ABOUT NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it comprises the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, with a combined area of 405,212 square kilometres (156,500 sq mi). In 2013, the province's population was estimated at 526,702. About 92% of the province's population lives on the island of Newfoundland (and its neighboring smaller islands), of whom more than half live on the Avalon Peninsula. The province is Canada's most linguistically homogeneous, with 97.6% of residents reporting English (Newfoundland English) as their mother tongue in the 2006 census. Historically, Newfoundland was also home to unique varieties of French and Irish, as well as
the extinct Beothuk language. In Labrador, local dialects of Innu-aimun and Inuktitut are also spoken.
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Newfoundland and Labrador's capital and largest city, St. John's, is Canada's 20th-largest census metropolitan area, and is home to almost 40 percent of the province's population. St. John's is the seat of government, home to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador and to the highest court in the jurisdiction, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal.
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A former colony then dominion of the United Kingdom, Newfoundland and Labrador became the tenth province to enter the Canadian Confederation on March 31, 1949, as "Newfoundland". On December 6, 2001, an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada to change the province's official name to Newfoundland and Labrador. In day-to-day conversation, however, Canadians generally still refer to the province itself as Newfoundland and that part of it on the Canadian mainland as Labrador.
Newfoundland and Labrador has a folk musical heritage based on the Irish, English and Scottish traditions that were brought to its shores centuries ago. Though similar in its Celtic influence to neighbouring Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador are more Irish than Scottish, and have more elements imported from English and French music than those provinces. Much of the region's music focuses on the strong seafaring tradition in the area, and includes sea shanties and other sailing songs. Some modern traditional musicians include Great Big Sea, The Ennis Sisters, Shanneyganock, Sharecroppers, The Dardanelles, Ron Hynes, and The Navigators.
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There is a Symphony Orchestra in St John's, which began in 1962 as a 20-piece string orchestra known as the St. John's Orchestra. Principals from this form a string quartet which performs regularly. There is also a School of Music at Memorial University which schedules a variety of concerts, and has a chamber orchestra, jazz band, etc. Two members of the faculty, Nancy Dahn on violin and Timothy Steeves on piano, form the internationally renowned Duo Concertante. They are also responsible for establishing an annual music festival in August, the Tuckamore Festival, Both the School of Music and Opera on the Avalon produce operatic works.
Newfoundland and Labrador has a somewhat different sports culture from the rest of Canada, owing in part to its long history separate from the rest of Canada and under British rule. Ice hockey, however, remains popular; the St. John's IceCaps play professionally at the Mile One Centre in St. John's, and the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League has teams around the island. Since the departure of the St. John's Fog Devils in 2008, Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in Canada to not have a team in the Canadian Hockey League (should one ever join it would be placed in the QMJHL, which hosted the Fog Devils and has jurisdiction over Atlantic Canada).
Association football (soccer) and rugby union are both more popular in Newfoundland and Labrador than the rest of Canada in general. Soccer is hosted at King George V Park, a 6,000-seat stadium built as Newfoundland's national stadium during the time as an independent dominion. Swilers Rugby Park is home of the Swilers RFC rugby union club, as well as the The Rock, one of the four regional teams in the Canadian Rugby Championship. Other sports facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador include Pepsi Centre, an indoor arena in Corner Brook; Shamrock Field, Canada's national Gaelic Games venue in St. John's; and St. Patrick's Park, a baseball park in St. John's.
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Gridiron football, be it either American or Canadian, is almost nonexistent; it is the only Canadian province other than Prince Edward Island to have never hosted a Canadian Football League or Canadian Inter-university Sport game, and it was not until 2013 that the province saw its first amateur teams form.
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