperature only occasionally reaching as high as . Autumn is a rather pleasant season, as the moderating Gulf waters delay the onset of frost, although storm activity does increase over that of summer. There is ample precipitation throughout the year, although it is heaviest in the late autumn and early winter and mid spring.

History

Prince Edward Island was originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq people. They named the Island "Epekwitk", the pronunciation of which was changed to "Abegweit" by the Europeans, meaning Land Cradled on the Waves. They believed that the island was formed by the Great Spirit placing on the Blue Waters some dark red crescent-shaped clay.

Jacques Cartier discovered the island in 1534. 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 in 1755. Many more were forcibly deported in 1758 when British soldiers-- under the command of Colonel Andrew Rollo -- were ordered by General Jeffery Amherst to capture the island.

Great Britain obtained the island from France under the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 which settled the Seven Years' War, calling the colony St. John's Island (also the Island of St. John's).

The first British governor of St. John's Island, Walter Patterson, was appointed in 1769. Assuming office in 1770, he had a controversial career during which the initial attempts to populate and develop the island under a feudal system were slowed by land title disputes and factional conflict. In an attempt to attract settlers from Ireland, in one of his first acts (1770) Patterson led the island's colonial assembly to rename the island "New Ireland," but the British Government promptly vetoed this as exceeding the authority vested in the colonial government; only the Privy Council in London could change the name of a colony.

Charlottetown was raided in 1775 by a pair of American-employed privateers during the American Revolutionary War. During and after the American Revolutionary War from 1776–1783, the colony's efforts to attract exiled Loyalist refugees from the rebellious American colonies met with some success. Walter Patterson's brother, John Patterson, one of the original grantees of land on the island, was a temporarily-exiled Loyalist and led efforts to persuade others to come.

The 1787 dismissal of Governor Patterson and his recall to London in 1789 dampened his brother's efforts, leading John to focus on his interests in the United States (one of John's sons, Commodore Daniel Patterson, became a noted United States Navy hero, and John's grandsons, Rear Admiral Thomas H. Patterson and Lt. Carlile Pollock Patterson USN, achieved success).

Edmund Fanning, also a Loyalist exiled by the Revolution, took over as the second governor, serving until about 1806. His tenure was more successful than Walter Patterson's.

On November 29, 1798, during Fanning's administration, Great Britain granted approval to change 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 (1767–1820), who was in charge of all British military forces on the continent as Commander-in-Chief, North America and was headquartered in Halifax. Prince Edward was also the father of Queen Victoria.

During the 19th century, the colony of Prince Edward Island began to attract "adventurous Victorian families looking for elegance on the sea. Prince Edward Island became a fashionable retreat in the nineteenth century for British nobility".

The island is known in Scottish Gaelic as Eilean a' Phrionnsa (lit. "the Island of the Prince", the local form of the longer 'Eilean a' Phrionnsa Iomhair/Eideard') or Eilean Eòin for some Gaelic speakers in Nova Scotia though not on PEI (lit. "John's Island" in reference to the island's former name of St. John's Island: the English translation of Île Saint Jean); in Míkmaq as Abegweit or Epikwetk roughly translated "land cradled in the waves".

Joining Canada

In September 1864, Prince Edward Island hosted the Charlottetown Conference, which was the first meeting in the process leading to the Articles of Confederation and the creation of Canada in 1867. Prince Edward Island did not find the terms of union favourable and balked at joining in 1867, choosing to remain a colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In the late 1860s, the colony examined various options, including the possibility of becoming a discrete dominion unto itself, as well as entertaining delegations from the United States, who were interested in Prince Edward Island joining the United States of America.

In 1871, the colony began construction of a railway and, frustrated by Great Britain's Colonial Office, began negotiations with the United States.

In 1873, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, anxious to thwart American expansionism and facing the distraction of the Pacific Scandal, negotiated for Prince Edward Island to join Canada. The Federal Government of Canada assumed the colony's extensive railway debts and agreed to finance a buy-out of the last of the colony's absentee landlords to free the island of leasehold tenure and from any new migrants entering the island. Prince Edward Island entered Confederation on 1 July 1873.

