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Nova Scotia Nova Scotia, one of the three Maritime and one of the four Atlantic prov inces

of Canada, bordered on the north by the Bay of Fundy, the province of New Brunswick , Northumberland Strait, and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and on the east, south, an d west by the Atlantic Ocean. Nova Scotia consists primarily of a mainland section, lin ked to New Brunswick by the Isthmus of Chignecto, and Cape Breton Island, separated fro m the mainland by the Strait of Canso. On July 1, 1867, Nova Scotia became one of the founding members of the Canadian Confederation. The province's name, which is Latin for New Scotland, was first a pplied to the region in the 1620s by settlers from Scotland. Physical Geography Nova Scotia can be divided into four major geographical regions-the Atla ntic Uplands, the Nova Scotia Highlands, the Annapolis Lowland, and the Maritime Plai n. The Atlantic Uplands, which occupy most of the southern part of the province, ar e made up of ancient resistant rocks largely overlain by rocky glacial deposits. The No va Scotia Highlands are composed of three separate areas of uplands. The western section i ncludes North Mountain, a long ridge of traprock along the Bay of Fundy; the central sec tion takes in the Cobequid Mountains, which rise to 367 m (1204 ft) atop Nuttby Mount ain; and the eastern section contains the Cape Breton Highlands, with the province's highest point. The Annapolis Lowland, in the west, is a small area with considerable fer tile soil. Nova Scotia's fourth region, the Maritime Plain, occupies a small region frontin g on Northumberland Strait. The plain is characterized by a low, undulating landscape and substantial areas of fertile soil. History The area now known as Nova Scotia was originally inhabited by tribes of Abenaki and Micmac peoples. The Venetian explorer John Cabot, sailing under the English flag, may have reached Cape Breton Island in 1497. Colonial Period The first settlers of the area were the French, who called it Acadia and founded Port Royal in 1605. Acadia included present-day New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The English, rivals of the French in Europe and the New Wo rld, refused to recognize French claims to Acadia, which they called Nova Scotia (New Scotland) and granted to the Scottish poet and courtier Sir William Alexander in

1621. This act initiated nearly a century of Anglo-French conflict, resolved by the Br itish capture of Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) in 1710 and the French cession of ma inland Acadia to the British by the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. Thus, the bulk of the Rom an Catholic French-Acadians came under Protestant British rule. In order to awe the ir new subjects, the British founded the town of Halifax as naval base and capital in 1 749. Distrusting the Acadians' loyalty in the French and Indian War, however, in 1755 the British deported them. This ruthless action was described by the American poet H enry Wadsworth Longfellow in Evangeline (1847). The British replaced the Acadians wit h settlers from New England and, later, from Scotland and northern England. In 175 8 the British conquered the French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton, which was jo ined to Nova Scotia and ceded to them in 1763. During the American Revolution, the British colony of Nova Scotia was a refuge for thousands of Americans loyal to Britain, including many blacks. In 1784 the colony of New Brunswick was carved out of mainland Nova Scotia to accommodate these United Empire Loyalists. Cape Breton also became separate. The remaining Nova Scotians, augmented by some returned Acadians and many Scots and Irish immigrant s, lived by fishing, lumbering, shipbuilding, and trade. Some attained great wealth as privateers during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. After prolonged political struggle, Britain granted Nova Scotia (which i ncluded Cape Breton after 1820) local autonomy, or responsible government, in 1848. Econ omic uncertainty and political unease at the time of the American Civil War stimulate d some interest in associating with the other British North American provinces, but man y tradition-minded Nova Scotians distrusted the Canadians of Ontario and Qebec. In 1867, without consulting the electorate, the Nova Scotia government took its rel uctant people into the Canadian Confederation. Post-Confederation Period Although joining the union failed to arrest Nova Scotia's economic decli ne, it resulted in rail connections to the west and a federal tariff that encouraged lo cal manufacturing. An iron and steel industry developed in Pictou County and on Cape Breton, near extensive coal mines. Agricultural areas found export markets, espe cially for apples. From the end of World War I through the depression of the 1930s, Nov a Scotia suffered industrial decline and accompanying unemployment and labor unres t. Thousands migrated to central and western Canada or immigrated to the United Sta tes.

