The Maritimes, also called the Maritime Provinces or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the northeastern province of Newfoundland. The population of the Maritime provinces was 3,807,514 in 2011.
The Maritimes front the Atlantic Ocean and its various sub-basins such as the Gulf of Maine and Gulf of St. Lawrence systems. The region is located northeast of New England, southeast of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, and southwest of the island of Newfoundland.
There was talk of a Maritime Union of the three provinces to have greater political power; however, the first discussions on the subject in 1864 at the Charlottetown Conference led to the process of Canadian Confederation which formed the larger Dominion of Canada instead.
The Maritimes are home to Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy people and have an extensive history of French and British settlement dating back to the seventeenth century, forming a unique culture that predates Canada.