Newfoundland And Labrador

N ewfoundland and Labrador         the Atlantic Time Zone which is    is the most Easterly            Greenwich Mean Time -4 hours; it   Province of Canada. There       also observes Daylight Savings     are two portions to the Province,     between the months of April and    the Island of Newfoundland is         October when the difference is     located in the Gulf of St.            GMT -3 hours.                      Lawrence and Labrador is on the                                          Eastern part of the Canadian          Newfoundland and Labrador has a    mainland. They are separated by       total population of 512,930        the Strait of Belle Isle.             (2001), of which 27,864 (2001)                                           live on the mainland portion of    The only joining neighbour is the     Labrador and 485,066 (2001) live   Province of Quebec to the West as     on the island of Newfoundland.     the East of the Province is on        The Avalon Peninsular, located at  the ocean. The Island of              the South end of the Island, is    Newfoundland is 111,390 square        the most populated area of         kilometers and Labrador is            Newfoundland and home to the       294,330 square kilometers making      Provincial capital, St John’s.     the total area of the Province        The other principal cities of the  405,720 square kilometers. It is      Province are Mount Pearl and       more than three times the size of     Gander all located on              the Maritime Provinces.               Newfoundland Island and Happy                                            Valley-Goose Bay is in Labrador    Newfoundland has its own time         on the mainland. The Province is   zone called the Newfoundland Time     also dotted with many towns and    Zone which is Greenwich Mean Time     fishing villages.                  -3.5 hours. Between the months of                                        April and October Daylight Saving     The coastline is very rugged and   is in effect and the difference       consists of coves, fjords and      is GMT -2.5 hours. Labrador is in     offshore islands. The interior is  mostly covered with forest and        Newfoundland are 13 to 16 degrees  barren rock; 31,340 square            Celsius, with the interior         kilometers are covered by inland      normally warmer than to coast.     water. These geographical             The January average temperature    characteristics give the Province     is -4 degrees although it could    some great recreational               fall to -34 degrees Celsius.       opportunities in the wilderness       Heavy snowfall is common and       with some amazing Parks and           annual precipitation averages      Ecological Sites.                     about 44inches.                                                                                             Most of the Western part of the       Labrador tends to be cooler with   Island is made up of the              average July temperatures between  Newfoundland Highlands which are      10 and 13 degrees Celsius and      part of the Appalachian region        January about -18 degrees          and elevations reach 814 metres.      Celsius, it can be as cold as -51  The South and East of the Island      degrees Celsius in Western         is mostly flat, although there        Labrador. The annual               are some hilly sections on the        precipitation varies from about    Avalon Peninsular. Apart from the     40 inches in the south east to 20  Southeastern corner, Labrador is      inches in the extreme north.       occupied by the Canadian Shield -                                        mostly made up of ancient hard        The Provincial Government of       rock.                                 Newfoundland and Labrador is led                                         by the Honourable Danny Williams   St. John's is said to be the          who is the leader of the           foggiest, wettest, snowiest and       Progressive Conservative Party.    windiest of all the major cities      The Province is responsible for    in Canada. The locals apparently      administering the Healthcare       call it character-building! The       System which provides a basic      average July temperatures in          care system for the Newfoundland   and Labrador residents.               rental of most goods and certain                                         services in the Province.          The Education System and the          Residents of Newfoundland and      Driving Regulations are also          Labrador are subject to            regulated by the Province and         Provincial and Federal Taxation.   have differences from other parts                                        of Canada.                            Also, be sure to acquaint                                                yourself with the Provincial       Newfoundland and Labrador has a       Employment Standards which         Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) of 15      describes your rights and          per cent. This is composed of         obligations as an employee, the    both the Federal GST 7% and the       minimum wage system and great      Provincial sales tax 8% and is        links to the health and safety     applied to the retail sale or         regulations.                       About the Author: Dave Lympany emigrated to Canada in 2003 with his family. Now successfully settled, he has written an exceptional information resource for Canadian Immigration and life in Canada - http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com Source: www.isnare.com