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Home , Antigonish County

People and Place

Service groups the province’s 55 into three categories: regional municipalities (Halifax Regional (HRM), Cape Breton (CBRM), and the Regional Municipality of Queens County (RMQC)); (such as Amherst, , Lunenburg, or Truro) and rural municipalities (such as the District of Clare, the District of Digby, or Victoria County). These municipalities range from the very large – HRM with a population of 372,679 and an area of 5490 square kilometres – to the very small ( with only 444 people over two square kilometres).

Nova Scotia municipalities are similarly diverse in other measures such as population density. New Glasgow is at the top of the list in population density with 952.6 people per square kilometre while St. Mary’s has only 1.4 people per square kilometre.

Unlike in New Brunswick, data are not readily available in Nova Scotia on the length (kilometres) of municipal streets and roads. In response to our request for such information, Service Nova Scotia replied that it can only release these data upon receipt of permission from the municipalities. To date, we have received no data.

Turning to the population age breakdowns, most municipalities are packed fairly close to the average in terms of their population proportions composed of younger, working age, and older people.

Annapolis Royal, Mahone Bay, and the of Lunenburg stand out for having relatively low proportions of younger people and relatively high proportions of older people. Annapolis Royal, for example, has both the lowest proportion (8%) of population below 15 years of age among all 55 municipalities and the highest proportion (37%) of people 65 years of age and older.

In contrast, , East Hants, , and Westville all share relatively high proportions of young people and relatively low proportions of older people. East Hants forms the mirror image of Annapolis Royal with the province’s highest proportion of young people (19%) and its lowest proportion (11%) of those over 65.

HRM has the highest proportion (72%) of working age population in the province, while Annapolis Royal has the lowest (52%).

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Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Municipal Rank (Out of (Out of Population (Out of % of (Out of % of (Out of % of (Out of Roads (Out of 55 - Area (Square 55 - Density (Persons 55 - Population 55 - Population 55 - Population 55 - (Kilometres), 55 - Population, High-To- Kilometres), High-To- per Square High-To- Aged 0-14 High-To- Aged 15-64 High-To- Aged 65+ High-To- Average 2004-High-To- Municipalities 2006 Low) 2006 Low) Kilometre), 2006 Low) Years, 2006 Low) Years, 2006 Low) Years, 2006 Low) 2006 Low) Amherst 9,505 18 12.0 32 790.7 3 16% 20 64% 42 20% 20 Annapolis Royal 444 55 2.0 55 217.7 25 8% 55 52% 55 37% 1 Annapolis 18,141 8 3,170.6 5 5.7 46 15% 29 66% 30 19% 29 Antigonish (county) 14,239 11 1,450.0 18 9.8 42 19% 2 70% 2 12% 54 Antigonish (town) 4,236 31 5.2 47 823.3 2 13% 48 65% 36 22% 14 Argyle 8,656 21 1,527.1 17 5.7 47 16% 22 68% 13 16% 41 Barrington 7,331 24 631.9 23 11.6 38 18% 7 68% 12 15% 47 Berwick 2,454 40 6.8 42 360.8 15 17% 14 57% 53 26% 6 Bridgetown 972 49 3.5 49 274.3 23 14% 43 60% 48 26% 7 Bridgewater 7,944 23 13.6 31 584.0 7 14% 38 65% 33 20% 16 Canso 911 50 5.4 46 168.1 27 14% 44 68% 10 20% 24 Cape Breton Regional Municipality 102,250 2 2,433.3 8 42.0 33 15% 30 67% 23 18% 33 Chester 10,741 15 1,120.8 21 9.6 43 14% 41 67% 17 19% 28 Clare 8,813 20 852.8 22 10.3 40 13% 46 67% 26 20% 21 Clark's Harbour 860 53 2.9 52 296.5 20 14% 42 67% 15 19% 31 Colchester 36,134 4 3,568.8 4 10.1 41 18% 8 65% 39 15% 48 Cumberland 16,021 9 4,222.3 2 3.8 51 14% 36 66% 32 20% 19 Digby (district) 7,986 22 1,655.9 16 4.8 48 16% 23 67% 25 17% 38 Digby (town) 2,092 42 3.1 50 667.0 5 14% 37 62% 46 24% 10 East Hants 21,387 7 1,787.6 14 12.0 37 19% 1 70% 3 11% 55 Guysborough 4,681 30 2,111.4 10 2.2 54 12% 51 65% 37 23% 12 Halifax Regional Municipality 372,679 1 5,490.2 1 67.9 31 16% 21 72% 1 12% 53 1,191 47 2.1 54 559.7 9 16% 19 63% 44 21% 15 Inverness 14,896 10 3,814.9 3 3.9 50 15% 32 67% 27 19% 30 Kentville 5,815 27 17.4 28 335.1 18 16% 18 66% 31 18% 37 Kings 47,814 3 2,089.4 11 22.9 34 18% 5 68% 11 14% 50 646 54 2.3 53 278.4 22 12% 49 59% 50 28% 4 Lunenburg (district) 25,164 5 1,759.1 15 14.3 36 14% 39 69% 6 17% 39 Lunenburg (town) 2,317 41 4.0 48 577.9 8 12% 50 58% 51 29% 3