As a result of having hosted the inaugural meeting of Confederation, the Charlottetown Conference, Prince Edward Island presents itself as the "Birthplace of Confederation" with several buildings, a ferry vessel, and the Confederation Bridge using the term "confederation" in many ways. The most prominent building in the province with this name is the Confederation Centre of the Arts, presented as a gift to Prince Edward Islanders by the 10 provincial governments and the Federal Government upon the centenary of the Charlottetown Conference, where it stands in Charlottetown as a national monument to the "Fathers of Confederation".{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}

Demographics

According to the 2001 Canadian Census, the largest ethnic group consists of people of Scottish descent (38.0%), followed by English (28.7%), Irish (27.9%), French (21.3%), German (4.0%), and Dutch (3.1%) descent. Almost half of all respondents also identified their ethnicity as "Canadian."

Population of Prince Edward Island since 1851

Year	Population	Mean annual	5-year	10-year	Rank*
		Percentage change
1851	62,678	–	–	–	5	1861	80,857	2.6	–	29.0	1871	94,021	1.5	–	16.3	1881	108,891	1.5	–	15.8	1891	109,078	0.017	–	0.2	6	1901	103,259	−0.55	–	−5.3	7	1911	93,728	−0.96	–	−9.2	9	1921	88,615	−0.56	–	−5.4	1931	88,038	−0.065	–	−0.7	1941	95,047	0.77	–	8.0	1951	98,429	0.35	–	3.6	10	1956	99,285	0.17	0.9	–	1961	104,629	1.1	5.4	6.3	1966	108,535	0.74	3.7	9.3	1971	111,635	0.56	2.9	6.7	1976	118,225	1.2	5.9	8.9	1981	122,506	0.7	3.6	9.7	1986	126,640	0.67	3.4	7.1	1991	129,765	0.49	2.5	5.9	1996	134,557	0.73	3.7	6.3	2001	135,294	0.11	0.5	4.2	2006	135,851	NA	0.4	NA

Source: Statistics Canada

Language

The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 135,851. Of the 133,570 singular responses to the census question concerning 'mother tongue' the most commonly reported languages were:

1.	English	125,260	93.8%
2.	French	5,345	4.0%
3.	Dutch	865	0.6%
4.	German	275	0.2%
5.	Spanish	220	0.2%
6.	Chinese	190	0.1%
7.	Arabic	150	0.1%
8.	Hungarian	120	0.1%
9.	Mi'kmaq	90	0.1%
10.	Japanese	80	0.1%
11.	Polish	70	0.1%
12.	Korean	65	~

In addition, there were also 105 responses of both English and a 'non-official language'; 25 of both French and a 'non-official language'; 495 of both English and French; 10 of English, French, and a 'non-official language'; and about 1,640 people who either did not respond to the question, or reported multiple non-official languages, or else gave some other unenumerated response. (Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.)

Religion

The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Roman Catholic Church with 63,240 (47 %); the United Church of Canada with 26,570 (20 %); the Presbyterian Church with 7,885 (6 %) and the Anglican Church of Canada with 6,525 (5 %).

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 undisclosed quantity of gas.

Agriculture remains the dominant industry in the provincial economy, as it has since colonial times. During the twentieth century, potatoes replaced mixed farming as the leading cash crop, accounting for one-third of provincial farm income. The province currently accounts for a third of Canada's total potato production, producing approximately 1.3 billion kilograms annually. Comparatively, the state of Idaho produces approximately 6.2 billion kilograms annually, with a population approximately 9.5 times greater. The province is a major producer of seed potatoes, exporting to more than twenty countries around the world.

As a legacy of the island's colonial history, the provincial government enforces extremely strict rules for non-resident land ownership. Residents and corporations are limited to maximum holdings of 400 and 1,200 hectares respectively. There are also restrictions on non-resident ownership of shorelines.

