NOVA SCOTIA - N.S.

-one of the four Atlantic provinces on the east coast of Canada
-second-smallest province (P.E.I. is the smallest)
-made up of the mainland and Cape Breton Island
-also includes over 3800 coastal islands
-capital city and largest city - Halifax - population 375,000 (estimated 2005)
-Halifax is an international seaport and transportation center.
-flower - the Mayflower, tree -Red Spruce, bird - Osprey
-"Nova Scotia" means "New Scotland" in Latin.
-motto : " One defends and the other conquers"

THE PEOPLE

-There are 937,900 people living in Nova Scotia.(2005)
-Many people live in or close to Halifax.
-Most of the communities are along the coast.
-First people were the Micmac and Abenaki.
-People came from Britain, Western Europe, and Southern Europe.
-One-quarter of the people are of British origin.
-N.S. also has Canada's oldest African-Canadian community.

HISTORY

-Explorer John Cabot came to Nova Scotia in 1497.
-Micmac lived there. They hunted, fished, gathered plants and berries.
-French settlers arrived in 1605.
-A French settlement named Port Royal was built in 1605.
-The area was turned over to the British after a war.
-French colonists were forced to leave.
-Some went back to France while others went to the U.S.
-Later settlers came from England, Germany, Scotland.
-In 1783 thousands came from the United States.
-In 1784 the area was divided into Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
-In 1867 Nova Scotia became a part of the Dominion of Canada.

WATER AND LAND

-The province is almost surrounded by water.
-N.S. and N.B. are connected by a small land-bridge (28 km Isthmus of Chignecto) .
-The Bay of Fundy is between N.S. and N.B.
-The Bay of Fundy has world's highest tides.
-Almost 7500 km of N.S. is rocky coastline.
-Most of the province is covered with forests and lakes.
-There are 3000 lakes in this province.
-There are ice-free deep-water harbors along the coast.
-Canso Causeway ( a road ) connects Cape Breton Island to the mainland.

RESOURCES/INDUSTRY

-Coal mining and fishing/fish processing were once major industries.
-The main mineral is coal (used for making electricity).
-Refineries turn oil into gasoline and other products.
-Scallops, crabs, clams, cod, haddock, pollock, herring, salmon, and haddock are fished.
-Lobsters from N.S. are eaten all across Canada.
-There are fish packaging plants in N.S.
-Haddock and cod were once caught in great numbers.
-Forests cover three-fourths of the province.
-There are four pulp and paper mills and several hundred sawmills.
-Apples and blueberries are grown in the Annapolis Valley.

PEOPLE and PLACES

-Anne Murray is a singer from Springhill, who has many gold singles.
-Marconi sent the first wireless ( radio) message across the Atlantic Ocean,
from Table Head, Cape Breton Island in 1902.
-A. Gesner made kerosene in 1856; oil lamps were used instead of candles for light.

-Peggy's Cove - a well-known fishing village with a lighthouse
-Citadel - a fort built (1856) on a hill overlooking Halifax harbour
-Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site - a museum for the man who invented the telephone
-Louisbourg - a French fort built in 1744 at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River
-Bras d'Or - a large lake that is a nesting site of the endangered bald eagle