Comprises 5.5% of Canada's land mass in Newfoundland (NF) and what are collectively called the Maritimes: Prince Edward Island (PEI), Nova Scotia (NS), and New Brunswick (NB). Newfoundland includes Labrador, a portion of the continental mainland drained by rivers that flow east into the Atlantic Ocean.

Contains 8% of Canada's population

Accounts for 6% of Canada's GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

Land dominated by the infertile Appalachian Uplands and by coastal geography
(major exceptions: Annapolis Valley NS)

Physical asset in Halifax harbour, one of the world's deepest

Physical deficit in the challenges to transportation of a complex geography

Physical deficit in the long distance from metropolitan trade markets elsewhere in Canada and in the USA

Economy dominated by a small resource-extraction base: Fishing, Mining, Logging

Economy over-reliant on equalization payments and unemployment insurance from the federal government

Economic potential in off-shore oil and gas exploration

Economic deficit resulting from the closure of the Cod fishery in 1992

Annual unemployment rate of about 16%

Culture dominated by Scottish-Canadians in NS, Acadians in NB, and Irish-Canadians in NF.

One negative stereotype of Atlantic Canadians: unable to provide for themselves across the entire four provinces

One positive stereotype of Atlantic Canadians: hospitable and humble, possessed of the most acute sense of irony and humour among all Canadians