NewsTracker Answers for week of Feb. 05, 2024

Q: The people of Cape Ray are trying to solve the mystery of a 19th-century wooden shipwreck that recently washed ashore near their tiny community on Newfoundland. Where is Newfoundland, a large island at Canada’s easternmost point?

Circle the area on this map

Q: There have probably been thousands of shipwrecks off the coast Newfoundland over the last 500 years. Indigenous people lived on the island for thousands of years. Who were the first Europeans to live there?

A. English

B. French

C. Irish

D. Norsemen

D. In 1960, archaeologists found remains of a 1,000-year-old Norse settlement on the island. Newfoundland may have been visited by Leif Erickson, an explorer born in Norway who lived on Iceland and Greenland before coming to what is now Canada. The Norse settlements in what Erickson called Vinland did not last

Q: About 500 years later, Europeans began visiting the island and its rich fishing grounds. In 1583, which European nation claimed Newfoundland as its first overseas colony?

A. England

B. France

C. Netherlands

D. Portugal

A. A Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I officially established Newfoundland as a colony and a forerunner of the huge British Empire.

Q: Newfoundland and the coastal region on the mainland called Labrador make up the easternmost and newest province in Canada. It joined the Canadian Confederation after which war?

A. American Revolution

B. War of 1812

C. World War I

D. World War II

D. Until it became Canada’s 10th province in 1949, Newfoundland was a separate dominion of the British Empire. The name of the province was changed to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001. While the island of Newfoundland is about 29% of the province’s total area, 94% of the population lives on the island. St. John’s on the island’s east coast is the capital and largest city of the province.

Q: Some people in Cape Ray wonder if the old ship that washed ashore may have carried some of their ancestors to the island. What is the largest ethnic group in the province?

A. English

B. French

C. Irish

D. Scots

A. According to Canada’s 2021 census, 39.4% of the population is of English descent, followed by Irish at 19.7%, Scots at 6%, French at 5.5%, and First Nations at 3.2%. Newfoundland has a distinct English dialect that was heavily influenced by dialects of England’s West Country, the southeastern counties of Ireland, and of Scotland.