The Maritime Rights movement of the 1920s, protesting Nova Scotia's unfavorable economic position in relation to the rest of Canada, accomplished little. After a revival of shipbuilding in World War II, Nova Scotian industry f aced problems of obsolete equipment, heavy freight costs, and dwindling resources. Lo cal government attempts to reverse the trend through investment and diversification were disappointing. In 1956 the electorate ended 26 years of Liberal rule by returnin g the Conservatives to power. Although the government subsidized industrial developmen t to rejuvenate the local economy, the initiatives were unsuccessful, and failures in the electronics and nuclear energy industries proved to be very expensive. In 1967 t he government took over a failing steel plant in Sydney, which added steadily to th e provincial debt. Later governments-first Liberal (from 1970-1978) and then Conse rvative (since 1978)-have been unable to bring the local economy up to parity with the r est of Canada. Despite a rate of economic growth that exceeded the national average fro m the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, Nova Scotia, like other Maritime provinces, r emains one of the less advantaged areas in the Canadian union. Historical Sites Nova Scotia has preserved or reconstructed a number of historical sites. These include Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Park, in Baddeck, with exhibits relating to Bell's inventions while he lived here; Fort Anne National Historic S ite, in Annapolis Royal, including the remains of a French fort built from 1695 to 1708; Fort Edward National Historic Site, in Windsor, containing the remains of a mid-18thcentury earthen fortification; and Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, near L ouisbourg, including a partial reconstruction of a large French fort (built 1720-45; destro yed by the English, 1760). Grand Pr National Historic Site, near Grand Pr, encompasses the si te of a former Acadian village; York Redoubt National Historic Site includes a defense battery (begun 1790s) guarding Halifax Harbour; and Halifax Citadel National Historic Si te, in Halifax, contains a massive 19th-century stone fortress. Also of interest is She rbrooke Village Restoration, in the Sherbrooke area, a restoration of a lumbering and mi ning community of the 1860s. Provincial Government Government and Politics Nova Scotia has a parliamentary form of government.

Executive The nominal chief executive of Nova Scotia is a lieutenant governor appo inted by the Canadian governor-general in council to a term of five years. The lieutenant governor, representing the British sovereign, holds a position that is largely h onorary. The premier, who is responsible to the provincial legislature, is the actual hea d of government and presides over the executive council, or cabinet, which also inclu des the attorney general, minister of finance, minister of education, and about 15 other officials. Legislature The unicameral Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly is made up of 52 members , each popularly elected to a term of up to five years. The lieutenant governor, o n the advice of the premier, may call for an election before the 5-year term has been completed. Judiciary Nova Scotia's highest tribunal, the supreme court, is composed of an app eal division with eight justices (including the chief justice) and a trial division with 15 justices. Supreme court justices are appointed by the Canadian governor-general in council and serve until the age of 75. Local Government Nova Scotia is divided into 18 counties. Other units of local government include 3 incorporated cities and 39 incorporated towns, most of which are governed by a mayor and council. National Representation Nova Scotia is represented in the Canadian Parliament by 10 senators app ointed by the Canadian governor-general in council and by 11 members of the House of Commons popularly elected to terms of up to five years. Politics Since Nova Scotia became a province in 1867, the Liberal party has been most successful in obtaining control of the provincial government. From 1956 to 1970, however, the Progressive Conservative party held a majority in the Legislative A ssembly, and it regained this position in 1978. Industries Economy In the 19th century Nova Scotia was known for trading, shipbuilding, and fishing. During the 20th century the province's economy was expanded and diversified, in part through the establishment of war-related industries in the two world wars. In th e early

