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
CensusPopulationChange
201617,3234.0%
201118,0365.0%
200618,9922.8%
200119,5484.6%
199620,5003.8%
199121,1953.1%
198621,8520.8%
198121,68911.4%
194119,4726.1%
193118,3536.8%
192119,6122.8%
191120,1670.8%
190120,3221.7%
189119,9870.03%
188119,98117.3%
187117,037N/A

Mother tongue language
LanguagePopulationPct
English only11,85066.65%
French only5,43030.54%
Non-official languages1901.07%
Multiple responses3051.72%

Ethnic Groups
Ethnic OriginPopulationPct
Canadian9,26549.5%
French6,79536.3%
English5,00026.7%
Scottish2,65514.2%
Irish2,29512.3%
Acadian2,15011.5%
German1,2356.6%
North American Indian1,0355.5%
Métis8304.4%
Dutch 6353.4%

Communities

;Towns
;Villages
;Reserves
;District municipalities
Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county boundary:
The county's history is preserved at the Admiral Digby Museum as well as several community museums.

Notable people