Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nouvelle-Écosse (French) | |
|---|---|
| Motto(s): | |
| Coordinates: 45°N 63°W / 45°N 63°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Before confederation | Province of Nova Scotia |
| 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 | Mike Savage |
| • Premier | Tim Houston |
| Legislature | Nova Scotia House of Assembly |
| Federal representation | Parliament of Canada |
| House seats | 11 of 343 (3.2%) |
| 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 (Q4 2025) | 1,091,857 |
| • Rank | 7th |
| • Density | 18.31/km2 (47.4/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Nova Scotian, Bluenoser |
| Official languages | English (de facto) |
| 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) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-03:00 (ADT) |
| Canadian postal abbr. | NS |
| Postal code prefix | |
| ISO 3166 code | CA-NS |
| Flower | Mayflower |
| Tree | Red spruce |
| Bird | Osprey |
| Website | novascotia.ca |
| Rankings include all provinces and territories | |
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 2025, Nova Scotia is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Nova Scotia is also the second-most densely populated province in Canada, and the second smallest province by area. 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.
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.
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, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. Port Royal was renamed Annapolis Royal and the settlement 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.