Tag: Newfoundland

Newfoundland (pronounced /ˈnjuːfən(d)lænd/ ( listen); French: Terre-Neuve) is a large Canadian island off the east coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The province’s official name was also “Newfoundland” until 2001, when its name was changed to “Newfoundland and Labrador” (the postal abbreviation was later changed from NF to NL).
The island of Newfoundland (originally called Terra Nova, from “New Land” in Latin) was visited by the Icelandic Viking Leif Eriksson in the 11th century, who called the new land “Vinland”. The island was later visited by the Italian John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), working under contract to King Henry VII of England on his expedition from Bristol in 1497. This landing is considered the initial foundation of the British Empire – a fact solidified on August 5, 1583, when Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England’s first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I of…