Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island (PEI; ; ; colloquially known as the Island) is an island province of Canada. While it is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", "Birthplace of Confederation" and "Cradle of Confederation". Its capital and largest city is Charlottetown. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces.

Part of the traditional lands of the Mi'kmaq, it was colonized by the French in 1604 as part of the colony of Acadia. The island, known as Isle St-Jean (St-John's Island), was ceded to the British at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763 and became part of the colony of Nova Scotia. In 1769, St. John's island became its own British colony and its name was changed to Prince Edward Island (PEI) in 1798. PEI hosted the Charlottetown Conference in 1864 to discuss a union of the Maritime provinces; however, the conference became the first in a series of meetings which led to Canadian Confederation on 1 July 1867. Prince Edward Island initially balked at Confederation but, facing bankruptcy from the Land Question and construction of a railroad, joined as Canada's seventh province on 1 July 1873.

According to Statistics Canada, the province of Prince Edward Island had 177,081 residents in 2024. The backbone of the island economy is farming; it produces 25% of Canada's potatoes. Other important industries include fisheries, tourism, aerospace, biotechnology, information technology and renewable energy. As Prince Edward Island is one of Canada's older settled areas, its population still reflects the origins of its earliest settlers, with Acadian, Scottish, Irish, and English surnames being dominant.

Prince Edward Island is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about 10 km (6 miles) across the Northumberland Strait from both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. It is about north of Halifax and east of Quebec City. It has a land area of , is the 104th-largest island in the world and Canada's 23rd-largest island. It is the only Canadian province consisting solely of an island. Provided by Wikipedia