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Newfoundland and Labrador's capital and largest city, St. John's, is Canada's 20th-largest Census Metropolitan Area, and is home to nearly 40 percent of the province's population. St. John's is the seat of government, home to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador and the highest court in the jurisdiction, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal. A former colony and dominion of the United Kingdom, Newfoundland and Labrador became the tenth province to enter the Canadian Confederation on March 31, 1949, as Newfoundland. On December 6, 2001, an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada to change the province's official name to Newfoundland and Labrador. In day-to-day conversation, however, Canadians generally still refer to the province itself as Newfoundland and to the region on the Canadian mainland as Labrador. The name Newfoundland is derived from English as "New Found Land" (a translation from the Latin Terra Nova). The origin of Labrador is uncertain; it is credited to both João Fernandes Lavrador, a Portuguese explorer, and lavrador � a title meaning "landholder". |