| Official Name: | Digby County |
| Native Name: | |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Mapsize: | 275px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nova Scotia |
| Subdivision Type2: | District municipalities |
| Subdivision Name2: | Clare / Digby |
| Subdivision Type3: | Towns |
| Subdivision Name3: | Digby |
| Seat Type: | Electoral Districts Federal |
| Seat: | West Nova |
| Parts Type: | Provincial |
| Parts: | Digby-Annapolis / Clare |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 1837 |
| Extinct Title: | Divided into District Municipalities |
| Extinct Date: | April 17, 1879 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Land Km2: | 2512.28 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 17062 |
| Population Density Km2: | 6.8 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Change 2011-16 |
| Population Blank1: | 1.5% |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Census Rankings - District municipalities Clare Digby - Towns Digby - Reserves Bear River 6 |
| Population Blank2: | 8,813 (431 of 5,008) 7,986 (458 of 5,008) 2,092 (2,074 of 5,008) 101 (4,415 of 5,008) |
| Timezone: | AST |
| Utc Offset: | -4 |
| Timezone Dst: | ADT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -3 |
| Coordinates: | 44.3°N -65.8°W |
| Area Code: | 902 |
| Blank Name: | Dwellings |
| Blank Info: | 9927 |
| Blank1 Name: | Median income* |
| Blank1 Info: | CA$38,284 |
| Footnotes: |
|
Digby County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
It was named after the Township of Digby; this was named in honour of Rear Admiral Robert Digby, who dispatched HMS Atalanta to convey Loyalists from New York City in the spring of 1783 to Conway, which became known as Digby, as part of their evacuation and resettlement following the American Revolutionary War. The Crown resettled thousands of Loyalists in Nova Scotia and other areas of Canada. Digby County was established in 1837. Previously, from August 17, 1759, when Nova Scotia was first divided into counties, this area had been part of Annapolis County.
In 1861, Digby County was divided into two sessional districts: Digby and Clare. These were eventually incorporated as district municipalities in 1879.
In addition to these two district municipalities, the county contains the Town of Digby and part of the Bear River Indian (First Nations) reserve. Also, there is Digby Neck leading into the Bay of Fundy to Long Island and Brier Island.
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Digby 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 2512.28km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[3]
| Census | Population | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17,062 | 1.5% | |
| 2016 | 17,323 | 4.0% | |
| 2011 | 18,036 | 5.0% | |
| 2006 | 18,992 | 2.8% | |
| 2001 | 19,548 | 4.6% | |
| 1996 | 20,500 | 3.8% | |
| 1991 | 21,195 | 3.1% | |
| 1986 | 21,852 | 0.8% | |
| 1981 | 21,689 | 11.4% | |
| 1941 | 19,472 | 6.1% | |
| 1931 | 18,353 | 6.8% | |
| 1921 | 19,612 | 2.8% | |
| 1911 | 20,167 | 0.8% | |
| 1901 | 20,322 | 1.7% | |
| 1891 | 19,987 | 0.03% | |
| 1881 | 19,981 | 17.3% | |
| 1871 | 17,037 | N/A |
Mother tongue language (2011)[6]
| Language | Population | Pct (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English only | 11,850 | 66.65% | |
| French only | 5,430 | 30.54% | |
| Non-official languages | 190 | 1.07% | |
| Multiple responses | 305 | 1.72% |
Ethnic groups (2006)[7]
| Ethnic Origin | Population | Pct (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian | 9,265 | 49.5% | |
| French | 6,795 | 36.3% | |
| English | 5,000 | 26.7% | |
| Scottish | 2,655 | 14.2% | |
| Irish | 2,295 | 12.3% | |
| Acadian | 2,150 | 11.5% | |
| German | 1,235 | 6.6% | |
| 1,035 | 5.5% | ||
| 830 | 4.4% | ||
| Dutch (Netherlands) | 635 | 3.4% |
See main article: List of communities in Digby County, Nova Scotia.
Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county boundary:[8]
The county's history is preserved at the Admiral Digby Museum as well as several community museums.