Nova Scotia

I

Introduction

Nova Scotia, province of eastern Canada, consisting of a peninsula on the Canadian mainland, Cape Breton Island, and numerous smaller islands. The peninsula is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land called the Isthmus of Chignecto. Cape Breton Island is separated from the peninsula by the Strait of Canso. Nova Scotia is one of the Maritime provinces of Canada, along with Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick; it is also one of the Atlantic provinces (the Maritimes plus Newfoundland and Labrador). Halifax is Nova Scotia’s capital and largest city.

Nova Scotia juts out into the Atlantic Ocean from the mainland, and no part of the province is far from the sea. Teeming with fish and shellfish, the sea has always been central to life in Nova Scotia. The province’s many fine harbors and close proximity to sea lanes have given Nova Scotia an important role in Canada’s defense. The harbor at Halifax, one of the world’s largest, is open year-round and is one of Canada’s busiest ports.

Long before Europeans arrived, Nova Scotia was inhabited by the Mi'kmaq and Abenaki, Algonquian-speaking indigenous peoples. Seafaring Vikings, who explored the coast of northeastern North America in the 10th century, were likely the first Europeans to see Nova Scotia. About five centuries later, in 1497, the Italian navigator John Cabot made a landing in the area, possibly at Cape Breton Island. Cabot was followed by many other explorers and fishers who plied Nova Scotia’s coastal waters.

In 1605 the French explorers Samuel de Champlain and Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts established a settlement in Nova Scotia at Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal)—the first permanent French settlement in Canada. Nova Scotia was part of a maritime colony that France called Acadia, possibly after the Mi’kmaq word meaning “plenty.” The British, too, laid claim to Acadia, which they later called Nova Scotia (Latin for “New Scotland”). In the imperial rivalry that ensued, the territory passed back and forth between the two countries until 1713, when France ceded Acadia to the British (apart from Cape Breton Island and other areas). During the 1750s, French Acadians in Nova Scotia who refused to swear allegiance to the British crown were forcibly deported by British troops. In 1867 Nova Scotia became one of Canada’s four original provinces, along with New Brunswick, Ontario, and Québec.

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II

Physical Geography

Nova Scotia is the second smallest Canadian province (only Prince Edward Island is smaller). Nova Scotia is about 560 km (about 350 mi) long, averages 110 km (70 mi) in width, and has an area of 55,284 sq km (21,345 sq mi), including 1,946 sq km (751 sq mi) of inland water. No part of the province is more than 80 km (50 mi) from the sea.

A

Natural Regions

The Maritime provinces are part of the Appalachian Region, a geographic zone that extends over much of eastern North America. More than half the area of Nova Scotia lies within the Atlantic Upland, a large upland plateau that gradually rises from the Atlantic coast. The Atlantic Upland stretches from the southern tip of the peninsula to Cape Breton Island in the northeast. Underlain by granites, quartzites, and some slates, the upland consists of five main sections that are separated by lowlands. The most important lowlands are in the southwest, along Minas Basin and the Bay of Fundy, and in the north, along Northumberland Strait. Thick glaciers covered the entire province during the last ice age, and in many areas the hills were stripped of their soil as the glaciers retreated. In other areas, the action of glaciers produced numerous bogs and lakes.

The highest elevations in Nova Scotia are found in the Northern Highlands, areas of uplands that reach across northern parts of the province. The highest point, 532 m (1,745 ft) above sea level, is found in Cape Breton Highlands National Park near the extreme northeastern end of the island. However, the average elevation of the uplands is less than 300 m (1,000 ft), with occasional rounded knobs rising above the general level. In the north central region are the Cobequid Mountains, which rise to slightly more than 300 m (1,000 ft) and extend about 140 km (about 90 mi) from east to west. Further to the west a steep ridge, called North Mountain, separates the Annapolis Valley from the Bay of Fundy.

The largest and most important lowland in Nova Scotia is the fertile Annapolis Valley, which is drained by the Annapolis and Cornwallis rivers. The valley is about 130 km (about 80 mi) long and varies in width from 5 to 15 km (3 to 10 mi). The valley consists mainly of red sandstones and shales. The valley’s tidal marshes were the first lands cultivated by European settlers in Canada, and some of the original dikes built to control tidal flooding survive to the present day.

East of the Annapolis Valley and extending southward toward the interior of the peninsula is another lowland that contains shales and sandstones. Most of the southern half of Cape Breton Island is a region of lowlands underlain by sandstones, limestones, and coal. Bordering Northumberland Strait are the Northumberland coastal lowlands, which are generally marshy and much cooler than the Annapolis Valley. These lowlands are underlain by old sedimentary rocks that give the soil a red color in some places. Many of the sediments contain coal.

B

Coastline

Nova Scotia’s rugged Atlantic coast in the south is deeply indented with many coves and harbors, and numerous small islands dot the shoreline. It is a good example of a drowned coastline, the land having been depressed by the weight of the ice during the last glacial period. Halifax and Lunenburg, centers of the fishing industry, are located on deep inlets on the coast. In the west the shores are swept by the Bay of Fundy, which records among the highest tides in the world. The difference between high tide and low tide may be as much as 18 m (60 ft).

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