| Official Name: | Cape Breton County |
| Native Name: | |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nova Scotia |
| Subdivision Type2: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name2: | Cape Breton Regional Municipality |
| Seat Type: | Electoral Districts Federal |
| Seat: | Cape Breton—Canso / Sydney—Victoria |
| Parts Type: | Provincial |
| Parts: | Cape Breton Centre / Cape Breton North / Cape Breton Nova / Cape Breton South / Cape Breton West / Glace Bay |
| Leader Title: | Mayor-Warden |
| Leader Name: | Amanda McDougall |
| Leader Title1: | Council |
| Leader Name1: | Cape Breton Regional Council |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | December 10, 1765 |
| Established Title2: | Separated into Colony |
| Established Date2: | 1784 |
| Established Title3: | Reannexed to Nova Scotia |
| Established Date3: | 1820 |
| Established Title4: | Incorporated |
| Established Date4: | April 17, 1879 |
| Extinct Title: | Amalgamated |
| Extinct Date: | August 1, 1995 |
| Area Total Km2: | 2470.62 |
| Population As Of: | 2006 |
| Population Total: | 109,330 |
| Population Density Km2: | 44.3 |
| Timezone: | AST |
| Utc Offset: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 46°N -60.3°W |
| Area Code: | 902 |
| Blank Name: | Median Earnings* |
| Blank Info: | $40,451 |
| Footnotes: |
----Part of a series about Places in Nova Scotia |
Cape Breton County is one of eighteen counties in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located on Cape Breton Island.
From 1879 to 1995, the area of the county excluded from towns and cities was incorporated as the Municipality of the County of Cape Breton to provide local government services. Since 1995 the only municipality in the county has been a single-tier municipality called Cape Breton Regional Municipality. For statistical purposes, the First Nations reserves of Eskasoni 3 and Membertou 28B are included in the county, but are separate entities.
Taking its name from Cape Breton, the most easterly point of the island which was called after the Bretons of Brittany, the county has what is probably the oldest surviving European name to have been used to designate part of North America.
By proclamation of October 17, 1763 after termination of the Seven Years' War, Cape Breton Island was formally annexed to Nova Scotia. For a time thereafter Cape Breton Island was part of Halifax County. On December 10, 1765, Cape Breton Island was set apart as a separate county under the name Cape Breton County.
From 1784 to 1820, Cape Breton Island was established as a separate colony with a Lieutenant Governor and a nominated Executive Council, but without an elected house of assembly. Not until after Cape Breton Island was re-annexed to Nova Scotia in 1820 did it receive representation in an elected legislature.
Although subdivided into three districts in 1824, Cape Breton County was co-extensive with Cape Breton Island from 1820 to 1835 when the county was divided into three separate and distinct counties:
In 1851, Victoria County was formed out of the northeastern part of Cape Breton County and a year later, in 1852, the present boundaries of Cape Breton County were defined by the colonial government in Halifax.
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Cape Breton County had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 2457.21km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[1]
Cape Breton County had several incorporated municipalities within its boundaries:
In the early 1990s the provincial government began to examine duplication of municipal services in Nova Scotia. One of the recommendations arising from this study was that all of Cape Breton County be amalgamated. On August 1, 1995, all seven municipal units in the county were dissolved and replaced by a single tier municipality called the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM).
The new regional municipality's boundary included all of Cape Breton County except for the Eskasoni and Membertou First Nations.
Cape Breton County continues to exist as a county in Nova Scotia, but all municipal government and service delivery is provided by either the Cape Breton Regional Municipality or the First Nations, with no additional county level government or administration or any lower-level town or city-level government or administration.
See main article: List of communities in Cape Breton Regional Municipality.