1990s services constituted the leading economic activity; manufacturing, fishing , mining, and farming were also important. Agriculture About 8 percent of Nova Scotia's land area is devoted to crops and pastu re, with some of the best farmland located on the Isthmus of Chignecto (connecting the pr ovince with New Brunswick) and the Annapolis Lowland. The province has about 4000 farms , which have an average size of some 100 hectares (247 acres). Annual cash receipt s from sale of crops and of livestock and livestock products totaled nearly Can.$300 mi llion in the early 1990s, with livestock and livestock products accounting for about thre e-fourths of the income. The leading farm commodities are dairy products, poultry, hogs, b eef cattle, eggs, fruit (especially apples grown in the Annapolis Lowland), greenhou se products, potatoes and other vegetables, and wheat. Forestry Nova Scotia has a substantial forestry industry, with about 4.2 million cu m (about 148 million cu ft) of wood harvested per year. Most of the wood is used f or making paper, and the rest is chiefly sawed into lumber. In addition, many trees are cut for use as Christmas trees. Fishing Nova Scotia and British Columbia have the largest fishing industries in Canada. In Nova Scotia the yearly fish catch in the early 1990s exceeded Can.$500 millio n, with most of the income derived from sales of shellfish, especially scallop and lobst er. Next in value was cod; herring, shrimp, haddock, pollock, hake, flounder, crab, and redf ish also were important. Leading fishing ports include Digby, Liverpool, Lunenburg, Shelb urne, and Yarmouth. Mining Coal, the most important material mined in Nova Scotia, had a total year ly value in the early 1990s of Can.$238 million, some 12 percent of the Canadian total. T he main coal mines are on Cape Breton Island. Approximately three-fourths of the gypsum mined annually in Canada is produced in the province. Other important mineral products of Nova Scotia include tin, stone, salt, sand and gravel, clay, peat, lead, zinc, a nd barite. Manufacturing A leading sector of Nova Scotia's economy, manufacturing employs about 4

9,000 persons. The annual value of shipments by manufacturing establishments in the pr ovince is some Can.$5.3 billion. Principal manufactures include processed food (notably fish products), paper and paper items, transportation equipment (especially ships, ae rospace supplies, and motor vehicles), printed materials, wood products, iron and steel, nonmetallic minerals, and chemical products. Halifax and the Sydney area are imp ortant manufacturing centers. Climate The sea moderates the climate of Nova Scotia, which has mild winters com pared to the interior of Canada and slightly cooler summers than many other areas in t he southern part of the nation. Halifax, which is fairly typical of the province, h as a mean January temperature of -3.2 C (26.2 F) and a mean July temperature of 18.3 C (65 F) and annually receives some 1320 mm (some 52 in) of precipitation, including abou t 210 mm (about 8.3 in) of snow. The recorded temperature of Nova Scotia has ranged fr om 41.1 C (-42 F), in 1920 at Upper Stewiacke, to 38.3 C (100.9 F), in 1935 at Collegeville, near Sherbrooke. Fog is common along the southern coast of the pro vince in spring and early summer. Population According to the 1991 census, Nova Scotia had 899,942 inhabitants, an in crease of 3.1% over 1986. In 1991 the overall population density was about 16 persons p er sq km (42 per sq mi). English was the lone mother tongue of some 93% of the people; about 4 percent had French as their sole first language. More than 13,000 Native Ameri cans lived in Nova Scotia. The churches with the largest membership in the province w ere the Roman Catholic church, the United Church of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. About 54 percent of all Nova Scotians lived in areas defined as urban, a nd the rest lived in rural areas. Halifax was the biggest city and capital of the provi nce; other major communities were Dartmouth, Sydney, Glace Bay, and Truro.

Land and Resources Nova Scotia, with an area of 55,490 sq km (21,425 sq mi), is the smalles t Canadian province except for Prince Edward Island; about 3% of its land area is owned by the federal government. The province has an extreme length of about 600 km (a

