NOVA SCOTIA


Meaning of NOVA SCOTIA in English

Canadian province, one of the four British colonies federated into the Dominion of Canada in 1867. It comprises the peninsula of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island (separated from the mainland to the southwest by the narrow Strait of Canso), and a number of small adjacent islands. The total area is 21,425 square miles (55,490 square kilometres). Along the 17-mile- (27-kilometre-) wide Chignecto Isthmus, which seems to thrust the peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean, runs the province's only land boundary, with New Brunswick to the west. Two arms of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Northumberland and Cabot straits, separate it, respectively, from Prince Edward Island on the north and Newfoundland on the northeast. To the east lies the Atlantic and to the southwest the Bay of Fundy. Halifax is the capital. Nova Scotiawith New Brunswick and Prince Edward Islandis one of Canada's Maritime Provinces, and both its past and its present are tied closely to the maritime life of fishing, shipbuilding, and transatlantic shipping. It was the site, in 1605, of the first permanent North American settlement north of Florida, established by the French. Among the legends that pervade the province is that told by the U.S. poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his tale Evangeline, an account of the deportation in 1755 of the French inhabitants by a fearful British governor. The province's contemporary life retains some of the feeling of 17th-century Acadie, or Acadia, the Micmac Indian name adopted by the French for the region before Scottish colonists implanted their own name of Nova Scotia. Brendan Anthony O'Grady one of the four Atlantic provinces of Canada, and one of the original members of the Dominion of Canada (1867). Together with New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia is one of Canada's Maritime provinces. It comprises the peninsula of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island (northeast), and a few small adjacent islands. The province is bounded by the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the east and south, the Bay of Fundy on the west, and New Brunswick province, its only land link to the mainland, on the northwest. Halifax is the provincial capital. Originally settled by the Micmac Indians, the region was first visited by Norse Vikings about AD 1000 and was sighted in 1497 by John Cabot, who claimed it for England. French settlers arriving in 1605 adopted the Micmac name, Acadie, or Acadia, for the region. Theirs was the first permanent European settlement in North America lying north of Florida. The arrival of English and Scottish colonists after 1621 led to a long conflict between France and England over control of the area, which was awarded to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). The region was renamed Nova Scotia, and in the 1750s the descendants of the first French settlers, who refused to swear loyalty to Britain, were expelled from the colony; many of these Acadians resettled in Louisiana, where they became known as Cajuns. (The Acadians' tragedy was vividly portrayed in Evangeline, by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.) The province still retains some of the feeling of 17th-century Acadia. Britain's offers of free land attracted immigrants not only from the British Isles but also from New England. The New Englanders helped secure the first elected assembly in the province, and, by the time of the American Revolution, they constituted roughly one-half of Nova Scotia's population. During the Revolution and afterward, some 35,000 American loyalists (i.e., supporters of British rule) immigrated to the province. Meanwhile, Prince Edward Island had split off from Nova Scotia in 1769, and New Brunswick followed in 1784, though Cape Breton Island was reunited with Nova Scotia in 1820. In 1848 Nova Scotia became the first British colony to exercise the right of government responsible to the people through their elected representatives. Despite opposition, the union of Nova Scotia with Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick was carried out in 1867, forming the Dominion of Canada. Nova Scotia's five upland regions reach a maximum elevation of more than 1,700 feet (520 m) in the Cape Breton Highlands of the northeast. The most important lowlands lie along the Bay of Fundy and the Minas Basin, in the southwest, and along the Northumberland Strait. Almost nine-tenths of Nova Scotia's land area is unsuitable for agriculture, owing either to poor soils or hilly or mountainous terrain. More than 3,000 lakes and hundreds of short streams have been impounded by, or have cut through, the irregularly varied landforms of the province. Nova Scotia has a modified continental climate with