facts about Newfoundland

DID YOU KNOW . . . ?
(25 fascinating facts about Newfoundland and Labrador)

Newfoundland's oldest surviving lighthouse stands at Cape Spear and has done so for 16 decades.
St. John's is the oldest city in North America.
Water Street, St. John's, is the oldest street in North America.
Marconi received the first ever transatlantic wireless transmission on Signal Hill.
The Royal St. John's Regatta is North America's oldest continuing sporting event.
North America saw its first court of justice in Trinity, Trinity Bay, in 1615.
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is the oldest parish in North America.
Newfoundland is the most easterly point in North America.
Britain staked its first colony and fought its final battle with France in the Seven Years' War in Newfoundland.
Newfoundland's provincial flower is the insectivorous.
The Newfoundland dog has webbed feet.
Newfoundland is home to North America's most spectacular and accessible seabird sanctuary, Cape St. Mary's.
Newfoundland's provincial bird is the Atlantic puffin.
Newfoundland boasts 17 000 kilometres of beautiful and rugged coastline.
Placentia is the former French capital of Newfoundland.
The English and the French fought many battles in Cape Bonavista at the turn of the 17th century.
Newfoundland is home to the largest black bears in North America.
Newfoundland is inhabited by 120 000 moose.
L'Anse aux Meadows is North America's only Viking settlement.
The oldest burial mound, 7500 years old, in North America is located at L'Anse - Amour.
600 000 caribou inhabit George's River in Labrador, making it the world's largest herd.
Marble Mountain in Corner Brook boasts the best skiing east of the Rockies and the highest snowfall in Eastern North America.
Marine Atlantic's ferries, the Joseph and Clara Smallwood and the Caribou, are Canada's largest.
The waters off Newfoundland are home to more than 5000 humpback whales, making Newfoundland the world's best place to see them.
95% of North America's Atlantic Puffins inhabit the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve.

These fascinating facts about Newfoundland are brought to you courtesy of
the Newfoundland and Labrador Travel Guide 1998.