New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick, Canadian province located on the eastern seaboard of the North American continent. It is Canada’s only officially bilingual province, French and English having equal status. It was one of the four original provinces making up the national confederation in 1867. Together with Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, it forms the regional grouping known as the Maritime Provinces. New Brunswick has a roughly rectangular shape, about 210 miles (340 km) from north to south and 185 miles (300 km) from east to west. It is bounded to the north by the province of Quebec, to the east by the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait, and to the south by the Bay of Fundy. The latter two bodies of water are separated by the narrow neck of the Chignecto Isthmus, which joins New Brunswick to Nova Scotia, to the southeast. To the west lies the U.S. state of Maine.

Chartered by King George III, the province was named for the royal house of Brunswick, and its capital, Fredericton, was named for King George III’s son Frederick. While New Brunswick has contributed significantly to the national life of Canada, it is one of the smaller provinces and has always occupied a lesser role in the national economy. Its beautiful forests, rivers, lakes, and seashore—attractions for tourists, hunters, and sport fishermen—have remained relatively unspoiled. Area 28,150 square miles (72,908 square km). Pop. (2021) 775,610.