Nova Scotia  (Latin for New Scotland; ; ) is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in the Atlantic Canada, and its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region.  Nova Scotia is the second smallest province in Canada, with an area of 55,284 km².  Its population of 921,727 makes it the fourth least populous province of the country.

Population
Nova Scotia is the seventh most populous province in Canada with an estimated 957,600 residents as of 2017. It accounts for 3 percent of the population of Canada.  The population density is approximately 17.2 persons/km². Roughly 60% of the population live in rural parts of the province.

Regional municipalities
Nova Scotia has three regional municipalities.

Towns 

Nova Scotia has 26 towns, not including the former Town of Canso that dissolved to become part of Guysborough County on July 1, 2012 and the former Towns of Bridgetown and Springhill which dissolved on April 1, 2015.

Population centres 

The Halifax population centre is the largest urban area in Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada recognizes a total of 37 population centres in the province.

Population of Nova Scotia since 1851

Visible minorities and Aboriginals

Languages

The 2011 Canadian census showed a population of 921,727.Of the 904,285 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue the most commonly reported languages were: 

There were also 275 single-language responses for Turkish; 195 for Non-verbal languages (Sign languages); 30 for Malay; 100 for Bantu languages; 70 for Kurdish; 120 for Slovak; and 5 for Estonian. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.

Migration

Immigration
The 2006 Canadian census counted a total of 45,195 immigrants living in Nova Scotia.The most commonly reported origins for these immigrants were:

There were also 365 immigrants from Australia; 320 from South Africa; 280 from Hong Kong; 255 from Saudi Arabia; 245 from Iraq and from Trinidad and Tobago; 225 from Hungary and from Russia; 220 from Portugal; 215 from Switzerland; 210 from Denmark; and 205 from Belize.

Internal migration

A total of 101,035 people moved to Nova Scotia from other parts of Canada between 1996 and 2006 while 110,335 people moved in the opposite direction. These movements resulted in a net outmigration of 11,925 people to Alberta and 4,120 to Ontario; as well as a net influx of 4,690 people from Newfoundland and Labrador and 2,930 from New Brunswick. During this period there was a net outmigration of 835 francophones to Quebec and 340 to Alberta; and a net influx of 575 anglophones from Quebec and 145 francophones from New Brunswick. (All net inter-provincial movements of more than 500 persons and official minority movements of more than 100 persons are given.)

Religion

Employment
As of February 2019, the unemployment rate for the province  is 6.4 percent. Halifax Regional Municipality 4.9 percent

Income

Notes

A  2011 Census data unavailable, data taken from the 2006 Census.

Gross domestic product
Nova Scotia GDP is presently approximately $33 billion (Can) annually.

References

Nova Scotia