The Mi'kmaq (also Micmac, L'nu and Mi'kmaw) (; ) are a First Nations band, indigenous to Canada's Maritime Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. They call this region Mi'kma'ki. Others today live in Newfoundland and the northeastern region of Maine. The nation has a population of about 40,000 (plus about 25,000 in the Qalipu First Nation in Newfoundland), of whom nearly 11,000 speak Mi'kmaq, an Eastern Algonquian language. Once written in Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing, it is now written using most letters of the standard Latin alphabet.