Charlottetown is a Canadian city and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island. The population of the city, proper in the 2001 census was 32,245 and the population of the census agglomeration was 58,358. Almost half of the Island's population lives within the Charlottetown area. Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885. It is also the county seat of Queens County.
Charlottetown is a popular destination in eastern Canada for visitors from other Maritime provinces, central Canada and the northeastern United States, as the city has a central location in the province as well as various services. The city's streetscapes with a centrally-planned downtown core containing many Victorian-era houses and buildings is an attraction, as well as a waterfront redevelopment project in recent decades which has seen walking trails and parks developed on former industrial lands. A new cruise ship terminal is planned by the local port authority which proponents hope will make the city a more attractive destination for the growing number of vessels operating in Atlantic Canadian waters.
Popular attractions within the city include the provincial legislature at Province House, which hosted the Charlottetown Conference, as well as Founders Hall, a recently redeveloped railway maintenance building which now houses an interactive trip through history tracing the development of Canada as a nation. The Confederation Centre of the Arts provides live theatre, including the Charlottetown Festival during the summer months, as well as a nationally-ranked art gallery. The Charlottetown Festival itself is headlined by Canada's most popular and longest-running musical, Anne of Green Gables - The Musical, which is an adaptation of Island author Lucy Maud Montgomery's novel.
