Physically linked to the rest of Canada by the Confederation Bridge since 1997, Prince Edward Island strives to maintain the offshore identity of which it is so proud and which kept it aloof from the Confederation until there seemed no alternative to joining. That identity is partly the land, partly human.

Prince Edward Island has been an island since about 5,000 years ago, when the sea level rose to create the Northumberland Strait. Its glaciated surface is flat or gently rolling. Beneath the distinctive red soil, in which the famous potatoes flourish, are layers of soft red sedimentary rock, exposed in crumbling cliffs at many places along the shore.

When Charlottetown was founded as the island’s capital in 1768, the English were followed by Scots, the majority of them Gaelic-speaking Highlanders, then later by the Irish, both Protestant and Catholic. This settlement and the maintenance of cultural tradition has made the island one of the most Anglo-Celtic areas of Canada.