Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Newfoundland & Labrador Highlights
See live music, a ghost tour and history in North America's oldest city,
St John's
(
Click here
)
.
Watch whales and puffins at
Witless Bay Ecological Reserve
(
Click here
).
Explore a 1000-year-old Viking pad at the sublime
L'Anse aux Meadows Nation-
al Historic Site
(
Click here
)
.
Hike the mountains and kayak the lakes at
Gros Morne National Park
(
Click
Try out the modern outport life in
Fogo
(
Click here
).
Hike, ogle icebergs and sip Moose Joose in
Twillingate
(
Click here
)
.
Get your French fix with wine, chocolate éclairs and baguettes in
St-Pierre
(
Click
Learn Basque whaling history then walk past ancient whale bones at
Red Bay
(
Click here
)
.
History
The Paleoindians walked into Labrador 9000 years ago. They hunted seals, fished for
salmon and tried to stay warm. The Vikings, led by Leif Eriksson, washed ashore further
south at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland in AD 1000 and established North
America's first European settlement.
John Cabot (Italian-born Giovanni Caboto) sailed around the shores of Newfoundland
next. It was 1497, and he was employed by England's Henry VII. Cabot's stories of cod
stocks so prolific that one could nearly walk on water spread quickly throughout Europe.
Soon the French, Portuguese, Spanish and Basques were also fishing here.
The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht ceded all of Newfoundland to England. The land remained
a British colony for most of the next two centuries, with life revolving around the boom-
ing fishing industry. Newfoundland's Aboriginal people, the Beothuk, did not fare well
after settlement began. Diseases and land conflicts contributed to their demise by 1829.
Ever true to its independent spirit, Newfoundland was the last province to join Canada,
doing so in 1949. While Labrador was always part of the package, it wasn't until 2001
that it became part of the provincial name.
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