one of the two Prince Edward Islands (the other being Marion Island) in the southern Indian Ocean. The subantarctic island lies about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southeast of Cape Town and 12 miles (19 km) north-northeast of Marion Island and covers an area of 18 square miles (47 square km). Discovered in January 1772 by the French explorer Marion du Fresne, the island was given its present name by the British navigator James Cook (Cook, James), who explored the area in 1776. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was frequented by whaling ships and seal hunters. South Africa claimed the island in 1947, annexing it in 1948. Prince Edward Island is volcanic in origin. It has steep escarpments on its northwest and southwest coasts, rising to 2,370 feet (722 m) in the centre of the island. The climate is cool and stormy; dominant westerly winds bring heavy rain (on an average of 300 days a year) and snow. The mean annual temperature is 40° F (4.4° C); yearly rainfall averages 100 inches (2,500 mm). Plants include the Kerguelen cabbage, peculiar to that part of the world. The island is uninhabited except for occasional biological research teams.

The original Mi'kmaq (Micmac) Indian metaphor Abegweit—popularly translated “Cradled on the Waves”—aptly describes the slender crescent of land. During the French regime (1720–58) it was called Île Saint-Jean, but when the British took over they first Anglicized the name to Saint John's Island, then attempted to call it New Ireland, and finally named it for the Duke of Kent, commander of the British forces in North America. In 1867 Prince Edward Island became the seventh province of Canada. The name of its capital, Charlottetown, commemorates the wife of King George III.

The landscape ranges from rolling hills in central Queens county to level stretches in western Prince county. The highest elevation is 466 feet (142 metres) above sea level in Queens county. The soils, classed as podzols, rest on a sandstone base and are low in plant nutrients and high in acidity. On more than half the island, the red, sandy loam is suitable for cultivation.

The province has a relatively mild climate. The average mean temperature is 42° F (6° C), and the mean annual precipitation is 40 inches (1,016 millimetres).

Forests cover two-fifths of the island. The original stands were mainly deciduous, but coniferous trees are now much more common. Besides the native birch, maple, pine, and spruce, foreign species include linden, horse chestnut, black walnut, and European mountain ash. Tall trees line town streets as well as country lanes.

Prior to European settlement, moose and caribou roamed the island, as did black bears up to the early 20th century. Wildcats were exterminated, but foxes and snowshoe hares endured, and the nearly depleted beaver has been reintroduced. Mink, weasels, and muskrats are numerous. The coyote and the prolific skunk are unwelcome invaders. The ruffed grouse is a native bird, but ring-necked pheasants and Hungarian partridges are imports. Canada geese and brant are regular migrants. Cormorants are increasing, while black ducks are diminishing. Island rivers support such fish as trout, perch, and salmon. There is an active wildlife conservation program.

Despite its largely rural character, Prince Edward Island is the most densely populated province in Canada. Population growth has been most apparent in the urban areas of Charlottetown and Summerside. The smaller towns, such as Souris, Kensington, and Tignish, have exhibited little change. Family farms are increasing in size but decreasing in numbers. Kings county is the least populated area.

More than three-fourths of the residents are descendants of early settlers from the British Isles: Highland Scots, Englishmen, and both southern and Ulster Irish. Other ancestral strains include several hundred loyalists, who settled after the American Revolution, and about 30 Acadian families, recorded in the census of 1765, who are the progenitors of several thousand present-day French-speaking island residents. Many original settlement patterns can still be traced in place-names and family names. The Acadians mostly live south of Rustico, near Cape Egmont, and west and north of Cascumpeque Bay. Since 1945 a number of Dutch families, as well as a sprinkling of Americans, Belgians, Lebanese, and Germans, have settled in Prince Edward Island.

Roman Catholics make up the largest religious denomination, followed by United Church members, Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Baptists. English is the predominant language of the island; relatively few residents speak only French. Bilingualism is encouraged, however, by an optional French immersion program in the schools, and classroom instruction in French is available.

A fertile soil and temperate growing season favour agriculture; the island's location makes it a base for lobster, shellfish, and groundfish (cod, hake, flounder, and redfish) operations; and its sandy beaches, warm waters, and other tourist amenities attract hundreds of thousands of summer visitors. Despite the success of these major industries, the provincial economy has lagged appreciably behind national averages for productivity, employment, and per capita income. Limited resources, distance from large markets, high transportation costs, and the nation's highest electric-power rates all hamper industrial enterprise.

During the late 20th century, federal-provincial agreements enabled the province to institute a series of reforms aimed at assisting the people to create viable economic enterprises for themselves. These included full exploitation of agriculture; development of tourist facilities; better use of forest assets; improvement of fisheries; expansion of manufacturing; public investment in housing, health, and welfare services; and the extension of programs of education and training. The reforms resulted in upgraded living standards, but with the growing dependence on government assistance and a strain on provincial resources.

Agriculture continues to serve as the economic base. The traditional primary crop is potatoes; turnips, hay, and grains are also grown. Dairying is a major industry, and there is some cattle and hog raising. Tobacco is grown in the eastern part of the island, and the raising of fur-bearing animals is pursued in the western part. Private woodlots yield both hardwood and softwood for lumber, pulpwood, and fuel.

