Halifax, the Capital of Nova Scotia, Canada Updated: 11/29/2014 About Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia , Canada. The largest urban area in the Atlantic provinces , Halifax looks out over one of the world's largest natural harbours and is an important seaport. Nature lovers will find sandy beaches, beautiful gardens and hiking, birding and beachcombing. Urbanites can enjoy the symphony, live theatre, art galleries and museums, and a lively nightlife. Halifax is an affordable city that provides a mix of Canadian history and modern living, with the constant influence of the sea. Location of Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is located in the centre of the east coast of Nova Scotia facing the North Atlantic Ocean. Area of the Halifax Regional Municipality 5,490.28 sq. km (2,119.81 sq. miles) (Statistics Canada, 2011 Census) Population of the Halifax Regional Municipality 390,096 (Statistics Canada, 2011 Census) Date Halifax Incorporated as a City Halifax was incorporated as a city in 1841.

In 1996 it was amalgamated with neighbouring communities into the Halifax Regional Municipality. Government of Halifax Halifax municipal elections are held every four years on the third Saturday in October. Date of the last Halifax municpal election: Saturday, October 20, 2012 Date of the next Halifax municpal election: Saturday, October 15, 2016 The Halifax Regional Council is the main governing and legislative body for the Halifax Regional Municipality. The Halifax Regional Council is made up of 17 elected representatives: the mayor and 16 municipal councillors. Trans Canada Trail Weather in Halifax Halifax weather is influenced by the ocean. Winters are mild and summers are cool. Halifax is foggy and misty, with fog on more than 100 days of the year, especially in spring and early summer. Winters in Halifax are moderate, but wet with both rain and snow. The average high temperature in January is 2°C (29°F). Spring comes slowly, and eventually arrives in April. It too brings rain and fog. Summers in Halifax are short, but beautiful. In July the average high temperature is 23°C (74°F).

By late summer or early fall, Halifax may feel the tail end of a hurricane or tropical storm. Nova Scotia | history - geography - province, Canada | Britannica.com Nova Scotia "Munit haec et altera vincit (One defends and the other conquers)" Provincial flower Time zone Atlantic (GMT − 4 hours) Nova Scotia, Canadian province located on the eastern seaboard of North America , one of the four original provinces (along with New Brunswick , Ontario , and Quebec ) that constituted the Dominion of Canada in 1867. Roughly 360 miles (580 km) long but not more than about 80 miles (130 km) wide at any point, the province comprises the peninsula of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island (separated from the mainland to the southwest by the narrow Strait of Canso ), and a number of small adjacent islands. Along the narrow Chignecto Isthmus , which seems to thrust the peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean , runs the province’s only land boundary, with New Brunswick to the west. Two arms of the Gulf of St.

Lawrence , the Northumberland and Cabot straits, separate Nova Scotia respectively from Prince Edward Island to the north and the island of Newfoundland to the northeast. To the east and south lies the Atlantic and to the northwest the Bay of Fundy . Halifax is the capital. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Harbour at Peggy’s Cove, N.S., Can. © Creatas/JupiterImages Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s Maritime Provinces (along with New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island), and both its past and its present are tied closely to the maritime life of fishing , shipbuilding, and transatlantic shipping. It became the site of the first permanent European settlement in North America north of Florida when the French established a fur-trading post at Port Royal (near present-day Annapolis Royal) in 1605. Early explorers gave the area the name Acadia (French: Acadie), probably a corruption of the word used by the native Mi’kmaq. The province’s present name, which means “New Scotland” in Latin, was the result of brief Scottish claims to the region in the 1620s.

Area 21,345 square miles (55,284 square km). Pop. (2011) 921,727. Land Relief, drainage, and soils Nova Scotia’s upland regions reach a maximum elevation of more than 1,700 feet (520 metres) above sea level in the Cape Breton Highlands . The most important lowlands lie along the Bay of Fundy and the Minas Basin in the southwest and along the Northumberland Strait. Many of the tens of thousands of acres of marshland created by the tremendously high tides—among the highest in the world—of the Bay of Fundy have been turned to agricultural use by dikes, which were begun in the mid-17th century by the early French settlers, the Acadians. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Yarmouth Forests occupy about four-fifths of the land area. About one-quarter of the woodland is held as crown, or public, land. Softwoods are by far the most numerous, led by species of balsam, spruce, hemlock, and pine; birch and maple make up most of the hardwoods.

