| Official Name: | Inverness County |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nova Scotia |
| Subdivision Type2: | Towns |
| Subdivision Name2: | Port Hawkesbury |
| Seat Type: | Electoral Districts Federal |
| Seat: | Cape Breton—Canso / Sydney—Victoria |
| Parts Type: | Provincial |
| Parts: | Inverness |
| Government Type: | Municipality of the County of Inverness |
| Established Title: | Established as Juste au Corps |
| Established Date: | 1835 |
| Established Title2: | Renamed Inverness |
| Established Date2: | 1837 |
| Established Title3: | Incorporated |
| Established Date3: | 17 April, 1879 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Land Km2: | 3831.17 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 17,346 |
| Population Density Km2: | 4.5 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Change 2016-21 |
| Population Blank1: | 0.6% |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Census Rankings - Census divisions Subdivision A Subdivision B Subdivision C - Towns Port Hawkesbury - Reserves Whycocomagh 2 |
| Timezone: | AST |
| Utc Offset: | -4 |
| Timezone Dst: | ADT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -3 |
| Coordinates: | 46.2°N -61.1°W |
| Area Code: | 902 |
| Blank Name: | Dwellings |
| Blank Info: | 9,876 |
| Blank1 Name: | Median Income* |
| Blank1 Info: | $45,687 CDN |
| Footnotes: |
|
Inverness County is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada located on Cape Breton Island. Local government is provided by the Municipality of the County of Inverness, the town of Port Hawkesbury and the Whycocomagh 2 Waycobah First Nation reserve.
Established as the County of Juste au Corps in 1835, Inverness County was given its present name in 1837. It was named after Sir Cameron Inverness of Scotland, the land from which many of the early settlers came.[3] Agriculture and fishing dominated the economy with exports of butter and cattle to Newfoundland and Halifax for most of the nineteenth century.[4] The construction of the Inverness and Richmond Railway in 1901, and the subsequent opening of coal mines at Port Hood, Mabou, and Inverness, created the "only home market" local farmers had ever had.[5]
The boundaries of Inverness County had been previously defined when Cape Breton Island was divided by statute into three districts in 1823. In 1996, the county was amalgamated into a single municipality with the exception of Port Hawkesbury.
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Inverness 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 3817.61km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[6]
Forming the majority of the Inverness County census division, the Municipality of the County of Inverness, including its Subdivisions A, B, and C, had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 3795.34km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[7]
| Census | Population | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17,346 | 0.6% | |
| 2016 | 17,235 | 4.0% | |
| 2011 | 17,947 | 5.7% | |
| 2006 | 19,036 | 4.5% | |
| 2001 | 19,937 | 4.7% | |
| 1996 | 20,918 | 3.2% | |
| 1991 | 21,620 | 1.5% | |
| 1986 | 21,946 | 1.8% | |
| 1981 | 22,337 | N/A | |
| 1941 | 20,573 | ||
| 1931 | 21,055 | ||
| 1921 | 23,808 | ||
| 1911 | 25,571 | ||
| 1901 | 24,353 | ||
| 1891 | 25,779 | ||
| 1881 | 25,651 | ||
| 1871 | 23,415 | N/A |
Native language (2011)[1]
| Language | Population | Pct (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English only | 14,360 | 81.31% | |
| French only | 2,315 | 13.11% | |
| Non-official languages | 825 | 4.67% | |
| Multiple responses | 165 | 0.93% |
Ethnic groups (2006)[10]
| Ethnic Origin | Population | Pct (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scottish | 9,365 | 49.9% | |
| Canadian | 6,460 | 34.5% | |
| French | 4,620 | 24.6% | |
| English | 3,880 | 20.7% | |
| Irish | 3,680 | 19.6% | |
| Acadian | 1,180 | 6.3% | |
| 910 | 4.9% | ||
| German | 580 | 3.1% | |
| Dutch (Netherlands) | 555 | 3.0% |
scenic route which passes through the area