Digby County, Nova Scotia
Digby County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.History
It was named after the Township of Digby; this was named in honour of Rear Admiral Robert Digby, who dispatched HMS Atalanta to convey Loyalists from New York City in the spring of 1783 to Conway, which became known as Digby, as part of their evacuation and resettlement following the American Revolutionary War. The Crown resettled thousands of Loyalists in Nova Scotia and other areas of Canada. Digby County was established in 1837. Previously, from August 17, 1759, when Nova Scotia was first divided into counties, this area had been part of Annapolis County.
In 1861, Digby County was divided into two sessional districts: Digby and Clare. These were eventually incorporated as district municipalities in 1879.
In addition to these two district municipalities, the county contains the Town of Digby and part of the Bear River Indian reserve. Also, there is Digby Neck leading into the Bay of Fundy to Long Island and Brier Island.Demographics
As a census division in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Digby County recorded a population of 17,323 living in 8,043 of its 9,927 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 18,036. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2016.
Population trend
| Census | Population | Change |
| 2016 | 17,323 | 4.0% |
| 2011 | 18,036 | 5.0% |
| 2006 | 18,992 | 2.8% |
| 2001 | 19,548 | 4.6% |
| 1996 | 20,500 | 3.8% |
| 1991 | 21,195 | 3.1% |
| 1986 | 21,852 | 0.8% |
| 1981 | 21,689 | 11.4% |
| 1941 | 19,472 | 6.1% |
| 1931 | 18,353 | 6.8% |
| 1921 | 19,612 | 2.8% |
| 1911 | 20,167 | 0.8% |
| 1901 | 20,322 | 1.7% |
| 1891 | 19,987 | 0.03% |
| 1881 | 19,981 | 17.3% |
| 1871 | 17,037 | N/A |
Mother tongue language
| Language | Population | Pct |
| English only | 11,850 | 66.65% |
| French only | 5,430 | 30.54% |
| Non-official languages | 190 | 1.07% |
| Multiple responses | 305 | 1.72% |
Ethnic Groups
| Ethnic Origin | Population | Pct |
| Canadian | 9,265 | 49.5% |
| French | 6,795 | 36.3% |
| English | 5,000 | 26.7% |
| Scottish | 2,655 | 14.2% |
| Irish | 2,295 | 12.3% |
| Acadian | 2,150 | 11.5% |
| German | 1,235 | 6.6% |
| North American Indian | 1,035 | 5.5% |
| Métis | 830 | 4.4% |
| Dutch | 635 | 3.4% |
Communities
;Towns
;Villages
- Freeport
- Tiverton
- Westport
- Weymouth
;Reserves
;District municipalities
- Municipality of the District of Clare
- Municipality of the District of Digby
Access routes
Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county boundary:
- Highways
- *
- Trunk Routes
- *
- Collector Routes:
- *
- *
- *
- External Routes:
- *None
Museums
The county's history is preserved at the Admiral Digby Museum as well as several community museums.Notable people
- Coline Campbell
- Joseph Willie Comeau
- Phil Comeau
- Alfred Gilpin Jones
- Herbert Ladd Jones
- William M. Jones
- Sam Langford
- John Elkanah Morton
- George Nowlan
- Henri M. Robicheau
- Adam Smith
- Pop Smith
- Robert Thibault
- Martin Welch
- Maud Lewis
