The Maritime provinces, also the Canadian Maritimes or simply the Maritimes, is a region of eastern Canada on the Atlantic coast, consisting of the three provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
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 east of New England, south of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, and southwest of Newfoundland. (The "m" in maritime(s) is typically capitalized only in political references, not generally when describing the eastern coasts.)
Newfoundland and Labrador is often mistakenly identified as a Maritime province: it is properly part of Atlantic Canada (with the other three provinces) and, thus, referred to as an Atlantic province. Although it is located on the Atlantic coast, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence physically separates this province from the Maritimes. It also has a uniquely different history, as the dominion joined Canada eight decades after the three Maritime provinces. The four provinces of Atlantic Canada, sometimes combined with the two of Central Canada, are sometimes referred to as Eastern Canada.
There was talk of a Maritime Union of the three provinces to have a greater say in national affairs; however, the first discussions on the subject in 1864 at the Charlottetown Conference led to the larger Canadian Confederation instead.