Province (pop., 2001: 943,000), Canada, one of the Maritime Provinces .
It comprises the peninsula of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, and a few small adjacent islands, and it is bounded by the Northumberland Strait, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Atlantic Ocean, the Bay of Fundy, and New Brunswick. Its capital is Halifax . The region was first visited by Micmac Indians when John Cabot claimed it for England in 1497. French settlers in 1605 adopted the Micmac name Acadia for the region. English and Scottish colonists arrived by 1621. The conflict between France and England over control of the area was ended by the 1713 Peace of Utrecht , which awarded it to England. In the 1750s, the British expelled most of the French settlers. Following the American Revolution , many {{link=loyalist">loyalists emigrated there. It joined the Dominion of Canada in 1867 as one of the original members. The province's economic mainstays are fishing, shipbuilding, and transatlantic shipping.