NOVA SCOTIA 



4296 



NOVA SCOTIA 



OVA SCOTIA, sko'shia, 

 or NEW SCOTLAND, is the southeastern prov- 

 ince of the Dominion of Canada. It is the old 

 Acadie of the French and the land of Evangc- 

 line. Because of its location Nova Scotia has 

 aptly been called "the doorstep of a continent." 

 With New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island 

 it constitutes the group known as the Maritime 

 Provinces and now also as the Atlantic Prov- 

 inces. It includes the peninsula of Nova 

 Scotia and Cape Breton Island; the peninsula 

 is joined to New Brunswick by an isthmus 

 'twelve miles wide. On the north it is bounded 

 by the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, North- 

 umberland Strait and the Gulf of Saint Law- 

 rence. The Atlantic Ocean touches it on the 

 east, south and west. Including Cape Breton 

 Island the province is 370 miles long and from 

 fifty to 100 miles wide, with an average width 

 of sixty-five miles. The coast line is 1,000 miles 

 long, and the area is 21,428 square miles, or 

 equal to two-thirds the area of Scotland. Nova 

 Scotia is a little larger than New Hampshire 

 and Vermont combined. If laid along the coast 

 of the New England states it would extend 

 from the eastern point of Maine to Long Island 

 Sound. 



The People. The early settlers came from 

 France and from Scotland, and when the Eng- 

 lish colonies in America waged their war for 

 independence many loyalists emigrated from 

 there to Nova Scotia. The present population 

 consists of descendants from these early fami- 

 lies and English families who came to the 

 province at a later date. Cape Breton and the 

 eastern part of the peninsula are Scotch, mid 

 French-Acadians are found in the extreme west 

 Digby and Yarmouth counties and, in the 

 east, in Richmond and Inverness counties. 

 There is a German settlement in the center, 

 and the remainder of the population is English, 

 with a sprinkling of Micmac Indians, who were 



the original inhabitants. The peo- 

 ple of Nova Scotia arc known far and wide for 

 their high degree of intelligence, their integrity, 

 industry and thrift. In proportion to her popu- 

 lation, Nova Sco- 

 tia has been the 

 birthplace of a 

 larger number of 

 men who have 

 won distinction 

 as statesmen, 

 military leaders, 

 writers and edu- 

 cators than any LOCATION MAP 



The position of Nova Scotia 



other province m with reference to the remain- 

 t h e Dominion. der of British North America. 

 The number of inhabitants of the province was 

 492,338 in 1911, an average of twenty-three to 

 the square mile. 



Surface and Drainage. The surface is char- 

 acterized by low hills and shallow valleys. 

 Three ranges of hills extend through the prov- 

 ince from southwest to northeast, their direction 

 showing them to be a part of the Appalachian 

 system. One of these ranges extends along the 

 center of the peninsula. Another, known as the 

 North Mountains, borders the Bay of Fundy, 

 and the third, or Cobequid Mountains, extends 

 along the northern shore of Minas basin and 

 terminates towards the Strait of Canso. Some 

 summits of this range attain an altitude of 

 1,000 feet. The main part of the province is 

 an undulating plateau with an altitude of about 

 400 feet in the southwest and rising to nearly 

 1,000 feet in Cape Breton. One point, North 

 Cape Plateau, is 1,500 feet high. A number of 

 bold headlands appear along the coast, but 

 there are no high altitudes. The northwest 

 coast is deeply indented; the Atlantic coast 

 contains a number of inlets suitable for good 

 harbors, the most important being Halifax Har- 

 bor, Chester Basin and Chedabucto Bay. 



