Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia (/ˌnoʊvə ˈskoʊʃə/ NOH-və SKOH-shə; French: Nouvelle-Écosse; Scottish Gaelic: Alba Nuadh, lit. 'New Scotland') 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".
Nova Scotia | |
|---|---|
| Motto(s): | |
| Coordinates: 45°00′00″N 62°59′58″W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Confederation | 1 July 1867 (1st, with New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec) |
| Capital (and largest city) | Halifax |
| Largest metro | Halifax |
| Government | |
| • Type | Parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| • Lieutenant Governor | Arthur LeBlanc |
| • Premier | Tim Houston |
| Legislature | Nova Scotia House of Assembly |
| Federal representation | Parliament of Canada |
| House seats | 11 of 338 (3.3%) |
| Senate seats | 10 of 105 (9.5%) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 55,284 km2 (21,345 sq mi) |
| • Land | 52,942 km2 (20,441 sq mi) |
| • Water | 2,342 km2 (904 sq mi) 4.2% |
| • Rank | 12th |
| 0.6% of Canada | |
| Population (2021) | |
| • Total | 969,383 |
| • Estimate (Q1 2024) | 1,070,643 |
| • Rank | 7th |
| • Density | 18.31/km2 (47.4/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Nova Scotian, Bluenoser |
| Official languages | English (de facto) First Language: Mi'kmawi'simk Recognised Regional Languages: French, Canadian Gaelic |
| GDP | |
| • Rank | 7th |
| • Total (2020) | CA$46.849 billion |
| • Per capita | CA$52,390 (12th) |
| HDI | |
| • HDI (2019) | 0.903 — Very high (11th) |
| Time zone | UTC-04:00 (Atlantic) |
| Canadian postal abbr. | NS |
| Postal code prefix | |
| ISO 3166 code | CA-NS |
| Flower | Mayflower |
| Tree | Red spruce |
| Bird | Osprey |
| Rankings include all provinces and territories | |
Most of the population are native English-speakers, and the province's population is 1,066,812 according to the Q4 2023 estimate. 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 makes up what is now Nova Scotia was inhabited by the Miꞌkmaq people at the time of European colonization. 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, having gained it from them in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. In subsequent years, the British began settling "foreign Protestants" in the region and deported the French-speaking Acadians en masse. 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 confederated with New Brunswick and the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) in July 1867 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 twelfth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada, the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada, and Canada's second-largest coastal municipality after Vancouver.