Here are more NB Facts: 

• New Brunswick is one of the four Atlantic provinces in Canada. 
• Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula is north, the State of Maine is to the west.
• It is the third smallest province. 
• The province is named for the British royal family of Brunswick-Lüneburg. 
• It is called the Loyalist Province. 
• New Brunswick is Canada’s only officially bilingual province. 
• N.B. has a mainland and many islands. 
• Fredericton is the capital city. 
• Moncton is the largest city. 
• Provincial Flower – Purple Violet, Tree – Balsam Fir, Bird – Black-capped Chickadee 
• Motto – “Hope was restored.”

HISTORY

• The first people to live in N.B. include the Micmac and Malecite. 
• The Micmac and Malecite hunted and fished and were guides for the French explorers. 
• The French mariner Jacques Cartier visited the east coast in 1534. 
• In 1604 Samuel de Champlain and the French established the first settlement.  
• The French called the east coast area Acadia. 
• By 1608 French settlers (called Acadians) were farming around the Bay of Fundy. 
• Acadia became an English colony in 1713. 
• Some of the people would not swear loyalty to England. Their homes were burned and they were sent away. Some went to Louisiana in the United States. 
• Amercan settlers founded the city of Saint John (oldest city in Canada). 
• In 1784 the north section of the colony became the new colony of New Brunswick. 
• The lumbering industy grew. Shipbuilding was a big industry. 
• The ships carried masts and other wood products around the world. 
• Thousands came from Ireland after 1846 to work in the lumber industry or to farm. 
• On July 1, 1867 New Brunswick became one of the first four provinces of Canada. 
• The oldest known hooked rug in Canada was designed by 16-year-old Susanna Smith and crafted by her 13-year-old sister Abigail in 1860 at New Maryland.

WATER AND LAND

• More than half of the province is surrounded by water. 
• The east coast faces the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Northumberland Strait; The Bay of Fundy
  is along the south coast. 
• Many bays and inlets along the coasts provide safe harbours for boats. 
• There are many rivers in the province. 
• The longest river is the St. John River ( 670 km.long). 
• The Bay of Fundy between N.B. and Nova Scotia has the world’s highest tides (over 15 metres high). 
• Forests (mainly black spruce and fir) cover about 85 percent of N.B. 
• The Appalachian Mountains run along the western edge of the province.

RESOURCES/INDUSTRY

• N.B. is the main producer of lead, zinc, copper and bismuth in Canada. 
• Gypsum, potash, antimony, silver, gold, natural gas and oil are also mined. 
• There are fishing ports where more than fifty kinds of fish and shellfish are caught
  (scallops, shrimp, herring, lobsters, snow crabs, mussels, oysters, etc. ) 
• Lobster is the most valuable catch. Crab is second. 
• Aquaculture farms harvest salmon, trout, arctic char, oysters and mussels. 
• The main industry is forestry. 
• Paper, newspaper, magazines, tissue, wooden doors and windows are made. 
• There are livestock, dairy, poultry, potato and berry farms. 
• The main crop is potatoes. The St. John River Valley is called the “Potato Belt.” 
• Apples, blueberries, strawberries, and cranberries are also grown. 
• Fiddleheads (sprouts of the ostrich fern) are gathered in early spring for eating.

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