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- "St. John's" redirects here. For other uses, see Saint John.
The Canadian city of St. John's (2001 census population 99,512, metropolitan population 172,918), is the provincial capital and largest city of Newfoundland and Labrador and the oldest city in Canada. St. John's is also a sister city with Waterford, Ireland.
St. John's should not be confused with Saint John, New Brunswick.
Geography
The city is located on the northeast coast of the Avalon Peninsula in southeastern Newfoundland, and on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the most easterly city in North America, as well as the second largest city in Atlantic Canada (after Halifax, Nova Scotia). The downtown area exists to the north of St. John's Harbour and the rest of the city expands uphill to the west, north, and east.
St. John's is the largest city in census Division No. 1.
History
St. John's is the oldest city in Canada.Paul O'Neill, The Oldest City: The Story of St. John's, Newfoundland, 2003, ISBN 0973027126. Tradition declares that the city earned its name when explorer John Cabot became the first European to sail into Bonavista harbour, on June 24, 1497 — the feast day of Saint John the Baptist. A series of expeditions to St. John's by Portuguese in the Azores followed in the early 16th century, and by 1540 French, Basques and Portuguese crossed the Atlantic annually to fish the waters off the Avalon Peninsula.
The earliest record of the city appears as Sao Joao on a Portuguese map by Rienel in 1519. When John Rut visited St. John's in 1527 he found Norman, Breton and Portuguese ships in the harbour. St. Jehan is shown on Nicholas Desliens world map of 1541 and San Joham in João Freire's Atlas of 1546. It was during this time that Water Street was first developed, making it the oldest street in North America.
On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the city as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. At the time, he found 16 English ships with 20 French and Portuguese vessels using the harbour. There was no permanent population, however, and Gilbert was lost at sea during his return voyage, thereby ending any immediate plans of settlement.
By 1620 the fishermen of England's West Country had excluded other nations from most of the east coast.
In 1627, St. John's was "the principal prime and chief lot in all the whole country". The resident population grew slowly in the 17th century, but St. John's was by far the largest settlement in Newfoundland when British naval officers began to take censuses around 1675. Every summer the population swelled with the arrival of migratory fishermen. In 1680, fishing ships (mostly from South Devon) set up fishing rooms at St. John's, bringing hundreds of Irish men into the port to operate inshore fishing boats.
The town's first significant defences were probably erected by commercial interests, following the temporary seizure of St. John's by the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter in June, 1665. Regardless of the identity of those who built the defenses, the inhabitants were able to fend off a second Dutch attack in 1673. The British government began to plan fortifications around 1689, and were constructed following the retaking of St. John's after the French admiral Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville captured and destroyed the town late in 1696. The French attacked St. John's again in 1705 and 1708, and twice more devastated civilian structures with fire.
The harbour remained fortified through most of the 18th and 19th century. The final battle of the Seven Years' War in North America (the French and Indian War) was fought in 1762 in St. John's at the Battle of Signal Hill, in which the French surrendered St. John's to the British under the command of Colonel William Amherst.
The 18th century saw major changes in Newfoundland: population growth, beginnings of government, establishment of churches, reinforcement of commercial ties with North America and development of the seal, salmon and banks fisheries. St. John's grew slowly and although it was still primarily a fishing station, it was also a garrison, a centre of government and, increasingly, a commercial hub.
St. John's served as a naval base during both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
The core of the city was destroyed by fire several times, the most famous of which, the Great Fire of 1892, happened on July 8, 1892.
During the Second World War, the harbour was used by Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy ships used for protecting convoys. It was also the site of a large US Army base called Fort Pepperrell. This base was established as part of the "Lend-Lease" agreement between the UK and USA.
Climate
Of all major cities of Canada, St John's is the cloudiest (only 1497 hours of sunshine a year), foggiest (124 days a year), windiest (24.3km/h average), snowiest (359cm), and wettest (1514mm). However, St. John's has the third mildest winter in comparison to other Canadian cities.
