List of counties of Nova Scotia

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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.

History

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.<ref name=RuralMuniGovt>Template:Cite web</ref> These courts of sessions met "in the counties to hear cases, make regulations, authorize assessments, and appoint local officers."<ref name=RuralMuniGovt/> 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 Template:Blockquote 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.<ref name=RuralMuniGovt/> Today, 9 of the original 12 remain incorporated as county municipalities, with 3 eventually becoming regional municipalities in 1995 and 1996,<ref name=2014MuniStats>Template:Cite web</ref> while Statistics Canada uses all 18 historical counties as census divisions for statistical purposes in the Canadian census.<ref name=2021StatCan>Template:Cite web</ref> County municipalities and district municipalities provide local government to the residents of the historical counties living outside of incorporated towns and regional municipalities.<ref name=RuralMuniGovt/><ref name=2014MuniStats/>

List

County<ref name=CountyBoundaries>Template:Cite web</ref>	County seat<ref name=Sourcebook>Template:Cite book</ref>	Established	Organization of county	Population (2021)<ref name=censusdivisions>Template:Cite web</ref>	Population (2016)<ref name=censusdivisions/>	Change <ref name=censusdivisions/>
Annapolis	Annapolis Royal	1759	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Antigonish	Antigonish	1785	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Cape Breton^a	Sydney	1765	Regional municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Colchester	Truro	1835	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Cumberland	Amherst	1759	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Digby	Digby	1837	District municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Guysborough	Guysborough	1836	District municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Halifax^b	Halifax	1759	Regional municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Hants	Windsor	1781	District municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Inverness	Port Hood	1835	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Kings	Kentville	1759	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Lunenburg	Lunenburg	1759	District municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Pictou	Pictou	1835	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Queens^c	Liverpool	1762	Regional municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Richmond	Arichat	1835	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Shelburne	Shelburne	1784	District municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Victoria	Baddeck	1851	County municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Yarmouth	Yarmouth	1836	District municipality	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density
Total counties	—	—	—	Template:Change	Template:Nts	Template:Pop density