Nova Scotia capital Halifax
Nova Scotia ( NOH-və SKOH-shə; French: Nouvelle-Écosse; Scottish Gaelic: Alba Nuadh) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland."
Most of the population are native English-speakers, and the province's population is 969,383 according to the 2021 census. It has the largest population of Canada's Atlantic Provinces. It is the country's second-most densely populated province and second-smallest province by area, both after Prince Edward Island. Its area of 55,284 square kilometres (21,345 sq mi) includes Cape Breton Island and 3,800 other coastal islands. The Nova Scotia peninsula 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 and Gulf of Maine to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east, and is separated from Prince Edward Island and the island of Newfoundland by the Northumberland and Cabot straits, respectively.
The land that comprises what is now Nova Scotia was inhabited by the Miꞌkmaq people at the time of European exploration. 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. Subsequent to 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.
Nova Scotia's capital and largest municipality is Halifax, which is home to over 45% of the province's population as of the 2021 census. Halifax is the thirteenth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada, the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada, and Canada's second-largest coastal municipality after Vancouver.Administrative divisions
Municipal-level governance is provided by 50 municipalities, of which there are three types: regional municipalities, towns, and county or district municipalities. Villages can exist within county or district municipalities, with a limited authority and an elected council.
Nova Scotia is divided into 18 counties. 9 of the original 18 counties retain a county-level government while the rest are either governed by regional or district municipalities. Regional municipalities are coextensive with the borders with a historic county, while historic counties governed by district municipalities are split into two district municipalities each. Despite this, Statistics Canada uses all counties of Nova Scotia for the purposes of administering the census and presenting its data, and they remain used in common parlance as geographic identifiers by Nova Scotians.
There are three regional municipalities. They may incorporate under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) of 1998, which came into force on 1 April 1999, while towns, county municipalities and district municipalities are continued as municipalities under the MGA. The MGA gives municipal councils the power to make bylaws for "health, well being, safety and protection of persons" and "safety and protection of property" in addition to a few expressed powers. The regional municipality of Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of Nova Scotia by population with 403,131 residents representing 44% of the total population of the province and land area at 5,490.35 km2 (2,119.84 sq mi). Pictou was the first municipality to incorporate 4 May 1874, and the newest municipalities are Halifax and Region of Queens Municipality both amalgamating into their present regional municipality form of government 1 April 1996.There are 26 towns, nine county municipalities and 12 district municipalities.
seat of government administrative center headquarters main city principal city