Animal life includes such game species as deer and moose and, among the birds, partridge, pheasant, and duck. People Population composition The Mi’kmaq people had occupied the area for centuries before the arrival of the first Europeans in the late 15th century. Primarily hunters and gatherers, the Mi’kmaq ranged over the Maritime Provinces and into the Gaspé Peninsula and later spread to Newfoundland and New England . Their Algonquian language is reflected in such Nova Scotian place-names as Musquodoboit, Pugwash, and Shubenacadie. Many of Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq people now live on reservations. About one-eighth of Nova Scotia’s population is at least partially descended from the Acadian French, some of whom returned from exile after the end of French-English conflict in North America in 1763. Acadian communities , with a lively Acadian culture , are located in southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Most of the remaining people are descended from settlers from the British Isles and from what is now the United States .

In the second half of the 18th century, settlers from New England (known as Planters) and, later, American colonists loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution (known as United Empire Loyalists) settled much of western and northern Nova Scotia, with scattered settlements elsewhere. Settlers from England (Yorkshire) and Scotland populated northern and eastern Nova Scotia; the Scots, who settled in substantial numbers in Cape Breton, gave the province a strong Gaelic culture. Irish migration, especially in the 19th century, greatly expanded the population of the Halifax region, among others. German immigrants in the 1750s founded the seaport of Lunenburg . Lunenburg, N.S., Can. © Creatas/JupiterImages Beginning in the 20th century, there were smaller migrations of Dutch, Italian, Polish, Arab, Chinese, South Asian, and other peoples, especially to the urban centres of Halifax and Sydney . The small black population in the province includes the descendants of slaves brought into the colony in the 18th century as well as the descendants of black loyalists; West Indian immigrants have bolstered the black population.

Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest English is the only spoken language of the vast majority of the people. Nova Scotians who speak only French are few. However, both Gaelic and the native language of the Mi’kmaq have experienced a renaissance in recent years. Approximately one-third of Nova Scotians are Roman Catholics; among the Protestant denominations, the United Church of Canada is the largest, followed by the Anglican and Baptist churches. Settlement patterns and demographic trends Urbanization was an important trend during the 20th century, but nearly one-half of Nova Scotians still live outside major population centres. The early European settlement tended to hug the coastline; the sea provided the main means of transportation, and the economy was based on fisheries, the fur trade, and farming. Yet even with the development of railways and better roads in the 19th and 20th centuries, the interior of the province has remained sparsely settled.

With the decline in the late 19th century of shipbuilding and shipping, the coal, steel, and textile industries drew workers to the major centres of Sydney and Halifax, while such smaller towns as Yarmouth , Windsor, Truro, and Amherst developed smaller-scale manufacturing and processing industries. The last century and a half has seen a major out-migration of Nova Scotians, first to New England and later to Ontario and the Canadian West. Skyline of Halifax, N.S., Can. © Creatas/JupiterImages Economy Nova Scotia has a diversified economy based on both land and sea resources. Traditional industries such as fishing, forestry, and mining are in decline, while tourism and other service industries are becoming much more significant components of the economy. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing Farming has tended to focus on dairy products, livestock, poultry and eggs, and fruit. Extensive forestry resources supply large pulp and paper mills, numerous sawmills, and the expanding Christmas tree and maple syrup industries. Related Topics Dalhousie University The catching, processing, and exporting of fish continue as important but declining industries. The near-complete destruction of cod stocks has decimated this traditional component of the fisheries.

However, lobster , scallops, and other shellfish, along with haddock and herring, remain important catches in Nova Scotian waters. Aquaculture is an increasingly significant facet of the fishing industry. Lobster fishing off the coast of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Can. Eric Hayes/© Comstock Resources and power Mining is another major industry in Nova Scotia. Traditionally, coal was the leading mined product, but many coal mines closed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Salt and anhydrite production meet a wide demand, and the provincial gypsum deposits yield about three-fourths of Canada’s supply. There are significant resources of barite and construction materials, such as sand and gravel. The continent’s first tidal energy project, completed in 1984 near Annapolis Royal, harnesses the tides of the Bay of Fundy to enhance the province’s hydroelectric energy output. Natural gas is pumped from wells located off Sable Island and carried to the mainland via pipeline. Manufacturing, services, labour, and taxation Food processing, wood- and paper-related industries, metal production, and many smaller industries provide a solid manufacturing base to the provincial economy.