2 Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank Municipal Rank (Out of (Out of Population (Out of % of (Out of % of (Out of % of (Out of Roads (Out of 55 - Area (Square 55 - Density (Persons 55 - Population 55 - Population 55 - Population 55 - (Kilometres), 55 - Population, High-To- Kilometres), High-To- per Square High-To- Aged 0-14 High-To- Aged 15-64 High-To- Aged 65+ High-To- Average 2004-High-To- Municipalities 2006 Low) 2006 Low) Kilometre), 2006 Low) Years, 2006 Low) Years, 2006 Low) Years, 2006 Low) 2006 Low) Mahone Bay 904 51 3.1 51 288.9 21 9% 54 57% 54 33% 2 Middleton 1,829 44 5.4 45 336.3 17 14% 34 60% 47 25% 8 Mulgrave 879 52 17.8 26 49.4 32 18% 3 67% 18 15% 45 New Glasgow 9,455 19 9.9 36 952.6 1 15% 27 65% 38 19% 26 Oxford 1,178 48 10.8 34 109.5 28 17% 15 67% 24 18% 34 1,401 46 14.9 29 94.1 29 16% 25 59% 49 25% 9 (county) 21,553 6 2,796.8 7 7.7 45 15% 33 69% 4 16% 43 Pictou (town) 3,813 33 7.9 41 480.2 11 17% 16 64% 41 20% 22 Port Hawkesbury 3,517 37 8.1 40 433.4 13 18% 4 68% 9 14% 52 Regional Municipality of Queens County 11,177 14 2,386.6 9 4.7 49 14% 40 66% 29 20% 25 Richmond 9,740 17 1,238.6 19 7.8 44 13% 45 62% 45 20% 23 Shelburne (district) 4,828 28 1,818.5 13 2.7 52 15% 31 67% 19 18% 35 Shelburne (town) 1,879 43 9.0 38 208.7 26 15% 26 67% 28 18% 36 Springhill 3,941 32 11.2 33 353.4 16 16% 24 65% 34 19% 27 St. Mary's 2,587 39 1,909.6 12 1.4 55 12% 52 65% 35 23% 11 4,717 29 9.0 39 524.6 10 17% 10 67% 20 16% 44 1,421 45 17.7 27 80.4 30 17% 12 67% 22 17% 40 Trenton 2,741 38 6.0 44 456.5 12 17% 9 67% 21 16% 42 Truro 11,765 13 37.6 25 312.7 19 13% 47 64% 40 22% 13 Victoria 7,186 25 2,867.1 6 2.5 53 14% 35 67% 16 19% 32 West Hants 13,881 12 1,238.1 20 11.2 39 17% 11 69% 5 14% 49 Westville 3,805 34 14.4 30 264.4 24 18% 6 68% 8 14% 51 Windsor 3,709 36 9.1 37 409.4 14 15% 28 58% 52 26% 5 3,772 35 6.5 43 584.7 6 12% 53 68% 14 20% 18 Yarmouth (district) 10,304 16 585.3 24 17.6 35 17% 13 68% 7 15% 46 Yarmouth (town) 7,162 26 10.6 35 678.3 4 16% 17 64% 43 20% 17 Average 16,463 960.3 233.5 15% 65% 20% Minimum 444 2 1.4 8% 52% 11% Maximum 372,679 5,490.2 952.6 19% 72% 37%

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