The Newfoundland and Labrador region
Newfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada, the tenth to join the Confederation. Geographically, the province consists of the island of
Newfoundland and the mainland Labrador, on Canada's Atlantic coast. On entry into Canada in 1949, the entire province was known as Newfoundland, but
since 1964, the province's government has referred to itself as the "Government of Newfoundland and Labrador", and on December 6, 2001, an amendment was
made to the Constitution of Canada to change the province's official name to "Newfoundland and Labrador". In general day-to-day conversation, however,
Canadians still refer to the province in a general way as "Newfoundland," while the Labrador region of the province is usually referred to as simply
Labrador.
While the name "Newfoundland" is derived from English as "New Found Land", Labrador is named after Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador.
The province's population is 505,469 according to the 2006 national census. People from Newfoundland are called "Newfoundlanders" (and at times "Newfies",
though this can be seen as a pejorative) while people from Labrador are called "Labradorians". Newfoundland has its own dialects of the English, French,
and Irish Gaelic languages. The English dialect in Labrador shares much with Newfoundland. Furthermore, Labrador has its own dialects of Innu-aimun and
Inuktitut.
The Geography of Newfoundland and Labrador describes Newfoundland and Labrador's topography.
Newfoundland is a large island lying off the east coast of North America between latitudes 46½°N and 52°N. It's capital is St. John's, which is in the
same latitude (47½°) of Quebec, Duluth, Seattle, Paris, and Sakhalin island in the Pacific. It is Canada's most easterly province, consisting of the
island of Newfoundland and the mainland portion of Labrador. Newfoundland has a triangular shape, stretching 320 miles across, and covering 43,000 square
miles. It can be described as the size of Pennsylvania, and larger than Ireland. It lies on the continental shelf of North America, as it is separated
from Labrador by only 11 miles, and by Cape Breton by 70 miles.
Several factors shape the landscape of Newfoundland and Labrador such as continental division, mountain building, volcanoes, and rivers, oceans, and ice
sheets. The Strait of Belle Isle separates the province into two geographical divisions, Labrador and the island of Newfoundland. Labrador is the
most eastern part of the Canadian Shield, an area vast with ancient plutonic and metamorphic plates. Subsequently, Newfoundland is the northeastern most
extension of the Appalachian Mountains (see below), and much younger than Labrador.
Three principal factors that shape the region's climate are: it’s a province in a geographic zone marked by noticeable seasonal differences in the amount
of energy normal from the sun, and by winds blowing predominantly from the west; the position of Newfoundland with regard to the Canadian mainland; and
the division of the province into island and mainland portions, leads to distinctive onshore and offshore local airflow features for the island and
Labrador, the wide area of cold water and seasonal ice offshore, including the Labrador Current system, that has a direct air on weather and weather;
and the clearly warmer Gulf Steam/North Atlantic Drift system to the southeast of the Grand Banks-- affects the properties of air reaching the province
from the south and east. As well, landform features as prominent uplands, and mountain ranges, and sheltered valleys and lowlands, induce the greater
details of climate and weather. For the reason that the province extends across a span of latitude (46.5-60.5°N) and longitude (from the continental
interior of western Labrador to the southeastern peninsulas of the island with their exposure to the sea), the time, duration and climatic nature of
the seasons varies considerably across the province..............
Adopted from and read more at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_and_Labrador |
