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New Brunswick
New Brunswick
borders on Nova Scotia, Quebec and the U.S. state of Maine. New
Brunswick has a land mass of 73 500 km2, 85 percent of which is
forest. The northern part of the province is quite mountainous, the
tallest peak being Mount Carleton at 820 meters high. The interior
consists mainly of a rolling plateau.
The main rivers are
the Miramichi, Nepisguit, Restigouche and Saint John.
The People
In 2001,
the population of New Brunswick was
729,498. With the highest percentage of Francophones outside
Quebec (almost 35 percent), New Brunswick is Canada's only
officially bilingual province.
The heritage of New Brunswick's people
is a blended one, combining elements of the French, British
Loyalist, Scottish and Irish traditions, with later elements of
German, Scandinavian and Asian.
The coasts and river valleys are the
areas of heaviest population; Saint John is the largest city,
followed by Moncton and Fredericton, the provincial capital.
The
Economy
Leading the
manufacturing industries is food, followed by wood-based industries,
pulp and paper and related products, metal processing and
transportation equipment. Processing of non-metallic ores and
primary metals is also a significant manufacturing industry.
Tourism is a vital part of the province's economy. In 2003, 1.86
million people visited New Brunswick resulting in revenues of $1.1
billion
New Brunswick has an abundance of
natural resources. Forests occupy 85 percent of the land mass;
consequently, wood and wood products are a cornerstone of the
economy. Mining, too, is important. New Brunswickers mine silver,
bismuth, cadmium, coal, copper, natural gas, gold, oil, lead,
potash, peat, tungsten, silica, salt and zinc.
Fishing and
agriculture are also very important. More than 50 varieties of fish
and shellfish are caught here; in fact, the town of Shediac has been
called the "lobster capital of the world."
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