Downtown St John’s Photo Shoot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

St. John’s is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans 446.04 km2 (172.22 sq mi) and is the easternmost city in North America (excluding Greenland).[9][10][11][12]

Its name has been attributed to the belief that John Cabot sailed into the harbour on the Nativity of John the Baptist in 1497, although it is most likely a legend that came with British settlement. A more realistic possibility is that a fishing village with the same name existed without a permanent settlement for most of the 16th century.[13] The city was founded by Spanish fishermen from the Gipuzkoan port of Pasajes de San Juan, who arrived in those lands at the beginning of the 16th century in search of fishing, settled and called the place San Juan de Pasajes, which is referred to as San Juan de Terranova in modern-day Spanish.[14] Indicated as São João on a Portuguese map from 1519, it is one of the oldest cities in North America.[15] It was officially incorporated as a city in 1888. With a metropolitan population of approximately 212,579 (as of 9 February 2022), the St. John’s Metropolitan Area is Canada’s 20th-largest metropolitan area and the second-largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Atlantic Canada, after Halifax.[16]

The city has a rich history, having played a role in the Seven Years’ War, the American Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in St. John’s.[17] Its history and culture have made it into an important tourist destination.[18] St. John’s was referred to as Baile Sheáin (Johnstown), in the poetry of Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Conmara (1715–1810), and among speakers of the Irish language in Newfoundland.[19