Prince Edward Island |
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Motto: Latin: Parva sub ingenti (The small protected by the great) |
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Confederation | July 1, 1873 (8th) | ||
Capital | Charlottetown | ||
Largest city | Charlottetown | ||
Largest metro | Charlottetown | ||
Government | |||
• Lieutenant Governor | Antoinette Perry | ||
• Premier | Wade MacLauchlan (Liberal) | ||
Legislature | Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island | ||
Federal representation | (in Canadian Parliament) | ||
House seats | 4 of 338 (1.2%) | ||
Senate seats | 4 of 105 (3.8%) | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 5,660 km2 (2,190 sq mi) | ||
• Land | 5,660 km2 (2,190 sq mi) | ||
• Water | 0 km2 (0 sq mi) 0% | ||
Area rank | Ranked 13th | ||
0.1% of Canada | |||
Population (2016) | |||
• Total | 142,907 | ||
• Estimate (2017 Q1) | 149,383 | ||
• Rank | Ranked 10th | ||
• Density | 25.25/km2 (65.4/sq mi) | ||
Demonym(s) | Prince Edward Islander, Islander | ||
Official languages | English (de facto) | ||
GDP | |||
• Rank | 10th | ||
• Total (2011) | C$5.353 billion | ||
• Per capita | C$36,740 (13th) | ||
Time zone | Atlantic: UTC-4 | ||
Postal abbr. | PE | ||
Postal code prefix | C | ||
ISO 3166 code | CA-PE | ||
Flower | Pink lady's slipper | ||
Tree | Red oak | ||
Bird | Blue jay | ||
Website | www |
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Rankings include all provinces and territories |
Prince Edward Island (PEI or P.E.I.; French: Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is a province of Canada consisting of the island of the same name, as well as several much smaller islands. Prince Edward Island is one of the three Maritime Provinces and is the smallest province in both land area and population. It is part of the traditional lands of the Mi'kmaq, and became a British colony in the 1700s and was federated into Canada as a province in 1873. Its capital is Charlottetown. According to the 2016 census, the province of Prince Edward Island has 142,907 residents.
The backbone of the economy is farming; it produces 25% of Canada's potatoes. The island has several informal names: "Garden of the Gulf," referring to the pastoral scenery and lush agricultural lands throughout the province; and "Birthplace of Confederation" or "Cradle of Confederation", referring to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, although PEI did not join Confederation until 1873, when it became the seventh Canadian province. Historically, PEI is one of Canada's older settlements and demographically still reflects older immigration to the country, with Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and French surnames being dominant to this day.
PEI is located about 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Halifax, Nova Scotia and 600 kilometres (370 miles) east of Quebec City. It consists of the main island and 231 minor islands. Altogether, the entire province has a land area of 5,686.03 km2 (2,195.39 sq mi). The main island is 5,620 km2 (2,170 sq mi) in size, slightly larger than the U.S. state of Delaware. It is the 104th-largest island in the world and Canada's 23rd-largest island. PEI is the only subnational jurisdiction of North America outside the Caribbean to have no mainland territory, and the only such jurisdiction to have no land boundary.