Halifax County, Nova Scotia


Halifax County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The Municipality of the County of Halifax was the municipal government of Halifax County, apart from the separately incorporated towns and cities therein. The Municipality was dissolved in 1996, together with those town and city governments, in their amalgamation into Halifax Regional Municipality.

History

Deriving its name from George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax Halifax County was established by Order-in-Council on August 17, 1759. The boundaries of four other counties - Annapolis, Kings, Cumberland and Lunenburg - were specifically defined at that time, with Halifax County comprising all the part of peninsular Nova Scotia that was not within their limits.
Following the Seven Years' War, Cape Breton Island was formally annexed to Nova Scotia. For a time it formed part of Halifax County.
The boundaries of Halifax County were modified in 1822. That part of St. Mary's Township which had been in Halifax County was annexed to and included within Sydney County.
The dividing line between the Districts of Halifax and Colchester was confirmed and established on May 3, 1828. In 1835, Halifax County was divided and the Counties of Colchester and Pictou County were created out of parts of what had previously been Halifax County. Eventually in 1880 the boundary between the Counties of Halifax and Colchester was fixed.
The boundaries of the county are also the boundaries of the Halifax Regional Municipality, plus the Native Indian Reserves of Cole Harbour, Sheet Harbour and Shubenacadie, parts of the Millbrook and Shubenacadie First Nations.
Halifax County continues to exist as a county in Nova Scotia, however all municipal government and service delivery is provided by either the Regional Municipality or the Indigenous Canadian Reserves, with no additional county level government or administration.

Communities

;Regional municipalities
;Reserves
As a census division in the 1996 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Halifax County recorded a population of 342,966 living on 5,557.29 km2 of land. On April 1, 1996, Halifax County was dissolved and the Halifax Regional Municipality was created. The new municipality shaved some land-area. As of the 2016 census, Municipal Halifax has a population of 403,131 over 5,496.35 km2 of land.