Nova Scotia is a province on the east coast of Canada, in the Maritimes region. With a population of just over one million as of 2025, it is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada, the second-most densely populated province in the country, and the second-smallest by area. The province is made up of the Nova Scotia peninsula, Cape Breton Island, and around 3,800 smaller coastal islands. Its only land border, with New Brunswick, runs across the Isthmus of Chignecto.
Geography
Nova Scotia is surrounded by four major bodies of water: the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the north, the Bay of Fundy to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. No point in the province lies more than 67 kilometres from the ocean. The mainland peninsula is shaped by numerous bays and estuaries, while Cape Breton Island lies to the northeast and Sable Island sits roughly 175 kilometres off the southern coast.
The province lies along the 45th parallel north, placing it midway between the Equator and the North Pole. Its highest point, White Hill, rises 533 metres above sea level in the Cape Breton Highlands. Nova Scotia also contains around 5,400 lakes and is well known for its fossil-bearing rock formations, particularly along the Bay of Fundy. Sites such as Blue Beach near Hantsport and Joggins Fossil Cliffs have produced large numbers of Carboniferous-age fossils, while Wasson’s Bluff near Parrsboro has yielded both Triassic and Jurassic specimens.
History
The land that is now Nova Scotia was inhabited by the Mi’kmaq long before European contact. In 1605, the French founded Acadia, with its capital at Port Royal, marking the first permanent European settlement in what would become Canada. Control of the region shifted between France and Britain over the following century, with Britain gaining the territory through the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Port Royal was renamed Annapolis Royal and served as the colonial capital until Halifax was founded in 1749.
In the years that followed, the British settled “foreign Protestants” in the region and deported the French-speaking Acadians in large numbers. Thousands of Loyalists arrived during the American Revolutionary War. In 1848, Nova Scotia became the first British colony to gain responsible government, and in July 1867 it joined New Brunswick and the Province of Canada in forming the Canadian Confederation.
Capital and Population
Halifax is the capital and largest city, home to over 45% of the province’s residents according to the 2021 census. It is the twelfth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada, the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada, and the country’s second-largest coastal municipality after Vancouver.
According to the 2016 Canadian census, the largest ethnic groups in Nova Scotia are Scottish (30.0%), English (28.9%), Irish (21.6%), French (16.5%), German (10.7%), First Nations (5.4%), Dutch (3.5%), Métis (2.9%), and Acadian (2.6%). Around 42.6% of respondents identified their ethnicity simply as Canadian.