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Better Know a Province: Newfoundland and Labrador

Posted on Friday, December 4, 2015, 10:09 AM, by Cassandra Rose, under Before Your Move

Thinking about moving to Newfoundland and Labrador, the most easterly province in Canada? Currently live there? Regardless of your situation, it might be time to learn more about Labrador and the island of Newfoundland.

Newfoundland was the tenth province to join the Canadian Confederation on March 31, 1949 and was known simply as Newfoundland. The name was officially changed to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001, although residents generally refer to the entire province as Newfoundland and only the mainland portion as Labrador.

Even though Labrador is the only portion connected to the rest of Canada, 92 percent of the population lives on Newfoundland and its smaller surrounding islands in the Atlantic ocean, with half of the residents located on the Avalon Peninsula. In addition to being the province's largest city, the capital city St. John's -- located on the Avalon Peninsula -- also contains 40 percent of the population.

While English is the official language of the region, local dialects such as Innu-aimun and Inuktitut are also spoken in Labrador.

As for the culture, Newfoundland and Labrador differs greatly from the rest of Canada in terms of sports. It is the only province to not have a team in the Canadian Hockey league, and association football and rugby union are both more popular in NL than anywhere else in Canada. Both American and Canadian gridiron football do not exist except for a few amateur teams that formed in 2013.

Statistics

Capital - St. John's
Largest city - St John's
Official languages - English
Demonym - Newfoundlander, Labradorian or Labradurian
Time zone - UTC-3.5 for Newfoundland and UTC-4 for Labrador (Black Tickle and North)