One of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories is Prince Edward Island, or PEI. It is the most densely inhabited province while having the lowest geographical area and population. The island has been given the titles "Garden of the Gulf," "Birthplace of Confederation," and "Cradle of Confederation." Charlottetown is the country's biggest city and capital. One of the four Atlantic provinces, PEI is also one of the three Maritime provinces.
It was a portion of the Mi'kmaq's ancestral territory before the French colonized it in 1604 as part of the Acadia province. Following the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the island was given to the British and included in the province of Nova Scotia until becoming its own British colony in 1769. The Charlottetown Conference, held on Prince Edward Island in 1864 to propose a merger of the Maritime provinces, served as the precursor to a series of discussions that eventually resulted in the Canadian Confederation in 1867. When faced with financial ruin due to the Land Question and the building of a railroad, Prince Edward Island changed its mind and agreed to become Canada's seventh province in 1873.
According to Statistics Canada, 158,717 people lived in Prince Edward Island in 2019. Farming is the foundation of the island's economy; it provides 25% of Canada's potato supply. Fisheries, tourism, aerospace, bioscience, information technology, and renewable energy are other significant businesses. Being one of Canada's oldest colonies, Prince Edward Island's population still represents some of the country's original immigrants, with the majority of surnames having Canadian, Scottish, Irish, or English origins.
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