However, most of the labour force is employed in public and private services. Tourism is a particularly strong service industry, with more than a million people visiting the province each year. More than one-fourth of provincial workers are employed in knowledge-based service industries, such as telecommunications, computer technology, and education. In fact, more Nova Scotians work as teachers and university professors than as fish-processing, forestry, and construction workers combined. Also significant for the economy are several Canadian Forces military bases located within the province. Provincial income is derived from two main sources: various provincial taxes and fees and the federal government. Important taxes levied by the province include personal and corporate income taxes, a sales tax, and a fuel tax. Transportation and telecommunications Shipping remains a major enterprise in Nova Scotia. Point Tupper accommodates the world’s largest oil carriers, and Halifax, a railroad terminus and year-round ice-free port, has facilities for all types of vessels, including huge container ships. Other transportation needs are served by a network of paved highways, by a trucking industry that has largely displaced local rail service, and by an international airport at Halifax and several smaller airports.

Car and passenger ferries operate between Nova Scotia and ports in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the U.S. state of Maine . Ships docked in Halifax Harbour at Dartmouth, N.S. K. Wright/Comstock Nova Scotia has a highly developed, fully digital telecommunications system that features a provincewide fibre-optic network. Cellular telephone service and high-speed Internet access are widely available. Government and society Constitutional framework Nova Scotia’s governmental structure is similar to that of all Canadian provinces. A lieutenant governor appointed by the federal government serves as representative of the crown and titular head of state. The premier, who is the leader of the party in power in the provincial assembly, selects a cabinet from among the elected party. While judges of the province’s higher courts are federally appointed, the provincial government appoints judges to lower courts; judges normally serve until retirement. Government employees are recruited through a nonpolitical civil service. Since Canadian confederation there have been two major political parties in Nova Scotia: the Liberals and the Conservatives (later known as the Progressive Conservatives ). The New Democratic Party experienced dramatic growth in the late 20th century. Health and welfare In 1969 Nova Scotia joined the federal medical care program.

The premium is paid from the province’s general revenues, and insured services include all medically necessary procedures and care. The province provides facilities for mental health, dental care, tuberculosis control, and other public health services. Nova Scotia’s welfare services, similar to those in other provinces, cover old-age assistance, allowances for the blind and disabled, social assistance, social development, child welfare and adoptions, and services for single parents. Education The nondenominational system of compulsory, free public education, dating from the mid-19th century, provides Nova Scotians with high-quality education from kindergarten through grade 12. In areas of the province where demand is sufficient, education is available in French as part of the publicly funded school system. Higher education is offered by a system of technical schools and community colleges, as well as by the largest number of universities per capita of any province in Canada. Dalhousie University in Halifax is the largest; it offers a variety of programs, including law, medicine, nursing, and dentistry. Sainte-Anne University is Nova Scotia’s only French-language university. St.

Francis Xavier University , in Antigonish, has attracted international interest in its adult-education programs, while Acadia University , in Wolfville, has become a leader in Canada in the use of technology in learning. With many programs designed specifically for women, Mount Saint Vincent University, in Halifax, is the only university in Canada to make the education of women its focus. Cultural life The cultural life of Nova Scotia is rich and varied, reflecting both the cultural diversity of its people and the strong sense of its past. Traditional aspects of Scottish and Acadian culture are particularly vibrant. A number of provincial organizations do much to encourage cultural and artistic development. In the last decades of the 20th century a major revival of interest in Celtic music began, with singers and musicians (especially fiddlers) from Cape Breton becoming well known nationally and internationally. St. Francis Xavier University offers courses in Celtic studies, and the Gaelic College in St. Ann’s, Cape Breton, teaches Celtic piping, singing, dancing, and handicrafts. Clan gatherings take place annually at St. Ann’s to celebrate the Gaelic Mod, a festival of Highland folk arts. Children participating in a Highland dancing competition, Antigonish, N.S., Can.

