Nova Scotia

One of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces, with a population of 923,598, Nova Scotia most of the population are native English-speakers.

Its area of 55,284 square kilometres (21,345 sq mi) includes Cape Breton Island and 3,800 other coastal islands. The peninsula that makes up Nova Scotia’s mainland is connected to the rest of North America by the Isthmus of Chignecto, on which the province’s land border with New Brunswick is located. The province borders the Bay of Fundy to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east, and is separated from Prince Edward Island and the island of Newfoundland.

History

The land that comprises what is now Nova Scotia has been inhabited by the indigenous Miꞌkmaq people for thousands of years. In 1605, Acadia, France’s first New France colony, was founded with the creation of Acadia’s capital, Port-Royal.

Britain fought France for the territory on numerous occasions for over a century afterwards. The Fortress of Louisbourg was a key focus point in the battle for control. Following the Great Upheaval (1755-1763) where the British deported the Acadians en masse, the Conquest of New France (1758-1760) by the British, and the Treaty of Paris (1763), France had to surrender Acadia to the British Empire. During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), thousands of Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia. In 1848, Nova Scotia became the first British colony to achieve responsible government, and it federated in July 1867 with New Brunswick and the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) to form what is now the country of Canada.

Geography

Nova Scotia’s capital and largest city is Halifax, which today is home to about 45 percent of the province’s population. Halifax is the largest city in Atlantic Canada, and Canada’s second-largest coastal city after Vancouver.

Nova Scotia is Canada’s second-smallest province in area, after Prince Edward Island. The province’s mainland is the Nova Scotia peninsula, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and including numerous bays and estuaries.

Tourism

Nova Scotia has many museums reflecting its ethnic heritage, including the Glooscap Heritage Centre, Grand-Pré National Historic Site, Hector Heritage Quay and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. Other museums tell the story of its working history, such as the Cape Breton Miners’ Museum, and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Climate

Nova Scotia lies in the mid-temperate zone and, although the province is almost surrounded by water, the climate is closer to continental climate rather than maritime. The winter and summer temperature extremes of the continental climate are moderated by the ocean. However, winters are cold enough to be classified as continental—still being nearer the freezing point than inland areas to the west.

The province has 87 National Historic Sites of Canada, including the Habitation at Port-Royal, the Fortress of Louisbourg and Citadel Hill (Fort George) in Halifax.

Nova Scotia has two national parks, Kejimkujik and Cape Breton Highlands. The Bay of Fundy has the highest tidal range in the world, and the iconic Peggys Cove is internationally recognized and receives 600,000-plus visitors a year. Old Town Lunenburg is a port town on the South Shore that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.