narrow neck of land in the centre of the Maritime Provinces of Canada, connecting Nova Scotia with New Brunswick and the Canadian mainland, between Northumberland Strait (leading to the Gulf of St. Lawrence) and Chignecto Bay, a northern extension of the Bay of Fundy. Its name is descriptive, being Mi'kmaq Indian for “great swampy area” (although some authorities suggest the word means “foot cloth” and alludes to a local legend). It is 15 miles (24 km) wide at its narrowest point, just north of Amherst, N.S. The isthmus, first settled in 1672, served as a strategic point in the struggles between the British and French for control of the region. Several forts, including Lawrence, Gaspereau (Monckton), and Beauséjour (now a national historic park), were built on its shores. Since 1822 a number of plans for cutting a canal across it have been surveyed, though none has ever been put into effect.