bout 375 mi) and an extreme breadth of about 160 km (about 100 mi); almost 5% of its area consists of inland water surface. Elevations range from sea level, along the coa st, to 532 m (1745 ft), in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The coastline of Nova Scoti a is 7578 km (4709 mi) long. Sable Island is situated about 160 km (about 100 mi) off shore in the Atlantic. Nova Scotia contains large deposits of coal, gypsum, and salt. Other min eral deposits include barite, clay, copper, peat, sand and gravel, stone, and zinc. S ome petroleum and natural gas have been found under the Atlantic near Nova Scotia. Education and Cultural Heritage Nova Scotia has a number of notable educational and cultural institution s. Its scenic landscape offers a wide variety of opportunities for outdoor sports and r ecreation. Education Nova Scotia's first education act, in 1766, provided for public schools, but not until 1811 did nondenominational, free public education begin here. In the early 1990s there were 527 elementary and secondary schools with a combined annual enrollmen t of approximately 168,800 students. In the same period the province's 22 institution s of higher education enrolled about 32,750 students. The institutions included Dalho usie University (1818), Mount Saint Vincent University (1925), Saint Mary's Universit y (1802), the Technical University of Nova Scotia (1907), and the Nova Scotia Coll ege of Art and Design (1887), all in Halifax; Acadia University (1838), in Wolfville; S aint Francis Xavier University (1853), in Antigonish; Universit Sainte-Anne (1890), in Church Point; the University College of Cape Breton (1951), in Sydney; and Nova Scotia Agricultural College (1905), in Truro. Cultural Institutions Many of Nova Scotia's foremost museums and other cultural facilities are located in Halifax. Among them are the Nova Scotia Museum, with exhibits covering histor ical themes; the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, displaying memorabilia from the Tit anic and other marine artifacts; the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, featuring displa ys of documents, paintings, and artifacts of regional historical significance; and the Dalhousie Arts Centre, which includes an auditorium and the Dalhousie Art Gallery. Also of note are the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg; and the DesBrisay Museum , in

Bridgewater, with historical collections. Halifax is the home of Symphony Nova S cotia. Other Information Sports and Recreation Nova Scotia's national and provincial parks, its lengthy shoreline, and its rivers and lakes offer ideal conditions for boating, swimming, fishing, hiking, camping , and hunting. Golf, tennis, skiing, and ice hockey are also popular sports in the pro vince.

Communications In the late 1980s Nova Scotia had 16 commercial AM radio stations, 8 commercial FM stations, and 5 commercial television stations. The first radio st ation in the province, CHNS in Halifax, began operation in 1922. CJCB-TV in Sydney, Nova Scotia's first commercial television station, went on the air in 1954. The Halif ax Gazette, the first newspaper published in Canada, was initially printed in Halifax in 175 2. In the early 1990s Nova Scotia had seven daily newspapers with a total daily circulatio n of about 218,700. Influential newspapers included the Mail-Star of Halifax and the Cape Breton Post of Sydney. Tourism Each year Nova Scotia attracts more than one million travelers; receipts from tourism totaled almost Can.$800 million annually in the early 1990s. Tourists ar e lured by the province's lovely scenery (especially on Cape Breton Island) and its many opportunities for outdoor-recreation activities. Popular tourist areas include C ape Breton Highlands and Kejimkujik national parks, 14 national historic sites, and 122 pro vincial parks, recreation areas, and wildlife preserves. Many people also visit Halifax. Transportation Most coastal areas of Nova Scotia are well served by transportation faci lities, but many places in the interior have poor transport connections. There are 25,740 km (15,994 mi) of roads and highways. The Trans-Canada Highway extends from the New Brunswick border, near Amherst, to Sydney Mines, on Cape Breton Island, by way o f the Canso Causeway (completed 1955) between the island and the mainland. Nova Scotia is also served by 705 km (438 mi) of mainline railroad track. Halifax is a major se aport with modern facilities for handling containerized shipping. Ferries link the pro vince with New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and Maine. Nova Scotia's busi est air terminal is Halifax International Airport.

Energy Nova Scotia's electricity generating capacity is about 2.2 million kw (a bout 2.1 percent of total Canadian capacity). The province annually produces about 9.4 bi llion kwh, or some 1.9 percent of the country's total electricity. Hydroelectric facil ities represent about one-sixth of the capacity, with the rest largely accounted for b y thermal installations burning refined petroleum or coal.

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