Jan Butchofsky-Houser/Corbis Acadian culture, fostered by a French-language school system, French-language radio and television stations, and local festivals, remains an important part of the life of the province. The late 20th century witnessed a renewed interest in the culture and traditions of the Mi’kmaq. Nova Scotia’s black community has retained a strong sense of its own traditions as well. Major cultural institutions include the Neptune Theatre and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, both in Halifax, and the Nova Scotia Museum system. Live theatre flourishes in many centres in the province, especially during the summer months. Artists and writers have found the province both a congenial place in which to live and a stimulating climate in which to work. Several impressive historic sites belonging to Canada’s national parks system reflect the rich history of the region.

These include a reconstruction of the 1605 French habitation at Port Royal, the reconstructed fortress of Louisbourg , the Halifax Citadel, the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site at Baddeck (where the Scottish-born American inventor Alexander Graham Bell had a summer home), and the Grand-Pré National Historic Site in the Annapolis Valley (a centre of Acadian settlement and deportation in the 18th century). Another significant historic site is Old Town Lunenburg, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995. In addition, there are a number of provincial museums, and most communities have museums reflective of local history. Restored fortress of Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. © E. Otto/Comstock Photofile Limited Cape Breton Highlands National Park and Kejimkujik National Park provide popular scenic and wilderness experiences. There is also an extensive system of provincial parks. Popular sporting and recreational activities include football (soccer), golf , hockey, kayaking and canoeing, walking, and gardening. There are a great many community newspapers and a number of local radio stations in the province.

The region also is well served by the provincial newspaper The Chronicle Herald of Halifax as well as by radio and television affiliates of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Canadian Television (CTV) networks. History After thousands of years of occupation by aboriginal peoples, the region came to the attention of Europeans, perhaps during the Viking voyages of c. ad 1000 and certainly by the late 15th century. The rich fisheries of the coast provided the major impetus for European involvement in the area. In the early 17th century, a group of French merchants led by Pierre du Gua, sieur de Monts, and assisted by the explorer Samuel de Champlain , established trading posts in the region; one founded at Port Royal (near present-day Annapolis Royal) in 1605 was the first permanent European settlement in North America north of Florida. In 1621 the English king James I granted the area to a Scottish nobleman, Sir William Alexander . This led to a brief, unsuccessful Scottish settlement at Port Royal (1629–32). French settlement at Port Royal, Nova Scotia, from a map by Marc Lescarbot, 1609.

Library of Congress, Rare Book Division For the next century and a half, the region was a focal point for French-English rivalry for control of North America. This struggle for control retarded European settlement of the region and greatly altered the lives of the French settlers, or Acadians. The territory passed back and forth between France and England until 1713, when one of the treaties of Utrecht conveyed mainland Nova Scotia to the English for the last time, although conflict continued for another 50 years. The French retained Cape Breton Island , where they built the powerful fortress of Louisbourg , which the English attempted to counter by the founding in 1749 of Halifax as the new administrative and military centre of their colony. In the 1750s the English expelled the Acadians from the region—an event romanticized and popularized by the New England poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his narrative poem Evangeline. Offers of free land attracted immigrants from the British Isles, the Germanic states, and New England; these newcomers gave the colony its first substantial Protestant population. By the time of the American Revolution , New Englanders constituted roughly two-thirds of Nova Scotia’s population.

In spite of some support for the revolution, the colony remained largely passive during the conflict, and approximately 35,000 loyalists immigrated to the province from the revolting colonies to the south. Meanwhile, Prince Edward Island had split off from Nova Scotia in 1769, and New Brunswick and Cape Breton followed in 1784; the last was reunited with Nova Scotia in 1820. In 1848 Nova Scotia became the first British colony in which the administration of government was responsible to the majority in the House of Assembly, the representative branch of colonial government. Despite opposition from some economic and political leaders, confederation with the colonies of New Brunswick and Canada (present-day Quebec and Ontario ) was carried out in 1867. As a separate British colony, Nova Scotia had prospered from its forestry, fisheries, and shipbuilding for the first two-thirds of the 19th century. Under the Reciprocity Treaty (1854) between the Canadian colonies and the United States, the north-south flow of commerce and Nova Scotia’s normal market and supply source in New England seemed secure.

