NOVA SCOTIA, a province of the Do minion of Canada, comprising the peninsula of Nova Scotia proper and the island of Cape Breton. It is bounded N. and N. W. by the Bay of Fundy, a small section of New Brunswick, the Strait of Northumberland, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and on the E. and S. by the Atlantic. The main peninsula is separated from Cape Breton by the narrow channel of the "Gut" of Canso. Its extreme length is 350 miles, and its breadth from 50 to 100 miles. The area is 20,600 square miles—a little smaller than West Virginia. The coast is in dented with numerous inlets, that form a great number of good harbors. Ex clusive of these, the coast-line is about 1,000 miles long. There are many rivers, most of them short, and navi gable in their lower courses for a few miles. The principal of these are the Avon, Annapolis, Shubenacadie, Lahave, Musquodoboit, and St. Mary's. Along the Atlantic seaboard, and reaching in land about 20 miles, is a range of hills. The Cobequid Mountains extend from the Gut of Canso to the Bay of Fundy, through the middle of the main penin sula. The soil is generally fertile. The climate is temperate and equable, the mean temperature about 42° F. The summer average is 61°, the winter 23°. Though there is much sea fog, the climate is generally healthful.
Agriculture is the principal industry. The wheat production in 1919 was 605, 610 bushels; oats, 5,633,078 bushels; barley, 312,096 bushels. Other important industries are fishing, lumbering, and mining. The fisheries employ about 30,
000 persons. The forests of Nova Scotia are large and valuable. The value of mineral products for 1919 was: coal $2, 500,000; iron and steel $19,000,000; coke $5,771,000. Ship building is extensively carried on, and manufacturing indus tries are rapidly increasing. There are five universities, and an excellent sys tem of common schools. There are about 1,500 miles of railway in the Province. The religious bodies include all the principal Protestant sects, and the Roman Catholic Church, which has two dioceses. Nova Scotia has an An glican bishop jointly with Prince Ed ward Island. There is a provincial legislature in two houses. The execu tive is a lieutenant-governor, appointed by the Governor-general of Canada. He has a council of 21 members.
Nova Scotia is supposed to have been first visited and discovered by the Cab ots in 1497. Its first settlers were French, who located themselves here in 1604, but were expelled by settlers from Virginia, who claimed the country by right of discovery. The French called the country Acadia. It was ceded to Great Britain in 1763, and joined to Canada in 1867. It receives a subsidy from Canada toward the support of the provincial government. Imports (1919) $27,863,220; exports, $61,601, 000. The chief cities are Halifax, Yar mouth, Truro, and Spring Hill. Pop. of the Province (1919) 492,338.