Placentia Bay (french: Baie de Plaisance) is a body of water on the southeast coast of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Canada. It is formed by

Burin Peninsula The Burin Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula located on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Marystown is the largest population centre on the peninsula.Statistics Canada. 2017. Marystown, T ensus ...

on the west and Avalon Peninsula on the east. Fishing grounds in the bay were used by native people long before the first European fishermen arrived in the 16th century. For a time, the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

controlled the bay. They built their capital at Placentia on the east coast. The British gained Placentia during the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of ...

in 1713. The town and nearby Castle Hill are national historic sites. English settlement followed in the bay and today the main communities are Burin, Marystown, and Placentia. On 14 August 1941 US Naval Station Argentia located in Little Placentia Sound was the site of the Atlantic Conference for the

Atlantic Charter The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued on 14 August 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II. The joint statement, later dubbed the Atlantic Charter, outlined the aims of the United States and ...

, where Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt met face to face for the first time since both took office and the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. They followed up the summit later that year when Churchill joined FDR at the White House, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent entry of the United States into World War II.

References

Bays of Newfoundland and Labrador {{Newfoundland-geo-stub