The colony benefited further from the increased demand by both the North and the South of the United States during the American Civil War . However, the termination of reciprocity in 1866 and changing continental and world trade patterns eroded much of Nova Scotia’s traditional economy. The linking of Nova Scotia with central Canada via the railway did not bring all the expected benefits to the region; rather, it helped to make the province more economically dependent on Quebec and Ontario. The late 19th century witnessed the extensive industrialization of parts of Nova Scotia, but in general the early 20th century saw the consolidation of financial and industrial power in Montreal and Toronto . The extensive out-migration of Nova Scotians, mainly to the New England states and western Canada, was a sign of the troubled economy. During both of the 20th-century World Wars, Halifax played a key role in the transportation of men and supplies to Europe; the city experienced unprecedented prosperity as a result. During World War I , much of the city was destroyed when two ships collided in Halifax Harbour on Dec. 6, 1917. The collision resulted in the largest man-made explosion in history prior to the advent of the atomic bomb.

More than 1,500 Haligonians were killed. At the turn of the 21st century, Nova Scotia’s population and economy continued to experience modest growth. The large potential of offshore gas reserves and an expanding technology-based industrial sector augured well for the future of the province, as did the tourism industry. However, increasing difficulties posed by border security and the high cost of gasoline led to a decline in the number of American tourists visiting the province. Nova Scotia - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) The sea is always close at hand in Nova Scotia, one of the four original Canadian provinces. Except for a narrow isthmus connecting it with New Brunswick, the province is surrounded by salt water. The Bay of Fundy, the Atlantic Ocean, or the Northumberland Strait is never more than 35 miles (56 kilometers) away from any spot in Canada’s "Ocean Playground." Noel, a village on the Minas Basin, has one of the world’s highest tides. The tides bring in fish, wash amethysts and agates from cliffs, and uncover dulse-a coarse red seaweed that when dried is eaten like popcorn.

Article Contributors Nova Scotia - The Canadian Encyclopedia Cities & Populated Places Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is Canada’s second-smallest province (following Prince Edward Island) and is located on the southeastern coast of the country. Nova Scotia is Canada’s second-smallest province (following Prince Edward Island ) and is located on the southeastern coast of the country. The province includes Cape Breton , a large island northeast of the mainland. The name Nova Scotia is Latin for “New Scotland,” reflecting the origins of some of the early settlers. Given its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, Nova Scotia’s economy is largely influenced by the sea, and its harbours have served as military bases during many wars. Land and Resources Main Regions The Atlantic Upland is one of Nova Scotia’s chief physical features and is recognized by its five fragments, separated in places by extensive lowlands. Of these fragments, the largest is the Southern Upland, which occupies the southern and central part of the province. Starting at the rugged Atlantic coast, and marked by many inlets, islands, coves and bays, it rises to an altitude of 180 to 210 m in the interior. Its northern border constitutes the South Mountain.

The second fragment is the North Mountain, a range of trap rock that runs parallel to the South Mountain for 190 km along the Bay of Fundy , from Cape Blomidon , on Minas Basin , to Brier Island. Between the two mountain ranges lie the fertile valleys of the Annapolis and Cornwallis rivers, which together constitute the well-known apple-growing region of Nova Scotia. The third fragment consists of the flat-topped Cobequid Mountain, rising to 300 m and extending 120 km across Cumberland County, while the fourth has its beginnings in the eastern highlands of Pictou County. It extends in a long narrowing projection through Antigonish County to Cape George. The fifth fragment, on northern Cape Breton Island , is a wild, wooded plateau that peaks to a height of more than 550 m above sea level. It contributes to the highly scenic character of Cape Breton Highlands National Park , especially as viewed from the Cabot Trail, which runs through it. In contrast, the southern part of Cape Breton Island is largely lowland. Geology The deep drainage channels that cut through the uplands have exposed the roots of the mountains.

The exposure has laid bare rocks that are among the oldest of the Earth's crust and are representative of most of the geological time scale. Peninsular Nova Scotia consists of Paleozoic cover pierced by a granite backbone that, because it is highly resistant to change, occupies the higher elevations. The North Mountain resulted from volcanic action in Triassic times, and the Annapolis and Cornwallis valleys were carved out in the same period. Practically all the industrial minerals, including gypsum, limestone, sandstone, salt and barites, occur in rocks of the Mississippian age. The coal deposits of the province are to be found in the several groups of Pennsylvanian rocks, especially the Pictou, Stellarton and Morien groups. Surface Originally, most of the province was covered by forest , but little of the virgin forest remains, except in the plateau of northeast Cape Breton Island . Secondary growth has tended to be coniferous because of the acid soil and the slow growing season, but hardwoods continue to exist in sufficient abundance to produce a colourful display in the autumn. In swampy areas and rocky barrens, mosses , lichens , ferns , scrub heath and similar growths are common.

