New France

New France Area of North America claimed by France in the 16th–18th centuries. It included the St Lawrence valley, the Great Lakes region and the Mississippi valley. Parts were lost during the Anglo-French wars of the 18th century, and the whole of New France passed to Britain in 1763.

New France French possessions in North America discovered, explored, and settled from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Its centres were Quebec (founded in 1608) and Montreal (founded in 1642) on the St Lawrence River. In 1712 New France stretched from the Gulf of St Lawrence to beyond Lake Superior and included Newfoundland, Acadia (Nova Scotia), and the Mississippi valley as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. It began to disintegrate after the Peace of UTRECHT was signed in 1713, when France lost Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay; it ceased to exist as a political entity in 1763 under the terms of the Treaty of PARIS. Louisiana, the last French colony on mainland North America, was sold to the USA in 1803.