Nova Scotia

I

Introduction

Nova Scotia, one of the three Maritime and one of the four Atlantic provinces of Canada, bordered on the north by the Bay of Fundy, the province of New Brunswick, Northumberland Strait, and the Gulf of St Lawrence and on the east, south, and west by the Atlantic Ocean. Nova Scotia consists primarily of a mainland section, linked to New Brunswick by the Isthmus of Chignecto, and Cape Breton Island, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Canso.

Nova Scotia is sometimes known as the Land of Evangeline, a reference to “Evangeline” (1847), a long narrative poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, about the expulsion of the French-speaking Acadians from the area in 1755. On July 1, 1867, Nova Scotia became one of the founding members of the Canadian Confederation. The province's name, which is Latin for New Scotland, was first applied to the region in the 1620s by settlers from Scotland.

II

Land and Resources

Nova Scotia, with an area of 55,490 sq km (21,425 sq mi), is the second smallest Canadian province. The province has an extreme length of about 600 km (375 mi) and an extreme breadth of about 160 km (100 mi); almost 5 per cent of its area consists of inland water surface. Elevations range from sea level, along the coast, to 532 m (1,745 ft), in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The coastline of Nova Scotia is 7,578 km (4,709 mi) long. Sable Island is situated about 160 km (100 mi) offshore in the Atlantic.

A

Physical Geography

Nova Scotia can be divided into four major geographical regions—the Atlantic Uplands, the Nova Scotia Highlands, the Annapolis Lowland, and the Maritime Plain. The Atlantic Uplands, which occupy most of the southern part of the province, are made up of ancient resistant rocks largely overlain by rocky glacial deposits. The Nova Scotia Highlands are composed of three separate areas of uplands. The western section includes North Mountain, a long ridge of traprock along the Bay of Fundy; the central section takes in the Cobequid Mountains, which rise to 367 m (1,204 ft) at Nuttby Mountain; and the eastern section contains the Cape Breton Highlands. The Annapolis Lowland, in the west, is a small area with considerable fertile soil. The fourth region, the Maritime Plain, borders Northumberland Strait.

Most of Nova Scotia's rivers radiate outward in the Atlantic Uplands and the Nova Scotia Highlands. The rivers, which are generally short and narrow, include the St Mary's (the province's longest at 95 km/59 mi), Mersey, Shubenacadie, La Have, and Mira. The Annapolis River flows parallel to the north-western coast. The province contains hundreds of lakes, the largest being Bras d'Or, a salt-water lake in the centre of Cape Breton Island. The biggest bodies of fresh water are Lakes Rossignol and Ainslie and Kejimkujik and Grand lakes.

B

Climate

The sea moderates the climate of Nova Scotia, which has mild winters compared to the interior of Canada and slightly cooler summers than many other areas in the southern part of the nation. Halifax, which is fairly typical of the province, has a mean January temperature of -3.2° C (26.2° F) and a mean July temperature of 18.3° C (65° F) and annually receives some 1,320 mm (52 in) of precipitation, including about 210 mm (8.3 in) of snow.