[1] This region is unique as the only area in the province that is officially designated by provincial law as a bilingual district.

However, francophone communities are also present throughout the province, particularly in St. John's, Labrador City and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

[2] Newfoundland and Labrador's francophone community and its culture derive from a unique mix of influences and immigrants from Quebec, Acadia, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Brittany and the Basque Country, much of it predating Newfoundland's admission as a Canadian province in 1949.

French and English fishermen generally got along, but France and England both claimed Newfoundland and engaged in many wars over it, including the Avalon Peninsula Campaign, during which French forces burned English settlements on the Avalon Peninsula.

The Treaty of Utrecht required France to abandon its settlements on the island and recognize British sovereignty over it.

As English settlers began to move into Bonavista Bay and Notre Dame Bay (both part of the French Shore), the location of the French Shore was shifted to between Cape St. John and Cape Ray.

In the 19th century, many English and Irish settlers arrived on the west coast, living alongside the French.

[9] The community's main political and social organization is the Fédération des Francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador.

[10] Great Big Sea, a popular folk rock band from Newfoundland, included a cover of "Trois navires de blé", a traditional folk song associated with the francophone community of Port au Port, on their 1999 album Turn.

Figgy Duff also recorded a number of French folk songs associated with the community, including "Quand j'étais fille à l'âge quinze ans" on their 1980 album Figgy Duff and "Dans la prison de Londres" on their 1982 album After the Tempest, as well as a song titled for Benoît, "Emile's Reels".