<Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.princeedwardisland.ca </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Rankings include all provinces and territories </Td> </Tr> <P> Prince Edward Island (PEI or P.E.I.; French: Île - du - Prince - Édouard) is a province of Canada consisting of the island of the same name, and several much smaller islands . Prince Edward Island is one of the three Maritime Provinces and is the smallest province in both land area and population . It is part of the traditional lands of the Mi'kmaq, and became a British colony in the 1700s and was federated into Canada as a province in 1873 . Its capital is Charlottetown . According to the 2016 census, the province of Prince Edward Island has 142,907 residents . </P> <P> The backbone of the economy is farming; it produces 25% of Canada's potatoes . The island has several informal names: "Garden of the Gulf", referring to the pastoral scenery and lush agricultural lands throughout the province; and "Birthplace of Confederation" or "Cradle of Confederation", referring to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, although PEI did not join Confederation until 1873, when it became the seventh Canadian province . Historically, PEI is one of Canada's older settlements and demographically still reflects older immigration to the country, with Celtic, English and French surnames being dominant to this day . </P>

When did prince edward island become a province