Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia
Lunenburg County is a county located on the South Shore of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Major settlements include Bridgewater, Lunenburg, and Mahone Bay.History
Named in honour of the British king who was also the duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, it was established in 1759, when the Nova Scotia peninsula was divided into five counties. The county became smaller when new counties were created from its boundaries: Queens, Hants, Shelburne, and Sydney.
By Chapter 52 of the Statutes of 1863, Lunenburg County was divided into two districts for court sessional purposes – Chester and Lunenburg. That statute provided authority for the appointment of a Custos Rotulorum and for the establishment of a general sessions of the peace for the District of Chester, with the same powers as if it were a separate county. In 1879, the two districts were incorporated as district municipalities.Governance
Today the county has no legal status, although its borders are coincident with the five municipalities contained within it:
The above municipalities comprise the entire territory of the county, apart from three Sipekneꞌkatik First Nation reserves:
- Gold River 21
- New Ross 20
- Pennal 19
Demographics
As a census division in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Lunenburg County recorded a population of 47,126 living in 21,439 of its 26,648 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 47,313. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2016.
Population trend
| Census | Population | Change |
| 2016 | 47,126 | 0.4% |
| 2011 | 47,313 | 0.3% |
| 2006 | 47,150 | 0.9% |
| 2001 | 47,591 | 0.1% |
| 1996 | 47,561 | 0.2% |
| 1991 | 47,634 | 4.1% |
| 1986 | 46,483 | 2.5% |
| 1981 | 45,746 | N/A |
| 1941 | 32,942 | |
| 1931 | 31,674 | |
| 1921 | 33,742 | |
| 1911 | 33,260 | |
| 1901 | 32,389 | |
| 1891 | 31,075 | |
| 1881 | 28,583 | |
| 1871 | 23,834 | N/A |
Mother tongue language
| Language | Population | Pct |
| English only | 45,305 | 96.83% |
| French only | 525 | 1.12% |
| Non-official languages | 805 | 1.72% |
| Multiple responses | 150 | 0.32% |
Ethnic Groups
| Ethnic Origin | Population | Pct |
| Canadian | 19,265 | 41.3% |
| German | 16,290 | 34.9% |
| English | 13,405 | 28.8% |
| Scottish | 8,655 | 18.6% |
| French | 6,360 | 13.6% |
| Irish | 6,155 | 13.2% |
| Dutch | 3,105 | 6.7% |
| North American Indian | 1,930 | 4.1% |
| Welsh | 1,000 | 2.1% |
Religious make-up
| Religion | Population | Pct |
| Protestant | 34,220 | 72.80% |
| No religious affiliation | 6,810 | 14.49% |
| Catholic | 5,230 | 11.13% |
| Christian n.i.e. | 535 | 1.14% |
| Muslim | 80 | 0.17% |
| Jewish | 70 | 0.15% |
| Christian Orthodox | 20 | 0.04% |
| Hindu | 20 | 0.04% |
| Buddhist | 15 | 0.03% |
| Other religions | 10 | 0.02% |
Access routes
Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county boundary:
- Highways
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- Trunk Routes
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- Collector Routes:
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- External Routes:
- *None