Economy
St. John's economy has been continuously connected both to its role as a regional/national/provincial capital and to the ocean. Today, its continued growth is as much tied to what lies beneath the ocean - oil and gas - as what swims in or travels across the ocean. The city's economy is growing quickly, and the city has been identified as having one of the highest proportion of scientists and engineers per capita of any city under one million population in North America. Economic forecasts suggest that the city will continue its strong economic growth in the coming years in the "oceanic" industries mentioned above, but also in tourism and new home construction as the population continues to grow. St. John's has a maritime, temperate climate, with cool-to-warm summers, and relatively mild winters. The annual precipitation is moderate/high, with an average of 1640 mm per year.
This growth in St. John's and its surrounding suburban municipalities, particularly Paradise (+21%), Flatrock (+5%), Torbay (+5%), Conception Bay South (+3%) and Portugal Cove-St. Philip's (+2%) (all percentages indicate 1996-2001 growth) is in stark contrast to the population and economic collapse of much of the rest of the Province (St. John's metro area: -0.7% population; Rest of the province: -10.0% population). Much of the rest of the province refers to "Townies" (St. Johnsers) as not caring what happens "beyond the overpasses", because the ring-road highways (#1 and #2) that encircle the core of St. John's and all of Mount Pearl have overpasses at each location where a driver might leave the cities. Many feel that the growth in St. John's has not particularly spread to the rest of the Province.
Sports
St. John's is the home of the St. John's Fog Devils, a junior hockey team in the QMJHL. The Fog Devils' home stadium is Mile One Stadium in downtown St. John's. The St. John's Maple Leafs of the AHL previously played in St. John's, until they relocated and became the Toronto Marlies in 2005.
St. John's is home to North America's oldest continuously held annual sporting event, the Royal St. John's Regatta, which dates back to at least 1816. The event is considered important enough in the life of the city that the day of the Regatta (the first Wednesday with fine weather in August) is a civic holiday - one of the only weather-dependendent holidays in the world.
St. John's played host to the Canada Men's Soccer team's first (and only) qualification for the FIFA World Cup on September 14, 1985. They defeated Honduras 2-1, with most of the Honduras team wearing toques and gloves on account of the cold weather. They also played host to a FIFA World Cup Qualification game on August 20, 1972, where Canada beat USA 3-2. Canada failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1974, however.
Rugby Union is a popular sport in St. John's. The current Rugby Canada Super League champions are "the Rock", who play from St. John's, and the city will host a Rugby World Cup qualifying match between Canada and the USA in August, 2006.
Transportation
St. John's is the eastern terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway. (Victoria, British Columbia is the western terminus.)
The city is served by St. John's International Airport.
The city's public transportation system is Metrobus.
Demographics
(Unless otherwise identified, all statistics below are for the St. John's metro area, not the core city of St. John's.)
- According to the Canada 2001 Census:
Religion
Overwhelmingly Christian, the population of St. John's was long divided along sectarian (Catholic/Protestant) lines. This division was reinforced by a religious publicly-funded school system. In recent years, this sectarianism has declined significantly, and is no longer a commonly-acknowledged facet of life in St. John's. St. John's is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. John's, and the Anglican Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador.
| Religion | 2001 | % |
|---|---|---|
| Christian | 162,805 | 95.1% |
| 83,615 | 48.9% | |
| *Protestant | 77,880 | 45.5% |
| **Anglican | 39,020 | 22.8% |
| **United | 25,670 | 15.0% |
| 5,645 | 3.3% | |
| 3,865 | 2.3% | |
| 1,220 | 0.7% | |
| 495 | 0.3% | |
| 425 | 0.2% | |
| 1,540 | 0.9% | |
| 1,310 | 0.8% | |
| Muslim | 475 | 0.3% |
| Hindu | 355 | 0.2% |
| Other Religions | 460 | 0.3% |
| No Religion | 6,990 | 3.9% |
Ethnic Origins
Many of the earliest settlers of St. John's came from the southeast of Ireland, primarily Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny. These origins can still be detected in similarities between accents from that part of Ireland and the traditional St. John's accent.
