Prince Edward Island

:This article is about a Canadian province. For the South African sub-antarctic islands, see Prince Edward Islands

Facts

• The island has several nicknames: Epikwetk (Abegweit) which is a Mi'kmaq word meaning "Cradled in the Waves"; "Garden of the Gulf" referring to the pastoral scenery and lush agricultural lands throughout the province; "Million Acre Farm" also refers to the province being dominated by agriculture; and finally "Birthplace of Confederation", referring to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864.
• Until 1924, automobiles drove on the left side of the road.
• The Prince Edward Island Railway (Canadian Government Railways after 1915, CNR after 1918) was a narrow gauge system when it was built in 1873. Converted to standard gauge by 1930, the railway was abandoned province-wide in 1989, making PEI the first Canadian province to be without a railway.
• The world's fur-farming industry started with fox fur on a farm in Prince County.
• PEI is the only province which has yet to ratify the National Building Code of Canada.
• PEI has recently become home to a small population of a unique form of coyote, closely related to wolves, which evolved in neighbouring Maritime provinces.
• Repeal of Prohibition was vetoed in 1945 by then Lieutenant Governor B.W. LePage. (PEI Gov't Biography)
• There are 31 Canadian cities with a greater population than all of PEI, 13 in Ontario alone.
• PEI has extremely strict rules for non-resident land ownership as a legacy of Islanders' distrust on this issue from their colonial history. Residents and corporations are limited to maximum holdings of 400 and 1200 hectares (4 and 12 km²) respectively. There are also restrictions on non-resident ownership of shorelines and higher property taxation is in place for recreational properties, the majority of which are owned by non-residents.
• PEI had the highest per capita enlistment rate in the armed forces of any Canadian province in the volunteer army, navy and air force of the Second World War.
• Canadian Author Lucy Maud Montgomery was born on PEI, in Clifton. She set a great number of her novels on PEI.