| Counties of Nova Scotia | |
| Map: | File:Canada Nova Scotia location map 2.svg |
| Image Caption: | Nova Scotia's 18 historical counties |
| Territory: | Province of Nova Scotia |
| Current Number: | 18 |
| Population Range: | 7,373 (Guysborough) – 440,072 (Halifax) |
| Area Range: | 1,244.24 km² (Richmond) – 5,495.71 km² (Halifax) |
| Government: | County government (defunct in 9 counties)[1] |
| Subdivision: | Municipalities |
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia has a historical system of 18 counties that originally had appointed court systems for local administration before the establishment of elected local governments in 1879. The historical counties continue as census divisions used by Statistics Canada in administering the Canadian census.
Before the establishment of rural municipalities in the form of county municipalities and district municipalities in 1879, local government in the historical counties was administered by appointed courts of sessions including justices appointed by the Crown with support from local proprietors selected to grand juries.[2] These courts of sessions met "in the counties to hear cases, make regulations, authorize assessments, and appoint local officers."[2] On April 17, 1879, the original non-elected courts of sessions were abolished in favour of elected councils when The County Incorporation Act came into force, which stated As a result, 12 county municipalities were established, while the remaining 6 counties, which were previously divided into districts for court sessional purposes, were established as district municipalities.[2] Today, 9 of the original 12 remain incorporated as county municipalities, with 3 eventually becoming regional municipalities in 1995 and 1996,[3] while Statistics Canada uses all 18 historical counties as census divisions for statistical purposes in the Canadian census.[4] County municipalities and district municipalities provide local government to the residents of the historical counties living outside of incorporated towns and regional municipalities.[2] [3]
| County[5] | County seat[6] | Established | Organization of county | Population (2021) | Population (2016) | Change | Land area | Population density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sq mi | /sq mi | |||||||
| 1759 | 3183.23disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN21252 | ||||||
| 1785 | 1456.42disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN20129 | ||||||
| Cape Bretona | 1765 | 2457.21disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN98318 | |||||
| 1835 | 3627.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN51476 | ||||||
| 1759 | 4275.77disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN30538 | ||||||
| 1837 | 2512.28disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN17062 | ||||||
| 1836 | 4037.16disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN7373 | ||||||
| Halifaxb | 1759 | 5477.53disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN440072 | |||||
| 1781 | 3049.18disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN45140 | ||||||
| 1835 | 3817.61disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN17346 | ||||||
| 1759 | 2120.31disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN62914 | ||||||
| 1759 | 2906.47disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN48599 | ||||||
| 1835 | 2844.1disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN43657 | ||||||
| Queensc | 1762 | 2393.44disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN10501 | |||||
| 1835 | 1246.08disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN8914 | ||||||
| 1784 | 2462.58disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN13704 | ||||||
| 1851 | 2836.19disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN7441 | ||||||
| 1836 | 2121.64disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN24947 | ||||||
| Total counties | - | - | - | 52824.71disp=tableNaNdisp=table | NaN969383 | |||