Newfoundland And Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, situated in the northeastern corner of North America. It is composed of the island of Newfoundland and a larger mainland sector, Labrador, to the northwest.^[1] Newfoundland and Labrador are known as "The Rock" because much of Newfoundland is composed of a mixture of bogs, barrens, and rocky outcrops.^[2] The total area of Newfoundland and Labrador is approximately 405,720 square kilometers (156,649 square miles).^[3] Labrador constitutes 71% of the province’s area but is home to only 6% of the province’s population, with the remaining 94% on the island of Newfoundland.^[4] As of April 1, 2024, the population of Newfoundland and Labrador stood at 541,391.^[5] The majority of the population resides on the Island of Newfoundland, with more than half residing on the Avalon Peninsula.^[6]

The economy of Newfoundland and Labrador is primarily resource-based. The extraction and processing of crude oil, minerals, fish, and forest resources accounted for approximately 33% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022.^[7] However, the economy shrank by 1.7% in 2022, largely due to a slowdown in the oil and gas sector.^[8]

Newfoundland and Labrador is home to several national parks, including Gros Morne National Park, Terra Nova National Park, Torngat Mountains National Park, and Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve. Additionally, there are more than 30 provincial parks to explore, such as La Manche Provincial Park and Sandbanks Provincial Park. Other attractions include the East Coast Trail, Fogo Island, Bonavista, Red Bay National Historic Site, and the capital city of St. John’s.

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History of Newfoundland and LabradorHistory of Newfoundland and Labrador

Prior to European colonization, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is home to four peoples of Indigenous ancestry:^[9] the Inuit, the Innu, the Mi'kmaq and the Southern Inuit of NunatuKavut (formerly the Labrador Inuit-Metis).

The first brief European contact with Newfoundland and Labrador came around 1000 AD when the Vikings briefly settled in L’Anse aux Meadows.^[10] From the mid-to-late 15th Century, European explorers like Diogo de Teive, John Cabot, João Fernandes Lavrador, Gaspar Corte-Real, Jacques Cartier, and others began exploration.^[11]

The region was the first stretch of North America’s Atlantic coastline to be explored by Europeans, but it was one of the last to be settled in force and formally colonized.^[11] The Norse arrived from Greenland about 1000 A.D. and established settlements during the following century.^[11] Some speculate that seamen from Bristol reached Newfoundland, or thereabouts, as early as the 1480s, predating Columbus’s voyage of 1492.^[12] However, the only hard evidence points to John Cabot’s English expedition of 1497 as the first known voyage to mainland North America in the new era of overseas discovery.^[12]

Newfoundland and Labrador became the newest of Canada’s 10 provinces, having joined the confederation only in 1949.^[13] Its name was officially changed to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001.^[13]

The lack of good soil, the small domestic market, and a relatively short growing season have militated against the development of agriculture in Newfoundland and Labrador, and most foodstuffs are imported.^[14] Though small, the sector has expanded steadily, with the main emphasis on poultry and dairy products.^[14]

In the 19th century, Scottish immigrants also arrived at Newfoundland and Labrador. Lowland Scots migrated to the colony early in the 1800s to take advantage of the booming fish trade.^[15]

During the 20th century, adventurers and geologists from North America and Europe arrived at Labrador to study its vast and largely uncharted interior, while the island of Newfoundland served as a taking off point for some of the world’s first transatlantic flights.^[16] With the assistance of the federal government, the province’s infrastructure was transformed over the course of the second half of the 20th century, and both living standards and educational levels markedly improved.^[17]

Demographics of Newfoundland and LabradorDemographics of Newfoundland and Labrador

The demographic distribution of the [state] population is as follows:^[18]

Newfoundland’s people are 97.6% native English speakers. This is the highest density of native English speakers in Canada. Dialects of French and Irish specific to the region used to also be present, along with a now-forgotten language called Beothuk. Nearly 40% of the population consider themselves to be Roman Catholic, with the remaining majority of nearly 60% of the population citing denominations of the Protestant church. 2.5% claim no religion, with only 0.2% having a faith other than Christianity.

Most common surnames in Newfoundland and LabradorMost common surnames in Newfoundland and Labrador

The demographic distribution of [state] surnames is as follows:^[19]

Surname	Incidence	Frequency
Power	4,570	1:113
Smith	4,437	1:116
White	4,325	1:119
Parsons	4,158	1:124
Walsh	3,610	1:143
King	3,387	1:152
Murphy	3,170	1:162
Penney	3,033	1:170
Clarke	2,745	1:188
Mercer	2,719	1:189

Researching family history in Newfoundland and LabradorResearching family history in Newfoundland and Labrador

The Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador which are deemed to have enduring legal, fiscal, evidential or research value. The Provincial Archives also collects records from private sources which have enduring value to the history of the province. The Library and Archives of Canada has records from the provinces and the entire country. The Anselme-Chiasson Acadian Studies Center houses the Acadian archives of the Université de Moncton. The Memorial University of Newfoundland houses the Maritime History Archive. The Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries offers a Genealogy Guide to Genealogical Material in the Newfoundland & Labrador Collection. The Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador has been in existence since 1984.