Many of the province's coastal communities rely upon shellfish harvesting, particularly lobster fishing as well as oyster fishing and mussel farming.

The provincial government provides consumer protection in the form of regulation for certain items, ranging from apartment rent increases to petroleum products including gas, diesel, propane and heating oil. These are all regulated through the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC). IRAC is authorised to limit the number of companies who are permitted to sell petroleum products.

The sale of carbonated beverages such as beer and soft drinks in non-refillable containers, such as aluminum cans or plastic bottles, was banned in 1976 as an environmental measure in response to public concerns over litter. Beer and soft drink companies opted to use refillable glass bottles for their products which were redeemable at stores and bottle depots. The introduction of recycling programs for cans and plastic bottles in neighbouring provinces in recent years (also using a redemption system) has seen the provincial government introduce legislation to reverse this ban with the restriction lifted on May 3, 2008.

Prince Edward Island has Canada's highest provincial retail sales tax rate, currently (2008) established at 10%. The tax is applied to almost all goods and services except some clothing, food and home heating fuel. The tax is also applied to the Federal Goods and Services Tax.

At present, approximately fifteen percent 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 2015. Until wind generation, the province relied entirely on electricity imports on a submarine cable from New Brunswick. A thermal oil-fired generating station in Charlottetown is also available.

Persons employed on Prince Edward Island earn a minimum wage of $8.00/hour as of October 1, 2008.

Transportation

Prince Edward Island's transportation network has traditionally revolved around its seaports of Charlottetown, Summerside, Borden, Georgetown, and Souris — all linked to its railway system, and airports (Charlottetown and Summerside) for communication with mainland North America. The railway system was abandoned by CN in 1989 in favour of an agreement with the federal government to improve major highways. Until 1997, the province was linked by two passenger-vehicle ferry services to the mainland: one, provided by Marine Atlantic, operated year-round between Borden and Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick; the other, provided by Northumberland Ferries Limited, operates seasonally between Wood Islands and Caribou, Nova Scotia. A third ferry service provided by CTMA operates seasonally between Souris and Cap-aux-Meules, Quebec, in the Magdalen Islands.

On June 1, 1997, the Confederation Bridge opened, connecting Borden-Carleton to Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick. The longest bridge over ice covered waters in the world, it replaced the Marine Atlantic ferry service. Since then, the Confederation Bridge's assured transportation link to the mainland has altered the province's tourism and agricultural and fisheries export economies.

The province has very strict laws regarding use of road-side signs. Billboard and the use of portable signs are banned. There are standard direction information signs on all roads in the province for various businesses and attractions in the immediate area. Some municipalities' by-laws also restrict the types of permanent signs that may be installed on private property.

Government

Prince Edward Island has a high level of political representation, with four Members of Parliament, four Senators, 27 Members of the Legislative Assembly and two cities, seven towns and sixty incorporated rural communities yielding over five hundred municipal councilors and mayors. This gives a total of 566 elected officials for a population (as of 2006) of 135,851.

Communities

Ten largest municipalities by population

Municipality	2001	1996	Charlottetown	32,245a	32,531	Summerside	14,654b	15,525	Stratford	7,083	2,180	Montague	1,945	1,995	Lot 1c	1,900	1,936	Lot 65	1,829	1,595	Lot 19	1,775	1,759	Lot 2d	1,720	1,766
a Agglomerated population: 58,358. b Agglomerated population: 16,200. c Tignish and surrounding area. d St. Louis/Elmsdale area.

Education

Prince Edward Island is home to one university, the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), located in Charlottetown. The university was created by the Island legislature to replace Prince of Wales College and St. Dunstan's University. UPEI is also home to the Atlantic Veterinary College, which offers the region's only veterinary medicine program.

Holland College is the provincial community college, with campuses across the province, including specialised facilities such as the Atlantic Police Academy, Marine Training Centre, and the Culinary Institute of Canada.

