When Jacques Cartier came ashore in 1534, Indians had lived on Abegweit, meaning "cradled on the waves," for 10,000 years. Surprisingly warm waves wash its beaches, and the island's population increases fivefold in summer. Visitors enjoy Victorian villages, tidy farmsteads, and lobster suppers in steepled churches. Manicured Charlottetown, site of the 1864 meeting that led to Canada's union, draws thousands to its annual arts festival.
In May 1997, the Confederation Bridge, an eight-mile span between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, was completed. This longest bridge over ice-covered waters in the world brings a new age of transportation to Atlantic Canada. Bounty from the sea includes shellfish and Irish moss—a source of carrageenan, a food stabilizer.
ECONOMYIndustry: service industries, farm and fish products processing, aircraft parts manufacturing.
Agriculture: potatoes, barley, blueberries, vegetables, dairy products, cattle, hogs, lobsters and other seafood.Text source:
National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition, 2004
