Prince County, Prince Edward Island

This article is about Prince Edward Island county. For the Canadian federal political riding, see Prince County (electoral district).
Prince County
Comté de Prince (French)

Location of Prince County in Prince Edward Island.
Incorporated Towns & Municipalities Summerside (city), Alberton (town), Borden-Carleton (town), Kensington (town), O'Leary (town)
Parishes North Parish, Egmont Parish, Halifax Parish, Richmond Parish, St. David's Parish
Townships and royalties
Area
 • Total 1,979.87 km2 (764.43 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Total 44,348
 • Density 22/km2 (58/sq mi)
Average_Earnings $38,916

Prince County is located in western Prince Edward Island, Canada. The county's defining geographic feature is Malpeque Bay, a sub-basin of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which creates the narrowest portion of Prince Edward Island's landmass, an isthmus upon which the city of Summerside is located.

Picturesque St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Grand River, Prince County. The church was designed by William Critchlow Harris and completed in 1890.

The geographic division created by Malpeque Bay is informally augmented by a socio-economic division between the more urban East Prince and rural West Prince, although the line of division generally varies. Much of Prince Edward Island's industrial base is concentrated in the eastern part of the county, with three large frozen French fry manufacturing plants, a potato chip manufacturing plant, and an aerospace industry located at a former air force base. Industrial farming for root crops such as potatoes accounts for the majority of rural economic activity, followed by fishing for shellfish such as lobster and crab.

The county was named by Capt. Samuel Holland in 1765 for George, Prince of Wales, who would later become King George IV (1762–1830). As such, Prince County's shire town was designated as Princetown, however the inferior harbour for Prince Royalty saw the settlement pattern change to give this honour to Summerside.

The name "Prince County" is notable for being unique for titling land subdivisions in the Commonwealth of Nations.

Municipalities

Historical populations
YearPop.±%
199143,241—    
199644,566+3.1%
200144,495−0.2%
200644,499+0.0%
201144,348−0.3%
[1][2][3][4]

References

Coordinates: 46°45′N 64°5′W / 46.750°N 64.083°W / 46.750; -64.083

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.