History
The peninsula is named after Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador. He was granted a patent by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1499 which gave him the right to explore that part of the Atlantic Ocean as set out in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
Together with Pêro de Barcelos, he first sighted the province Labrador in 1498. Fernandes charted the coasts of Southwestern Greenland and of adjacent Northeastern North America around 1498 and gave notice of them in Portugal and Europe. His landowner status allowed him to use the title lavrador, Portuguese for "farmer" or "landholder" . Fernandes actually gave the name of Terra do Lavrador to Greenland which was the first land he sighted, but eventually the name was spread to all areas and finally was set for Labrador.
Read more about this topic: Labrador Peninsula
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