Nova Scotia
Canada's most populous Atlantic province, with a capital that is the largest municipality in the region.
Nova Scotia is a province in the Maritimes region of Canada, located on the nation's east coast. With an estimated population of over 1 million as of 2026, Nova Scotia is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The province comprises the Nova Scotia peninsula and Cape Breton Island, as well as 3,800 other coastal islands. The province is connected to the rest of Canada by the Isthmus of Chignecto, on which the province's sole land border, with New Brunswick, is located.
- Capital
- Halifax
- Population (2026 est.)
- Over 1 million
- Area rank
- Second-smallest province in Canada
- Population density rank
- Second-most densely populated province in Canada
- Date of Confederation
- July 1867
- First British colony with responsible go
- 1848
- Etymology
- Latin for 'New Scotland'
Lore & Background
The land that makes up what is now Nova Scotia was inhabited by the Mi'kmaq 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. The Scots, English, then British, fought France for the territory on numerous occasions for over a century afterwards, having gained it from them in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Port Royal was renamed Annapolis Royal and served as the capital of Nova Scotia until the founding of Halifax in 1749. 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. In July 1867, Nova Scotia joined in Confederation with New Brunswick and the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec), forming Canada.
Reader's Guide
Nova Scotia's capital and largest city 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.
Did You Know?
- Nova Scotia is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada.
- Halifax is the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada.
- The province was first named in a 1621 Royal Charter granting Sir William Alexander the right to settle lands as a Scottish colony.
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