Lab'rador, the north-eastern peninsula of the North American continent, lying between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of St Lawrence. The coasts were probably visited by Norsemen about the year 1000; they were sighted by Cabot in 1498. In 1500 the Portuguese Cortereal is said to have visited it and to have given it its euphemistic name of' cultivable land.' But another tradition derives the name from a Basque whaler called Labrador. Labrador extends from 49° to 63° N. lat., and from 55° to 79° W. long. The greatest length is 1100 miles, and the area 420,000 sq. m. The portion draining into the St Lawrence forms the larger part of Quebec province ; the Atlantic coast strip - to which the name Labrador is officially restricted - is attached to Newfoundland ; the remainder is, since 1895, the territory of Ungava. The Atlantic coast is stern and precipitous (1000 to 4000 feet high), entirely destitute of vegetation, deeply indented with narrow fjords, and fringed with rocky islands. The interior, very imperfectly explored, consists mainly of a plateau 2000 feet above sea-level, and mostly covered with fine forest trees, firs, birches, etc. Numerous lakes, including Mistas-sini (q.v.), with the rivers, afford in summer continuous waterways for great distances. The only inhabitants of this interior plateau are Cree Indians, nomads. There are numerous rivers, 200 to 300 miles long and 2 and 3 miles wide at their mouths, flowing towards the Atlantic and Hudson Bay. The Grand Falls, 2000 feet high, on Grand River are amongst the largest in the world. Bears, wolves, foxes, martens, otters, beavers, lynxes, etc, are found. Iron and the felspar called labradorite are abundant. The climate on the coast is very rigorous, owing mainly to the ice-laden Arctic current which washes the shores. The short three-months' summer is marred by the swarms of mosquitoes and black flies. The mean annual temperature at the missionary stations varies from 22o to 28°. By far the most important wealth of the Labrador coast is its fish - cod, salmon, herrings, and trout; some 30,000 fishermen from Newfoundland, Canada, and the United States visit its fishing-grounds in the season. The 6000 permanent settlers, Eskimo and French Acadians, in the coast-region, are collected chiefly at the Moravian missionary stations - Nain (founded 1770), Okkak, Hebron, Hopedale, etc. See works by Hind (1863) and Packard (1892).