Acadians in the context of "Eastern Canada"

New Brunswick is a province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to the west. It is part of Eastern Canada and is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. The province is about 83% forested and its northern half is occupied by the Appalachians. The province's climate is continental with snowy winters and temperate summers. The province has a surface area of 72,908 km (28,150 sq mi) and 775,610 inhabitants (2021 census).

Approximately half of the population lives in urban areas, predominantly in Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton. In 1969, New Brunswick passed the Official Languages Act which began recognizing French as an official language, along with English. New Brunswickers have the right to receive provincial government services in the official language of their choice. About two thirds of the population are English speaking and one third is French speaking. New Brunswick is home to most of the cultural region of Acadia and most Acadians. New Brunswick's variety of French is called Acadian French. There are seven regional accents.

The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Canada's population. Together with Canada's easternmost province, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Maritime provinces make up the region of Atlantic Canada.

Located along the Atlantic coast, various aquatic sub-basins are located in the Maritimes, such as the Gulf of Maine and Gulf of St. Lawrence. The region is located northeast of New England in the United States, south and southeast of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, and southwest of the island of Newfoundland. The notion of a Maritime Union has been proposed at various times in Canada's history; the first discussions in 1864 at the Charlottetown Conference contributed to Canadian Confederation. This movement formed the larger Dominion of Canada. The Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy people are indigenous to the Maritimes, while Acadian and British settlements date to the 17th century. The Maritimes are within the Atlantic time zone, putting them one hour ahead of Quebec and the New England region of the United States.

Canadian French (French: français canadien, [fʁãˈsɛ kanaˈd͡zjɛ̃]) is the French language as it is spoken in Canada. It includes multiple varieties, the most prominent of which is Québécois (Quebec French). Formerly Canadian French referred solely to Quebec French and the closely related varieties of Ontario (Franco-Ontarian) and Western Canada—in contrast with Acadian French, which is spoken by Acadians in New Brunswick (including the Chiac dialect) and some areas of Nova Scotia (including the dialect St. Marys Bay French), Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador (where Newfoundland French is also spoken).

Acadian French (French: français acadien, acadjonne) is a variety of French spoken by Acadians, mostly in the region of Acadia, Canada. Acadian French has seven regional accents, including Chiac and Brayon.

Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel during the expulsion of the Acadians (1755–1764).

The idea for the poem came from Longfellow's friend Nathaniel Hawthorne. Longfellow used dactylic hexameter, imitating Greek and Latin classics. Though the choice was criticized, it became Longfellow's most famous work in his lifetime and remains one of his most popular and enduring works.

The Cajuns (/ˈkeɪdʒənz/; French: les Cadjins [le kadʒɛ̃] or les Cadiens [le kadjɛ̃]), also known as Louisiana Acadians (French: les Acadiens), are an American ethnic group mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and the surrounding Gulf Coast states.

While Cajuns are usually described as the descendants of the Acadian exiles who went to Louisiana over the course of Le Grand Dérangement, Louisianians frequently use Cajun as a broad cultural term (particularly when referencing Acadiana) without necessitating race or descent from the deported Acadians. Although the terms Cajun and Creole today are often portrayed as separate identities, Louisianians of Acadian descent have historically been known as, and are, a subset of Creoles (synonymous for "Louisianais", which is a demonym for French Louisianians). Cajuns make up a significant portion of south Louisiana's population and have had an enormous impact on the state's culture.

A multitude of languages have always been spoken in Canada. Prior to Confederation, the territories that would become Canada were home to over 70 distinct languages across 12 or so language families. Today, a majority of those indigenous languages are still spoken; however, most are endangered and only about 0.6% of the Canadian population report an indigenous language as their mother tongue. Since the establishment of the Canadian state, English and French have been the co-official languages and are, by far, the most-spoken languages in the country.

According to the 2021 census, English and French are the mother tongues of 56.6% and 20.2% of Canadians respectively. According to the 2016 census, a total of 86.2% of Canadians could conduct a conversation in English, while 29.8% could conduct a conversation in French. Under the Official Languages Act of 1969, both English and French have official status throughout Canada in respect of federal government services and most courts. All federal legislation is enacted bilingually. Provincially, only in New Brunswick are both English and French official to the same extent. French is Quebec's official language, although legislation is enacted in both French and English and court proceedings may be conducted in either language. English is the official language of Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta, but government services are available in French in many regions of each, particularly in regions and cities where Francophones form the majority. Legislation is enacted in both languages and courts conduct cases in both. In 2022, Nova Scotia recognized Mi'kmawi'simk as the first language of the province, and maintains two provincial language secretariats: the Office of Acadian Affairs and Francophonie (French language) and the Office of Gaelic Affairs (Canadian Gaelic). The remaining provinces (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) do not have an official provincial language per se but government is primarily English-speaking. Territorially, both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have official indigenous languages alongside French and English: Inuktut (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun) in Nunavut and, in the NWT, nine others (Cree, Dënësųłıné, Dene Yatıé/Zhatıé, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ / Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́ / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́, and Tłįchǫ Yatıì).

The Expulsion of the Acadians occurred when Great Britain attempted an ethnic cleansing of French-speaking Catholic inhabitants of an area of the eastern seaboard historically known as Acadia between 1755 and 1764. Acadia included the modern Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, along with part of the US state of Maine. The expulsion occurred during the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War.

Of an estimated 14,100 Acadians, approximately 11,500 were deported, of whom 5,000 died of disease, starvation or shipwrecks. Their land was given to settlers loyal to Britain, mostly immigrants from New England and Scotland. The event is largely regarded as a crime against humanity, though the modern-day use of the term "genocide" is debated by scholars. According to a 1764 census, 2,600 Acadians remained in Nova Scotia at that time, having eluded capture.