Wild flowers grow in profusion, among which the mayflower , pitcher plant , white water lily and several varieties of violets stand out for their beauty. Widely found throughout the province are herbaceous plants such as Clintonia, cranberries , blueberries and many species of goldenrod. The European cuckooflower has become common in the Annapolis Lowland , while the ragwort has spread over eastern Nova Scotia. Roughly 29 per cent of Nova Scotia’s land is suitable for agricultural purposes. The best farming land is in the lowlands, where soils have developed on deep tills; the uplands usually have shallow, stony soils. The most extensive lowlands, and hence the best agricultural land, are along the Bay of Fundy and Northumberland Strait . The tremendously high tides of the Bay of Fundy have created large areas of marshland, which, by means of dykes begun in Acadian times, have been converted into valuable agricultural lands. Water Nova Scotia includes over 3,000 lakes, as well as hundreds of streams and small rivers. Because of the general direction of the watersheds, the rivers cannot be long, but with moderately heavy precipitation, normally no shortage of water occurs.

The province's largest lake, the 1,099 km2 Bras D’Or , was created when the sea invaded the area between the upland and lowland areas of Cape Breton . Saline and tideless, it is widely used for recreation. On the peninsula, the largest lake is Lake Rossignol. Though short, the rivers have had considerable significance historically and economically. The Sackville and Shubenacadie, used extensively by Aboriginal peoples, were important in early transportation. Some, such as the Mersey, continue to play a significant role in lumber and pulpwood production, while others, such as the Margaree and St Mary's, have become celebrated as salmon streams. Several rivers have afforded the means to construct hydroelectric power plants, however small. The high tides of the Bay of Fundy are a remarkable phenomenon. The bay, which is 270 km long and 80 km at its mouth, narrows to 56 km (its average width), where it divides into Minas Basin and Chignecto Bay . At high tide, the water is forced forward to reach a height over 16 m above low-tide level in its narrowest extremities.

The high tides facilitate the loading of gypsum, lumber and the like by freighters, which at low tide rest on mud flats. Climate Weather systems moving eastward from the interior of the continent dominate the province's weather. These systems often react with low-pressure systems coming from the south and moving northeastwardly along the coast, and the whole is affected by the proximity of the Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream. Generally the water has a moderating influence on the climate, particularly along the Atlantic coast, where the average winter temperatures range from 0 to -15°C, while the summers are typically 20 to 25°C. The influence of the sea is felt in other ways. Ice brought down by the Labrador Current leads to a late spring marked by cold winds, rain and mist. In summer, especially in June and July, the mingling of the warm Gulf Stream and the cold Labrador Current produces a great deal of sea fog, which often drifts over the coastal areas. The coastal areas are both milder and wetter than the rest of the province. Yearly rainfall averages over 1,000 mm, and snowfall over 200 cm.

Conservation The province’s conservation efforts are directed through the Department of Natural Resources. This department oversees the development, management, conservation and protection of energy, forest, minerals, parks, protected areas and wildlife resources. Much of the department’s protection efforts are directed toward forests . The department is continually improving forest management practices, and from its Forest Protection headquarters at Shubenacadie, fire and pest management are coordinated. To preserve and promote the inland salmon and trout fisheries, the province manages water control, restocking of lakes and research. Under the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, passed in 2007 and amended in 2012, the department hopes to protect 12 per cent of Nova Scotia’s landmass by 2015. The provincial park system comprises over 300 provincial parks and reserves, but most of them are small in size. The largest protected areas are the National Parks ( Cape Breton Highlands , Kejimkujik and Sable Island Reserve), the game sanctuaries and Tobeatic Wildlife Management Area. People Urban Centres As in the rest of Canada, Nova Scotia has experienced a marked shift from rural to urban living since Confederation .

However, its rural population remains relatively high at 43 per cent of the total population (2011). Halifax is both the capital and the largest urban centre in the province. In 2011, it had a population of 390,328, or roughly 42 per cent of the provincial population. The next most-populous centres range in size from just under 20,000 to about 46,000 and include Sydney , Truro , New Glasgow and Glace Bay . The remainder of the province’s communities have populations under 15,000. Labour Force In 2013, there were 453,800 employed people in Nova Scotia. Despite natural resources being the principal driver of the provincial economy, 81 per cent of the employed population in 2013 worked in the service sector. Within this sector, the trades, health care and social assistance, and education were the top employers. Going back as far as the mid-1970s, Nova Scotia has consistently had an unemployment rate higher than the national average.

