New Brunswick (French: Nouveau-Brunswick)
is one of Canada's three Maritime
provinces, and the only officially
bilingual province (French and
English) in the country. Its capital
is Fredericton. The provincial
Department of Finance estimates
that the province's population
in 2006 was 749,168 of which the
majority is English-speaking but
with a substantial (35%) French-speaking
minority of mostly Acadian origin
Economy
New Brunswick has a modern service
based economy dominated by the
finance, insurance, health care
and educational sectors and this
is based out of all three of the
principal urban centres. In addition
to the above; heavy industry is
found in Saint John, Fredericton
is dominated by government services,
universities and the military
and Moncton is a commercial, retail,
transportation and distribution
centre with important rail and
air terminal facilities.
The rural primary economy is
best known for forestry, mining,
mixed farming and fishing. The
most valuable crop is potatoes,
while the most valuable fish catches
are lobster and scallops. Tourism
is becoming increasingly important,
especially in the Passamaquoddy
region (dominated by the resort
town of St. Andrews), and in the
southeast of the province, centred
by Moncton and Shediac. The largest
employers are the Irving group
of companies, several large multinational
forest companies, the Government
of New Brunswick, and the McCain
group of companies.
Geography
New Brunswick is bounded on the
north by Quebec's Gaspé
Peninsula and Chaleur Bay. Along
the east coast, the Gulf of Saint
Lawrence and Northumberland Strait
are found. In the south-east corner
of the province, the narrow Isthmus
of Chignecto connects New Brunswick
to peninsular Nova Scotia. The
south of the province is bounded
by the Bay of Fundy. On the west,
the province borders the American
state of Maine. The province differs
from its neighbours physiographically,
climatologically and ethnoculturally.
The major river systems in the
province include the St. John
River, Petitcodiac River, Miramichi
River, St. Croix River, Kennebecasis
River and the Restigouche River.
New Brunswick lies entirely within
the Appalachian Mountain range.
The eastern and central part of
the province consists of the New
Brunswick Lowland. The Caledonia
Highlands and St. Croix Highlands
extend along the Bay of Fundy
coast, reaching elevations of
300 metres.
The northwestern part of the
province is comprised of the remote
and more rugged Miramichi Highlands,
as well as the Chaleur Uplands
and the Notre Dame Mountains with
a maximum elevation at Mount Carleton
of 820 metres. The total land
and water area is 72, 908 kms©˜,
80% of which is forested. The
major urban centres lie in the
south of the province.
Urban Areas
Metropolitan Saint John (Saint
John, Quispamsis, Rothesay) and
Greater Moncton (Moncton, Riverview,
Dieppe) both have urban populations
of between 120,000 and 130,000.
Greater Fredericton has a census
agglomeration population of 85,000.
Saint John is one of the largest
shipping ports in Canada (in terms
of gross tonnage) and has heavy
industries in the form of pulp
and paper mills and oil refineries.
There are major oil fired and
nuclear power plants in the greater
Saint John vicinity. Moncton is
the fastest growing metropolitan
area in the province. Its economy
is principally based on transportation
(the province's largest airport
is located here), distribution,
commercial and retail. Moncton
has a sizeable francophone Acadian
minority (35%) and was the first
officially bilingual city in the
country. Fredericton, the capital
of the province is home to the
Beaverbrook Art Gallery, and the
University of New Brunswick. Canada's
largest military base is located
in nearby Oromocto.
Tourism
The province has a number of
outstanding tourist attractions.
These include the New Brunswick
Museum, Kouchibouguac National
Park, Mactaquac Provincial Park,
the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, King's
Landing Historical Settlement,
Village Historique Acadien, Les
Jardins de la Republique, La Dune
de Bouctouche, Saint John Reversing
Falls, Magnetic Hill Zoo, Crystal
Palace, Cape Jourimain National
Wildlife Preserve, Sackville Waterfowl
Park, Bay of Fundy and the 41
km Fundy Hiking Trail.
