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Capital: Halifax
Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (One defends and the other conquers)
Flower: Mayflower
Population: According to Statistics Canada the census metropolitan area of Halifax population reached 403,200 in 2010.
The Land
Nova Scotia's 580-kilometre-long peninsula is surrounded by four bodies of water - the Atlantic Ocean, the Bay of Fundy, the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its geographic location, together with large, ice-free, deep-water harbours, has been a key factor in the province's economic development.
HRM's urban area is a major economic centre in eastern Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defence, various levels of government, and the Port of Halifax. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of HRM (Source Wikipedia).
Nova Scotia is a mosaic of rugged headlands, tranquil harbours and ocean beaches. Its indented shoreline stretches 10 424 kilometres, while inland is a myriad of lakes and streams. The land is framed by the rocky Atlantic Uplands, the Cape Breton Highlands and the wooded Cobequid Hills. The agricultural areas of Nova Scotia are predominantly lowlands. When the glacial ice withdrew from coastal Nova Scotia 15 000 to 18 000 years ago, the ocean flooded ancient river valleys and carved out hundreds of small protected harbours which later became fishing ports.
The People
Nearly one-quarter of Nova Scotia's population of approximately 941 000 report the British Isles as their place of ethnic origin. Significant portions of the population also report either French or European origins.
The area comprising present day Halifax County was settled for thousands of years by the Mi'kmaq. Those who settled on Halifax Harbour called it Jipugtug (anglicised as "Chebucto"), meaning Great Harbour. The first permanent European settlement in the area was the establishment of the Town of Halifax, named after the British Earl of Halifax, in 1749 when the colonial capital was transferred from Annapolis Royal; other towns and villages were established throughout adjacent areas of what would become Halifax County in the decades that followed.
In 1996 the provincial government amalgamated all municipal governments within Halifax County to create HRM, a regional municipality comprising approximately 200 individual communities or placenames for civic addressing grouped into eighteen planning areas for zoning purposes.
Many residents of Nova Scotia are of Mi'kmaq, German, Dutch, Polish, Italian, Jewish and Lebanese descent. After the War of 1812, several thousand Black people, including the Chesapeake Blacks, settled in the Halifax area; in 1996, more than 18 000 residents of the province reported having Black origins. More recent immigrants to Nova Scotia have included Chinese, Indo-Chinese, African, Asian and eastern European groups.
Economy
Nova Scotia's economy is highly diversified, having evolved from resource-based employment to include many types of manufactured goods as well as business and personal services.
Tourism is an important sector in the provincial economy. Total tourism receipts exceed $1 billion and over 30 000 people are employed in the many aspects of the industry. More than two million people visit the province each year, with almost one quarter of these coming from outside Canada.
  
* Basic text Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003, with additional updates by Dale Quinlan 2010. Photos compliments of Russ Quinlan.
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