a marked maritime effect along the coasts. The temperature rarely exceeds 88 F (31 C) or falls below 14 F (-10 C) anywhere in the province. Rainfall ranges from 55 inches (1,400 mm) in the south, where fog commonly occurs, to 40 inches (1,000 mm) elsewhere. Forests, consisting mostly of softwoods (balsam, spruce, hemlock, and pine), occupy about four-fifths of the land area. Both Nova Scotia's past and present are tied closely to the maritime life of fishing, shipbuilding, and transatlantic shipping. In the age of wood, wind, and water, Nova Scotia was famous for its shipbuilding. In modern times, the export tradeparticularly from the port of Halifax, with its container piersprovides an important source of income. Shipyards, a naval dockyard, construction industries, and assembly plants also provide a major source of employment in the Halifax-Dartmouth area. Despite economic setbacks caused by competition with U.S. ports, Halifax seems to be regaining some of the importance that it once had in the days of sail and the West Indies trade. Fisheries remain a major activity, with lobster, cod, scallops, haddock, and herring being the significant catches. One of North America's largest fish-processing plants is located in Lunenburg. Extensive forestry resources supply the province's pulp and paper mills and numerous sawmills and provide Christmas trees and maple syrup as well. Coal is the leading mined product and provides nearly three-fourths of the province's energy requirement. Salt, barite, anhydrite, and gypsum are other important minerals. The limited farming in Nova Scotia has focused on dairy products, livestock, poultry and egg production, and fruit cultivation. Subsistence living on family farms traditionally characterized the province's agriculture, though more efficient land use and increasing mechanization have reduced the number of farms and made them more productive. The offshore exploration of oil and natural gas near Sable Island continues, and the continent's first tidal-energy project harnesses the tides of the Bay of Fundy for hydroelectric energy. The province is well served by highways, railways, and airlines, while ferries operate between it and New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the U.S. state of Maine. Representative government in Nova Scotia was established in 1848, and the province joined Canada in 1867. Since then it has had a unicameral legislative assembly, elected by universal adult suffrage. The premier is the leader of the majority party in the assembly, and he selects and heads the executive cabinet. The lieutenant governor represents the British monarch and is appointed by Canada's governor-general. Judges are appointed by the federal government. Primary and secondary school through the 12th grade, including technical and vocational, is free and compulsory. Nova Scotia has several universities, including Halifax's Dalhousie University (1818), with the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and a medical research centre that coordinates activities with the city's hospitals. The cultural inheritances of both the Acadians and British immigrants have been preserved. The Nova Scotia Museum and Parks Canada jointly administer historical sites at the Annapolis Royal Habitation, Fortress Louisbourg, Halifax Citadel, and other sites. Halifax is the home of the Neptune Theatre and the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. St. Francis Xavier University (1853) in Antigonish offers courses in Celtic studies, and the Gaelic College in St. Ann's, Cape Breton, fosters folk arts such as piping, singing, dancing, and handicrafts. Clan gatherings take place annually at the Gaelic College, and summer festivals are held in many communities. St. Francis Xavier University has attracted international interest with its adult-education programs. Area 21,425 square miles (55,490 square km). Pop. (1991) 899,942. Additional reading Robert J. McCalla, The Maritime Provinces Atlas (1988), provides information in a graphic format. George Rogers (ed.), Exploring Nova Scotia (1984), is a concise guidebook. A look at the economy is provided in Stanislaw Czamanski, Structure of the Nova Scotia Economy (1970). On the history of the province, there is a considerable body of literature in the Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society (1878 ). Selected readings include J. Murray Beck, The Government of Nova Scotia (1957), John Bartlett Brebner, The Neutral Yankees of Nova Scotia (1937, reissued 1970), and New England's Outpost: Acadia Before the Conquest of Canada (1927, reissued 1974); Arthur G. Doughty, The Acadian Exiles: A Chronicle of the Land of Evangeline (1916, reprinted 1935); and Andrew H. Clark, Acadia: The Geography of Early Nova Scotia to 1760 (1968). Brendan Anthony O'Grady

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