Annapolis Valley

Annapolis Valley, region in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, located about 75 to 200 km (about 45 to 125 mi) north and west of Halifax.

The valley lies between two mountain ridges. North Mountain, a basaltic escarpment with an elevation of about 180 to 240 m (about 590 to 790 ft), shelters the region from the Bay of Fundy. Across the valley is South Mountain, part of the granitic spine of Nova Scotia that rises about 150 to 200 m (about 500 to 650 ft) above sea level. The Annapolis Valley includes two main drainage basins. The Annapolis River flows southwest from the vicinity of Greenwood into the Annapolis Basin; the smaller Cornwallis River flows north and east into the Minas Basin. Both the Annapolis and Minas basins are arms of the Bay of Fundy. Until the construction of dikes along the coast and the river courses in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, there were extensive salt marshes located around river mouths in the valley.

Kentville and Wolfville are the main towns in the northeastern part of the valley. Kentville is the commercial center of this region and is the site of a regional hospital and an important agricultural research station. Wolfville is the cultural center of this part of the valley. Acadia University (founded in 1838) is the principal source of employment in the town. Wolfville's United Baptist Church, established in 1765, claims the oldest continuing Baptist congregation in Canada. Annapolis Royal, a town in the southwestern section of the region, was the capital of Nova Scotia from 1713 to 1749. The town, and subsequently the valley, was named Annapolis in honor of Great Britain's Queen Anne.

Agriculture has long been an integral part of the Annapolis Valley's economy. In the late 19th century, large quantities of potatoes were exported to the United States. Early in the 20th century, the area became a leading producer of apples, mainly for the British market. Since the 1950s production has diversified and become more capital intensive, with the development of interests such as poultry breeding and market gardening (fruit and vegetable growing for direct sale to consumers). Meanwhile, the apple industry has gone into decline.

The region's attractive landscapes and rich history have made tourism an important economic activity. Grand Pré National Historic Park marks the site of the expulsion by the British of the Acadians (the original French inhabitants) in 1755. Fort Anne National Historic Park in Annapolis Royal preserves remnants of the town's early fortifications. The Annapolis Valley is easily accessible, with good road connections to Halifax and ferry links to Saint John in New Brunswick and Bar Harbor and Portland in Maine.

The Tidal Power Corporation, a public company, administers the Annapolis Royal tidal-power project, which is located in the Annapolis Basin. The project harnesses the massive water movement in the Bay of Fundy, which is the location of one of the world's highest tides. This project, brought into service in 1984, is intended to demonstrate the capacities of the Straflo turbine-generator. It produces 50 million kilowatt-hours per year from a 20-megawatt single-unit generator on a tidal reach of the Annapolis River.

Before the arrival of Europeans, indigenous Mi'kmaq people, who spoke an Algonquian language, lived in and around Annapolis Valley. Between the founding of Port Royal (later Annapolis Royal) on the Annapolis Basin in 1605 and the Acadians' expulsion by the British in 1755, French settlers and their descendants, collectively known as Acadians, diked, drained, and cultivated the region's salt marshes. The Acadians' expulsion later became the subject of Evangeline (1847), an epic poem written by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. New Englanders and Loyalist refugees from the American Revolution (1775-1783) occupied the valley in the second half of the 18th century. By the 1850s it was one of the most densely settled and productive farming districts in Nova Scotia, and agriculture has remained important.