| Official Name: | Guysborough County |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Mapsize: | 275px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nova Scotia |
| Subdivision Name2: | Guysborough / St. Mary's |
| Subdivision Type3: | Towns |
| Subdivision Name3: | Mulgrave |
| Seat Type: | Electoral Districts Federal |
| Seat: | Central Nova / Cape Breton—Canso |
| Parts Type: | Provincial |
| Parts: | Guysborough–Eastern Shore–Tracadie |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 1836 |
| Extinct Title: | Divided into District Municipalities |
| Extinct Date: | April 17, 1879 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Land Km2: | 4037.16 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Note: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 7,373 |
| Population Density Km2: | 1.8 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Change 2016-21 |
| Population Blank1: | 3.3% |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Census Rankings - District municipalities Guysborough St. Mary's - Town Mulgrave |
| Population Blank2: | 4,681 (721 of 5,008) 2,587 (1,110 of 5,008) 879 (2,234 of 5,008) |
| Timezone: | AST |
| Utc Offset: | -4 |
| Timezone Dst: | ADT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -3 |
| Coordinates: | 45.3°N -61.8°W |
| Area Code: | 902 |
| Blank Name: | Dwellings |
| Blank Info: | 5,377 |
| Blank1 Name: | Median Income* |
| Blank1 Info: | $34,894 |
| Footnotes: |
|
Guysborough County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Taking its name from the Township of Guysborough, which was named in honour of Sir Guy Carleton, Guysborough County was created when Sydney County (Antigonish County) was divided in 1836.
Guysborough County has had a large Black population since 1784.[3] The Black Nova Scotian community in Guysborough is unique in that they descend almost entirely from Black Loyalists. In 1872, there were 918 residents of African ancestry in Guysborough.[4]
In 1840, Guysborough County was subdivided into two districts for court sessisonal purposes – Guysborough and St. Mary's. In 1863, the boundary between Halifax County and Guysborough County was altered and a polling district was added to Guysborough County. In 1879, the two districts were incorporated as district municipalities.
The last racially segregated school in Canada closed in 1983 in Guysborough County.[5]
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Guysborough 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 4037.16km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[6]
| Census | Population | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7,373 | 3.3% | |
| 2016 | 7,625 | 6.4% | |
| 2011 | 8,143 | 10.1% | |
| 2006 | 9,058 | 7.8% | |
| 2001 | 9,827 | 10.0% | |
| 1996 | 10,917 | 6.9% | |
| 1991 | 11,724 | 8.5% | |
| 1986 | 12,721 | 0.2% | |
| 1981 | 12,752 | N/A | |
| 1941 | 15,461 | ||
| 1931 | 15,443 | ||
| 1921 | 15,518 | ||
| 1911 | 17,048 | ||
| 1901 | 18,320 | ||
| 1891 | 17,195 | ||
| 1881 | 17,808 | ||
| 1871 | 16,555 | N/A |
Mother tongue language (2011)[9]
| Language | Population | Pct (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English only | 7,755 | 96.52% | |
| French only | 160 | 1.99% | |
| Non-official languages | 100 | 1.24% | |
| Multiple responses | 25 | 0.31% |
Ethnic Groups (2006)[10]
| Ethnic Origin | Population | Pct (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian | 4,520 | 50.5% | |
| Scottish | 2,760 | 30.8% | |
| English | 2,620 | 29.3% | |
| Irish | 2,240 | 25.0% | |
| French | 1,795 | 20.1% | |
| German | 1,050 | 11.7% | |
| Dutch (Netherlands) | 270 | 3.0% |
See main article: List of communities in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia.
Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:[11]