Moncton is a Canadian city located in Westmorland County in southeastern New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, it lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has gained the nickname “Hub City” because of its central location and also because Moncton has historically been the railway and land transportation hub for the Maritimes.
The city proper has a population of 69,074 (2011). The city covers 142 square kilometers. The Moncton CMA has a population of 138,644 (2011). The CMA includes the neighbouring city of Dieppe and the town of Riverview, as well as adjacent suburban areas in Westmorland and Albert counties.
Although the area was originally settled in 1733, Moncton is considered to have been officially founded in 1766 with the arrival of Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants from Philadelphia. Initially an agricultural settlement, Moncton was not incorporated until 1855. It was named for Lt. Col. Robert Monckton, the British officer who had captured nearby Fort Beauséjour a century earlier. A significant wooden shipbuilding industry had developed in the community by the mid-1840s, allowing for civic incorporation in 1855, but the shipbuilding economy collapsed in the 1860s, causing the town to subsequently lose its charter in 1862. Moncton regained its charter in 1875 after the community’s economy rebounded, mainly due to a growing railway industry. In 1871, the Intercolonial Railway of Canada had chosen Moncton to be its headquarters, and Moncton remained a r