Geography of Newfoundland and Labrador - Human Geography

Human Geography

Newfoundland and Labrador had a population of 505,469 (2005 estimate) and a population density of 1.27 per km2 (3.1 per sq mi). The provincial capital is St. John's, which had a population of 181,113 in 2005). St John's is located at the extreme eastern edge of the island on the Avalon Peninsula. The other cities are Mount Pearl and Corner Brook.

See also: List of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador

Human inhabitation in Newfoundland and Labrador can be traced back over 9,000 years to the people of the Maritime Archaic Tradition. They were gradually displaced by people of the Dorset Culture and finally by the Innu and Inuit in Labrador and the Beothuks on the island. The oldest known European contact was made over a thousand years ago when the Vikings briefly settled in L'Anse aux Meadows. Five hundred years later, European explorers (John Cabot, Gaspar Corte-Real, Jacques Cartier and others), fishermen from England, Portugal, France and Spain and Basque whalers (the remains of several whaling stations have been found at Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador) began exploration and exploitation of the area.

Early European (primarily from England, Ireland and France) settlement in Newfoundland was confined to the coast. The rich cod fishery on the Grand Banks and along the shore of the island was the primary reason for these settlements. The rugged shoreline provided many small, but isolated, harbors (outports) from which to conduct the fishery. The Avalon Peninsula was, and is, the most populous part of the island, and as such had the best developed system of early roads and trails. Transportation between communities on other parts of the coast, especially the south coast between Fortune Bay and Port aux Basques, was exclusively by boat. Almost all communities are now accessible by roads which are part of the provincial road system. The now-defunct Newfoundland Railway, built in the latter part of the 19th century, and the development of the lead, zinc and copper mine at Buchans and the paper mill in Grand Falls in the early 20th century marked the beginning of the settlement of the interior of the island. Despite these developments the majority of the population is still found along the coast.

Settlement of Labrador followed a similar pattern, with the interior being settled only in the latter part of the 20th century with the development of the iron ore mines at Wabush, hydroelectric generation at Churchill Falls and the military base at Goose Bay.

Aboriginal peoples include the Innu, Inuit and Métis of Labrador and the Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland. One aboriginal group, the Beothuks became extinct in the early 19th century.