Nova Scotia: population: 934,100; (2007 Statscan); Area: 21,425 square miles (55,490 square km).

Nova Scotia is one of the original members of the Dominion of Canada (1867). 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. Halifax is the provincial capital.

Nova Scotia has a modified continental climate with a marked maritime effect along the coasts. The temperature rarely exceeds 88º F (31º C) or falls below 14º F (-10º 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 trade--particularly from the port of Halifax, with its container piers--provides 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.

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.

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