| Ethnic Origin | Population | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian | 81,490 | 47.63% |
| English | 73,545 | 42.98% |
| Irish | 51,180 | 29.92% |
| Scottish | 13,520 | 7.90% |
| French | 7,125 | 4.16% |
| German | 2,925 | 1.71% |
| North American Indian | 1,990 | 1.16% |
The information regarding ethnicities above is from the 2001 Canadian Census. The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian".) Groups with greater than 1,500 responses are included.
Facts
- It was at St. John's that the first known letter was sent from North America. On August 3, 1527, John Rut had written a letter to King Henry on his findings of his voyage to North America.
- It was at St. John's that Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless message, and it was from there that the first nonstop transatlantic flight was begun (ending in Ireland) in 1919 by Alcock and Brown.
- The National War Memorial is located on the waterfront in St. John's where in 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the region as England's first overseas colony.
- St. John's is the site of the Oxen Pond Botanical Garden Newfoundland Museum, Memorial University, and the College of the North Atlantic.
- St. John's continuously has one of the lowest crime rates in Canada.
- George Street in downtown St. John's has the most bars per square foot in North America.
Media
Radio
St. John's is currently the only Canadian city served by radio stations whose call letters do not begin with the letter C. The ITU prefix VO was assigned to the Dominion of Newfoundland before the province joined Canadian Confederation in 1949, and three AM stations kept their existing call letters. However, other commercial radio stations in St. John's which went to air after 1949 use the same range of prefixes (CF–CK) currently in use elsewhere in Canada, with the exception of VOCM-FM, which was permitted to adopt the VOCM callsign because of its corporate association with the AM station that already bore that callsign. VO also remains in use in amateur radio.
- 92.3 FM — CICQ (tourist information)
- 93.5 FM — CHMR (Memorial University of Newfoundland campus radio)
- 94.7 FM — CHOZ (OZ FM, contemporary hit radio)
- 97.5 FM — VOCM (K-Rock 97.5, classic rock)
- 99.1 FM — CKIX (Hits FM, hot adult contemporary)
- 101.1 FM — CKSJ (Coast 101, adult contemporary)
- 101.9 FM — CBAX-2 (Espace musique)
- 105.9 FM — CBAF-17 (La Première Chaîne)
- 106.9 FM — CBN (CBC Radio Two)
- 590 AM — VOCM (news/talk)
- 640 AM — CBN (CBC Radio One)
- 800 AM — VOWR (oldies, religious)
- 930 AM — CJYQ (Radio Newfoundland, local music and culture, all genres)
- 1210 AM — VOAR (religious)
Television
- Channel 4 — CBFJ, SRC
- Channel 6 — CJON, independent station which airs a mix of Global and CTV programming; station is advertised as NTV
- Channel 8 — CBNT, CBC
- The Telegram (Daily newspaper)
- The Independent (Weekly newspaper)
- The Express (Weekly newspaper)
- The Muse (Weekly during summer months Memorial University student newspaper)
- Le Gaboteur (Newfoundland and Labrador's only French-language newspaper; bi-monthly)
- "The Scope (Newfoundland's only weekly online and print alternative newspaper)
Sister cities
Waterford, Ireland
Mayors of St. John's
See List of mayors of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
See also
List of cities in Canada
List of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador
References
External links
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Coastal cities | St. John's | Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada | 1583 establishments | Cities in Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's (Newfoundland kap Labrador) | Saint John's (Kanada) | San Juan de Terranova | Saint-Jean (Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador) | St. John's, Newfoundland dan Labrador | Saint John's (Nowa Fundlandia) | St. John's | St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | St. John's (Kanada) | St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | 聖約翰 (紐芬蘭與拉布拉多)
"St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador"