Prince Edward County

The Corporation of the County of Prince Edward is a single-tier municipality and a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. Despite its official name, it is not a county by the standard definition, as all municipal services are handled by a single level of government. The county seat is Picton. Population 22,748. Area 1048.3 square kilometers.

It is located on a large irregular headland or littoral at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, just west of the head of the St. Lawrence River. This headland (always known as Prince Edward County) is surrounded on the north and east by the Bay of Quinte; as the Murray Canal now connects the bay to Lake Ontario across the only land connecton, the county could technically be considered an island.

For many years Prince Edward County has been closely associated with the wholly mainland Hastings County. Its longtime militia unit has been the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment (locally known as the Hasty Ps), whose most famous member was Farley Mowat. This noted nature author wrote And No Birds Sang about his experiences with the Hasty Ps during the Second World War's Italian Campaign.

The county's relatively mild climate has led to the establishment of about 50 vineyards and nine wineries.