Fishermen depend primarily on the lobster catch, but oysters, clams, and scallops are also important. A secondary industry is the harvesting of Irish moss (a seaweed) for its carrageenan, an extract with several commercial uses. Also lucrative are catches of cod, haddock, tuna, and mackerel. Onshore plants process and freeze sea products; several aquaculture enterprises are established.

Industrial development is encouraged by the P.E.I. Lending Authority. Shipping frozen fried potatoes, green vegetables, and berries is now a leading business activity. Food processing has evolved from many small local plants into a few large enterprises. More than 600,000 visitors each summer contribute to the island's economy and social life.

Transportation problems have always challenged islanders. Cars and trucks having effectively displaced trains as passenger and freight carriers, the Canadian National Railway ceased rail services on the island in 1989. A bridge across Northumberland Strait, completed in 1997, links Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Until then, regular ferry services had been maintained between the island and the mainland provinces. Canadian Airlines and Air Canada fly daily routes between Charlottetown, Toronto, Montreal, and centres in the Atlantic region. Potatoes, pulpwood, and other products are shipped from ports on the island's south and east coasts.

The provincial government consists of the lieutenant governor and an Executive Council chosen from the 27 members of the Legislative Assembly. The premier heads the ministerial Executive Council, whose responsibilities include education, agriculture and forestry, fisheries and the environment, economic development and tourism, and health and social services.

The province is represented in the federal Parliament by one member from each of four electoral districts: Cardigan, Hillsborough, Malpeque, and Egmont. Four Senate appointments also are allotted to the province.

The Department of Education administers public education from primary grades through senior high school by means of three regional school boards.

The University of Prince Edward Island, at Charlottetown, was chartered in 1969 as a merger of two institutions that had originated more than a century earlier, Prince of Wales College and St. Dunstan's University. In 1983 the Atlantic Veterinary College was established within the provincial university. Holland College, also established in 1969, is an institute of applied arts and technology that offers courses in a number of communities on the island.

The Health and Social Services Department administers the provincial plan for universal medical care. Provincial agencies govern housing and pollution control.

Other communities benefit from the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation, with its network of regional facilities and cultural programs. The public library system has community branches and a mobile service. Several art galleries and small theatres operate outside Charlottetown. A multicultural festival is presented annually, and there are regional folk festivals, exhibitions, plowing matches, fiddling contests, and Highland Games. The annual music festival attracts thousands of participants from the schools of the province. The Evangeline district has a reconstructed Acadian Village, a cultural centre, and a museum. The island's residents practice such handicrafts as weaving, pottery making, and woodworking.

Facilities and programs for sports and recreation are abundant. Every sizable community has an ice-skating rink; and golf courses, baseball and football (soccer) fields, and basketball courts are scattered throughout the island. All major sports are organized into leagues, and island athletes compete in regional and national meets. Harness races are run year-round and culminate in the Gold Cup and Saucer event in August.

Before European colonization, Mi'kmaq Indians from the mainland used the island for fishing, hunting, and some planting in the warmer seasons. Present-day descendants of these Indians subsist mainly on a small island in Malpeque Bay on the north shore.

Legend suggests that John Cabot (Cabot, John), the English-sponsored Genoese-Venetian explorer, may have seen the island in 1497, although historians credit its discovery to Jacques Cartier (Cartier, Jacques), the French navigator, in June 1534. Claimed for France in 1603 by Samuel de Champlain (Champlain, Samuel de), the first governor of French Canada (who called it Île Saint-Jean), it was not colonized until 1720, when 300 settlers from France established Port la Joie at the entrance to the harbour of Charlottetown. In addition, fishermen and trappers from the French-speaking mainland colony of Acadia established several other small communities on the island. The French regime lasted only 38 years until the British occupied the island in 1758, dispersing more than 3,500 of the settlers.

The island was formally ceded to Great Britain in 1763, and six years later the colony was separated from Cape Breton and its first governor was appointed. Under British (British Empire) administration the island was surveyed and divided into three counties, each with a township and “royalty,” and 67 lots or townships of about 20,000 acres each. In 1767, proprietors, who were expected to promote settlement, were awarded 64 of these lots by ballot, and for the next century absentee-landlord problems beset the colony. Representative government was granted in 1851, and the Land Purchase Act of 1875 ended the controversial land tenure system. By 1900 the population reached 100,000.

In 1864 a conference called to discuss the Maritime Provinces' union prepared the way for the confederation of all the Canadian provinces. This Charlottetown Conference was the forerunner of the Quebec Conference of 1867, which actually resulted in the founding of the Dominion of Canada. Prince Edward Island has thus been known as the “Cradle of Confederation,” even though it did not finally join the union until 1873, when forced to do so by severe financial troubles. Resourceful politicians then persuaded the federal government to make concessions that enabled the province to purchase the lands still held by foreign proprietors and resell them to resident farmers, to assume the debt of the island railway, and to obtain assurance of continuous communication with the mainland. Despite these advantages of confederation, the economy of Prince Edward Island remained chronically depressed and dependent on federal assistance through most of the 20th century.