In 2012, the unemployment rate was nine per cent (compared to 7.2 per cent nationally), making it among the highest in the country. Language and Ethnicity In the 2006 census, the most-reported ethnic origins were Canadian, Scottish, English, Irish and French. The visible minority population was relatively small — four per cent of the total population — with black, Arab and Chinese people making up the three largest communities within this group. The vast majority of the population (92 per cent) reported English as their mother tongue, while those reporting French and those reporting a non-official language were almost equal — 3.6 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively. The Acadian and francophone populations are concentrated in Halifax, Digby and Yarmouth on the mainland, and in Inverness and Richmond counties on Cape Breton Island. Legislation enacted in 1981 granted Acadians the right to receive education in their first language. Religion As in other parts of the country, the population of Nova Scotia is overwhelmingly Christian, with 75 per cent of the population identifying with a Christian denomination in 2011.

Following Christianity, the most reported religions were Islam (0.9 per cent), Buddhism, (0.2 per cent) and Judaism (0.2 per cent). Those reporting no religious affiliation accounted for 21 per cent of the population. History Aboriginal Settlement The first peoples in what is now Nova Scotia were the Mi'kmaq , who belonged to a wider coalition known as the Wabanaki Confederacy, whose members were in turn part of the Algonquin-language family in eastern North America. The Mi'kmaq presence can be traced as far back as 10,000 years. They were hunters and traders and, because of their proximity to the ocean, skilled saltwater fishers. When the first Europeans arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries, Mi'kmaq territory stretched across all of modern-day Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island , most of New Brunswick and westward into the Gaspé Peninsula of Québec — an area known as Mi'kma'ki. The Mi'kmaq established better relations with the French settlers than with the English.

European Exploration and Settlement Long before John Cabot made landfall in 1497 (possibly on Cape Breton Island ), Norse adventurers may have reached Nova Scotia. Scores of other explorers and fishermen plied its coasts before Pierre Du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain established Port-Royal in 1605 — the first agricultural settlement by Europeans in Canada, and the beginnings of the French colony of Acadia . In 1621 King James I of England named the same territory New Scotland (or Nova Scotia, as it was called in its Latin charter) and granted the land to the Scottish colonizer Sir William Alexander . In the 1620s, the Scots established two settlements, but both were unsuccessful. Meanwhile a small but steady stream of immigrants continued to arrive from France for a new life in Acadia. Armed conflict ensued between the French and British, and throughout the 17th century Acadia was handed back and forth between the European powers. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht finally put an end to Acadia, transferring the colony — but not Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) or Île Saint-Jean (PEI) — to Britain.

Aside from maintaining a small garrison at Port Royal, renamed Annapolis Royal, the British did little with Nova Scotia until 1749, when Halifax was founded as a military town and naval base on the shores of what the Mi'kmaq called the "Great Harbour." Halifax's purpose was to balance out the French military presence at the Fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton. The Seven Years War between France and Britain brought great change to Nova Scotia. British military officials feared the colony's large Roman Catholic Acadian population — despite its expressions of neutrality — would side with the French during the war. The result, starting in 1755, was the Acadian Expulsion, in which British forces rounded up more than 6,000 Acadian men, women and children, and dispersed them on ships to various American colonies. In 1758, as these traumatic deportations were still under way, Louisbourg fell to the British, precipitating the Conquest of Canada in 1760, and the ceding to Britain of Cape Breton Island in the Treaty of Paris that ended the war in 1763.

Development In peacetime, Nova Scotia prospered, with settlers arriving from England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany. Loyalists, both white and black, as well as former black slaves, also arrived following the American Revolution . During the early part of the 19th century the colony grew as a fish exporting, lumbering and shipbuilding centre, and Halifax emerged as an important merchant hub and a base for British privateering captains. Starting in 1864 the Confederation question left a mark on the province. Nova Scotia's economy was closely tied, as were many families, to the New England states. The province’s prosperity relied on seaborne trade south to the United States and east across the Atlantic, and many did not relish the idea of setting up new economic and political links with the Province of Canada , or with a remote interior further west. Despite these fears the colony became one of the four founding provinces of the new Dominion of Canada in 1867; however, a strong anti-Confederate movement existed for many years, with some Nova Scotians flying flags at half-mast on 1 July.

