Digby County, Nova Scotia

Digby County Comté de Digby (French)
County
Location of Digby County, Nova Scotia
Coordinates: 44.3°N 65.8°W / 44.3; -65.8
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
District municipalities	Clare / Digby
Towns	Digby
Established	1837
Divided into District Municipalities	April 17, 1879
Electoral Districts       Federal	West Nova
Provincial	Digby-Annapolis / Clare
Area
• Land	2,512.28 km2 (970.00 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	17,062
• Density	6.8/km2 (18/sq mi)
• Change 2011-16	1.5%
• Census Rankings  - District municipalities  Clare  Digby  - Towns  Digby  - Reserves  Bear River 6	8,813 (431 of 5,008) 7,986 (458 of 5,008) 2,092 (2,074 of 5,008) 101 (4,415 of 5,008)
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Area code	902
Dwellings	9927
Median income*	CA$38,284
Median household income, 2005 (all households)

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 (First Nations) 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 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Digby County had a population of 17,062 living in 8,117 of its 9,681 total private dwellings, a change of -1.5% from its 2016 population of 17,323. With a land area of 2,512.28 km² (970.00 sq mi), it had a population density of 6.8/km² (17.6/sq mi) in 2021.

Population trend

Census	Population	Change (%)
2021	17,062	1.5%
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 (2011)

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 (2006)

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 (Netherlands)	635	3.4%

Communities

Main article: List of communities in Digby County, Nova Scotia

Towns

• Digby

Villages

• Freeport
• Tiverton
• Westport
• Weymouth

Reserves

• Bear River 6

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
  • Hwy 101

• Trunk routes
  • Trunk 1

• Collector routes:
  • Route 217
  • Route 303
  • Route 340

• External routes:
  • None

Museums

The county's history is preserved at the Admiral Digby Museum as well as several community museums.

Notable people

• Elsie Charles Basque
• 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

See also

• List of communities in Nova Scotia