Moncton (2001 population 61,046, metropolitan population 117,727) is one of the eight cities in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The metropolitan area includes the City of Dieppe and the town of Riverview.

Moncton is located along the Petitcodiac River, which runs to the Bay of Fundy. The city is nicknamed "The Bend" (in French le Coude) and "The Hub City". The city earned the nickname the Bend because it is located at a large bend in the river. The Hub City reference is because Moncton is and has been a central location for transport within the Maritimes.

While Moncton is a majority English-speaking community, the city has an active French-speaking Acadian minority population (35%), many of whom speak the Chiac variant of Acadian French. The city hosted the International Francophone Summit in August of 1999. This was the largest conference ever held in the city with delegates from 54 countries from around the world.

Moncton is serviced by a newly expanded international airport, the Greater Moncton International Airport. Moncton is also serviced by railway companies VIA Rail Canada, and Canadian National Railway, which at one point, was one of the main employers of the city. Moncton is also located on the Trans Canada Highway, at the junction of all major road routes in the Maritime Provinces. Because of these attributes, Moncton has become a major transportation, distribution, commercial and retailing centre.

The current mayor of Moncton is Lorne Mitton (May 2004).

Moncton has several major attractions:

• Champlain Place - The largest single story mall in Canada east of Montreal.
• Crystal Palace - An indoor amusement park next door to Champlain Place.
• Magnetic Hill - A hill which appears to pull you up it; also the site of the city's zoo.
• Magic Mountain - A large water park located next to Magnetic Hill.

Moncton is home to two universities: Université de Moncton, the largest French language university in Canada outside of Quebec, and Atlantic Baptist University a Christian liberal arts and science institution. In addition, the University of New Brunswick offers health sciences degree courses in Nursing and Medical X-ray Technology based out of the Moncton Hospital. Mount Allison University, consistently ranked as one of the best undergraduate universities in Canada is located in the nearby town of Sackville.

There are also two provincial community colleges in Moncton, NBCC Moncton (anglophone) and CCNB Dieppe (francophone). These institutions specialize in training for the industrial trades.

There are two major regional referral hospitals in Moncton; The Moncton Hospital (principally anglophone, 400 beds, affiliated with Dalhousie University Medical School, tertiary services in neurosciences, oncology, neonatal intensive care, burn unit, trauma) and the Hopital Georges-L. Dumont (principally francophone, 350 beds, affiliated with Universite de Sherbrooke Medical School, tertiary services in oncology (including radiation oncology) and nephrology). Between these two institutions, Moncton serves as the main medical referral centre in New Brunswick.

Moncton has two daily newspapers, the Times & Transcript (anglophone) and l'Acadie Nouvelle (francophone). There are two television stations in the city, CBAFT (CBC French) and CKCW, (ATV/CTV English). There are also 12 broadcast radio stations in the city.

The Capitol Theatre is a restored 1920's era vaudeville house that serves as the centre of cultural entertainment for the city. The Atlantic Ballet Theatre is based in Moncton, as is Theatre l'Escouette. The Moncton Coliseum, an 8,000-seat arena, serves as a venue for major concerts and trade shows and is the home of the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. There are two main museums in the city, The Moncton Museum and La Musee Acadienne at l'Universite de Moncton.

Moncton is home to the Northrop Frye Literary Festival, a bilingual literary celebration in honour of world renown literary critic and favorite son Northrop Frye. This celebration attracts authors from around the world and takes place in the month of April. The World Wine and Food Exposition is the largest event of its kind in eastern Canada and takes place every November.

After twice going bankrupt, the city of Moncton was incorporated successfully in 1891, with the motto Resurgam ("we rise again"). The city was named after Robert Monckton, a British general who, as Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia from 1755 to 1759, oversaw the deportation of the Acadians.

Notables born in Moncton:

• Eric's Trip and Julie Doiron, indie rock musicians
• Gordie Drillon (1913-1986), Hall of Fame ice hockey player

External sites

• www.monctonbuzz.com (Info on anything and everything in moncton)
• www.monctonlocals.com (local bands and events)
• L'Universite de Moncton (http://www.umoncton.ca)
• moncton.localintheknow.com - Moncton's Community Portal (http://moncton.localintheknow.com)

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