Prince Edward Island's public school system has two Anglophone school districts, Eastern and Western, as well as a Francophone district, the Commission scolaire de langue française. The Anglophone districts have a total of 10 secondary schools and 54 intermediate and elementary schools while the Francophone district has 6 schools covering all grades.

Prince Edward Island, along with most rural regions in North America, is experiencing an accelerated rate of youth emigration. The provincial government has projected that public school enrollment will decline by 40% during the 2010s.

Health care

The province has seven hospitals:

• Community Hospital in O'Leary
• Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague
• Prince County Hospital in Summerside.
• Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown
• Souris Hospital no longer in service, is now a vetrinary clinic
• Stewart Memorial Hospital in Tyne Valley
• Western Hospital, in Alberton

The Hillsborough Hospital in Charlottetown is the province's only psychiatric hospital.

In recent decades, the province has shown statistically significant and abnormally high rates of diagnosed rare cancers. Health officials, ecologists and environmental activists point to the use of pesticides for industrial potato farming as a primary contaminant.

Culture

The island's cultural traditions of art, music and creative writing are all supported through the public education system. There is an annual arts festival, the Charlottetown Festival, hosted at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, who was born in Clifton (now New London) in 1874, wrote some 20 novels. Her first Anne book was published in 1908. The musical play Anne of Green Gables has run every year at the Charlottetown festival for more than four decades. The sequel, Anne & Gilbert, premiered in the Playhouse in Victoria in 2005.

Elmer Blaney Harris founded an artists colony at Fortune Bridge and set his famous play Johnny Belinda on the island.

Prince Edward Island's documented music history begins in the 19th century with religious music, some written by local pump and block maker, and organ-importer, Watson Duchemin. Several big bands including the Sons of Temperance Band and the Charlottetown Brass Band, were active. Today, Acadian, Celtic and rock music prevail, with exponents including Gene MacLellan, Lennie Gallant and Two Hours Traffic. The celebrated singer-songwriter Stompin' Tom Connors spent his formative years in Skinners Pond. Robert Harris was a well-known artist.

Sport

• In 2009, Prince Edward Island will host the Jeux Du Canada Summer Games.
• Prince Edward Island competes in the bi-annual Island Games.
• Prince Edward Island Rocket play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Gallery

Image:Newglasgowpano2.jpg|Panorama of the banks of the River Clyde in New GlasgowImage:prince edward island sandstone arch.jpg|Sandstone archImage:prince edward island zz.jpgFile:panmure island lighthouse.JPG|Lighthouse on Panmure Island

See also

• Counties of Prince Edward Island
• Higher education in Prince Edward Island
• Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission
• Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
• List of airports in Prince Edward Island
• List of cities in Canada
• List of Prince Edward Island premiers
• List of Prince Edward Island lieutenant-governors
• List of communities in Prince Edward Island
• List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols
• Petroleum Pricing in Prince Edward Island
• Politics of Prince Edward Island
• Scouting on Prince Edward Island

Notes

1. Info:PEI Quick Facts, 2008-07-14. Retrieved on 2009-03-18.
2. Brendan O'Grady, Exiles and Islanders: The Irish Settlers of Prince Edward Island, p. 15)
3. PEI history Government of Canada
4. PEI population trend (Statistics Canada).
5. Population urban and rural, by province and territory (Statistics Canada, 2005).
6. Detailed Mother Tongue (186), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) (2006 Census)
7. Religions in Canada
8. PEI Potato , potato production figures.
9. Idaho Potator Production
10. Lobster Fishing (PEIonline)
11. Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (PEI Government).
12. The Confederation Bridge (official website).

References

External links

• The Government of Prince Edward Island Government official website
• The Government Prince Edward Island Visitor's Guide
• Island Spirit PEI Largest The Anne of Green Gables item/content site
• CBC Digital Archives - PEI Elections: Liberal landslides and Tory tides
• College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts of Canada
• Confederation Bridge
• Culinary Institute of Canada
• Marine Training Centre
• PEI info
• The official website about the Island Waste Management Corporation
• University of Prince Edward Island
• Maritime Tourism