Victoria County, Nova Scotia

Victoria County
County
Location of Victoria County, Nova Scotia
Coordinates: 46°24′N 60°36′W / 46.4°N 60.6°W / 46.4; -60.6Coordinates: 46°24′N 60°36′W / 46.4°N 60.6°W / 46.4; -60.6
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
Founded	1851
Incorporated	April 17, 1879
Electoral Districts       Federal	Sydney—Victoria
Provincial	Victoria-The Lakes
Government
• Type	Victoria County Municipal Council
• Warden	Bruce J. Morrison
Area[1]
• Land	2,870.85 km2 (1,108.44 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1][2]
• Total	7,115
• Density	2.5/km2 (6/sq mi)
• Change 2006-11	6.3%
• Census Rankings  - Census divisions  Subdivision A  Subdivision B  - Reserves  Wagmatcook 1	3,046 (979 of 5,008) 4,140 (784 of 5,008) 408 (3,294 of 5,008)
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
• Summer (DST)	ADT (UTC-3)
Area code(s)	902
Dwellings	4,373
Median Income*	$44,134 CDN
Unemployment rate	26.3%
Website	www.victoriacounty.com
Median household income, 2005 (all households)

Victoria County is a county in Nova Scotia, Canada. The shire town and largest municipality is the village of Baddeck.

History

Named after Queen Victoria, it was established by statute in 1851. Cape Breton County was divided into two counties in that year, with Victoria County being subdivided at that time.

Geography

There are several distinctive geographic regions in Victoria county: north of Smokey Mountain, south of Smokey Mountain, St. Ann's Bay, Boularderie Island, Baddeck, Middle River and the Washabuck Peninsula. The county is 2,768 square kilometers in size, 80% of which is covered by forest and the remainder largely by water.

Demographics

Population trend[3][4] Census Population Change (%) 2011 7,115 6.3% 2006 7,594 4.6% 2001 7,962 6.1% 1996 8,482 2.6% 1991 8,708 0.0% 1986 8,704 1.0% 1981 8,432 N/A 1941 8,028 1931 7,926 1921 8,904 1911 9,910 1901 10,571 1891 12,432 1881 12,470 1871 11,346 N/A

Mother tongue language (2011)[5] Language Population Pct (%) English only 6,460 91.11% French only 55 0.78% Non-official languages 550 7.76% Multiple responses 25 0.35%

Ethnic Groups (2006)[6] Ethnic Origin Population Pct (%) Scottish 3,955 52.7% Canadian 2,280 30.4% English 1,690 22.5% Irish 1,545 20.6% French 890 11.9% North American Indian 615 8.2% German 410 5.5% Dutch (Netherlands) 305 4.%

The county's population has slowly declined over the last ten years and has also aged, with all age groups under the age of 65 experiencing net out-migration. Half of the county's labour force does not have a high school diploma, and only 5% have college educations.

Communities

Villages

• Baddeck

Native reserves

• Wagmatcook 1

Census Subdivisions

• • Victoria, Subd. A
  • Victoria, Subd. B

For a list of communities in Victoria County, see List of communities.

Economy

71% of the workforce is employed in the services sector. An additional 18% are employed in the primary resources industry, a category that includes both forestry and fishing. Just 11% are employed in manufacturing, less than half of the levels seen in the 1960s.

Government and politics

The county is administered by a county government which is incorporated as the Municipality of the County of Victoria. The county is governed by eight councillors and a warden who oversee the work of a Chief Administrative Officer.

The federal Electoral Riding is Sydney—Victoria.

Features

Victoria County contains the eastern half of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, as well as the Cabot Trail, whereas Inverness County contains the western half of these features. The county also contains St. Paul Island, known as the "Graveyard of the Gulf of St. Lawrence" for its many shipwrecks during the age of sail.

Access Routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:^[7]

See also

• List of municipalities in Nova Scotia
• Black Lake listings within Nova Scotia.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victoria County, Nova Scotia.

• Municipality of Victoria County website
• Visit Victoria County Official Tourism website
• Central Cape Breton
• Visit Baddeck
• North Shore Community Portal
• Cape Breton Highlands
• Hike the Highlands Festival,
• Photographs of historic monuments in Victoria County
• Victoria County CAP Site Association

		Gulf of Saint Lawrence
	Inverness County		Gulf of Saint Lawrence
		Victoria County
	Bras d'Or Lake	Cape Breton Regional Municipality

Subdivisions of Nova Scotia
Counties	Annapolis Antigonish Cape Breton Colchester Cumberland Digby Guysborough Halifax Hants Inverness Kings Lunenburg Pictou Queens Richmond Shelburne Victoria Yarmouth
Economic Regions	Annapolis Valley Cape Breton Island Halifax Regional Municipality North Shore Southern Nova Scotia
Regional municipalities	Cape Breton Halifax Queens
Municipal districts	Argyle Barrington Chester Clare Digby East Hants Guysborough Lunenburg Shelburne St. Mary's West Hants Yarmouth
Towns	Amherst Annapolis Royal Antigonish Berwick Bridgewater Clark's Harbour Digby Hantsport Kentville Lockeport Lunenburg Mahone Bay Middleton Mulgrave New Glasgow Oxford Parrsboro Pictou Port Hawkesbury Shelburne Stellarton Stewiacke Trenton Truro Westville Windsor Wolfville Yarmouth
Incorporated villages	Aylesford Baddeck Bible Hill Canning Chester Cornwallis Square Dover Freeport Greenwood Havre Boucher Hebbville Kingston Lawrencetown New Minas Port Williams Pugwash River Hebert St. Peter's Tatamagouche Tiverton Westport Weymouth
Lists	List of communities in Nova Scotia List of people from Nova Scotia
Category:Nova Scotia Portal:Nova Scotia WikiProject:Nova Scotia