In the 20th century the First World War stimulated the provincial economy with an increased demand for iron, steel, fish and lumber. The war also brought disaster in the form of the Halifax Explosion ; and the war's end brought with it recession, which lasted for several years. Nova Scotia enjoyed good economic times again during the Second World War . Halifax became one of the major North American ports for the gathering of trans-Atlantic convoys, which carried munitions and other wartime supplies to Western Europe. Since the mid-1950s Nova Scotia has struggled financially, and economic development has been one of the primary concerns for provincial politicians. The fishing industry — especially lobster and shellfish exports — has remained a mainstay of the economy, sustaining many coastal communities even through the collapse of cod and other groundfish stocks in the 1990s. As manufacturing began its steady decline in the 1950s, coal mining and steel making continued in Cape Breton with the help of massive government subsidies, until the last coal mine was shut down in 2001. Its closure ended a way of life and left the Sydney Tar Ponds — the result of decades of coke oven effluent — as the steel mill's environmental legacy.

In an effort to contain the contaminants, the waste was eventually buried, and Open Hearth Park opened on the site of the ponds in 2013. Coal was also mined on the Nova Scotia mainland starting in the 19th century, and certain strip mining operations continue to this day. The Springhill mine was the site of three deadly disasters, the most famous being the 1958 underground earthquake, which trapped 174 miners and became an international news spectacle. Offshore oil and natural gas production began in 1992, bringing new revenues and opportunities to the province, but was not the economic windfall many had hoped for. Economic uncertainty continues in the 21st century, with pulp and paper mills across the province closing down and many rural communities in decline as people move to the Halifax area for jobs primarily in government, universities, the burgeoning aerospace sector and the military. Since 2011, great hopes have been pinned on the opportunities that might arise from the awarding of a long-term contract to Irving Shipbuilding to construct 21 new combat ships for the Royal Canadian Navy. It is the largest military procurement in Canadian history.

Economy Agriculture While the Mi’kmaq relied on hunting for their food, fishing captains in the early 16th century are believed to have cultivated vegetable gardens to feed their crews. At the same time, the French were growing grain at Port-Royal and in 1609 they erected the first water-powered gristmill in North America. To secure salt for curing fish, they also built dykes along tidal marshes and later used them to begin dykeland agriculture. Since the 1950s, the Department of Agriculture has preserved, extended and rebuilt this system of dykes. About three per cent of Nova Scotia’s land, or 181,915 ha, is currently used for agriculture. The largest cultivated areas are found in the Annapolis Valley and in some parts of northern Nova Scotia. In 2011, the average farm size was 261 acres, compared to the national average of 778. Gross farm receipts in 2010 were $594.9 million, of which poultry and dairy farms accounted for 46 per cent.

The county fair is an important institution, and the one at Windsor, established in 1765, is the oldest of its type in North America. Mining Historically by far the most important mineral in Nova Scotia is coal. The rapid increase in coal production and the development of the steel industry were primarily responsible for the province's prosperity in the early 20th century. After the Second World War conditions in the coal areas were often troubled, and in the late 1950s the market contracted greatly in the face of competition from petroleum and natural gas. Production declined from about 6.6 million tonnes in 1950 to about 2 million in 1971. Coal made a striking comeback in the 1990s. Following large increases in petroleum prices the province was determined to reduce dependency on foreign oil by replacing it with thermal coal. Production in 1999 amounted to over 1.5 million tonnes worth more than $100 million. While the last Cape Breton coal mine closed in 2001, there are two coal strip mining operations in the province, one in Stellarton and the other Point Aconi.

Other minerals mined in Nova Scotia include gypsum , salt , limestone and sand. Nova Scotia | Keep Exploring Nova Scotia Hit the road in Nova Scotia and wind your way past colourful townships, iconic lighthouses, wineries, and farmlands. Head to Cape Breton Island and drive the incredible Cabot Trail, witness the highest tides in the world, and immerse yourself in the historic city of Halifax. From urban adventures to historic waterfront landmarks, Nova Scotia’s attractions are framed by the rugged coastline. Reiserouten

Question: What is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada?
Answer: Halifax