Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 23:13, 14 May 2025

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Lunenburg County is a historical county and census division 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 (1762), Hants (1781), Shelburne (1784), and Sydney (1784).

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 municipality of the District of Chester
the municipality of the District of Lunenburg
the town of Bridgewater
the town of Lunenburg
the town of Mahone Bay

The above municipalities comprise the entire territory of the county.<ref>Municipal Government Act</ref>

There are three Sipekneꞌkatik First Nation reserves in the county:

Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Lunenburg County had a population of Template:Nts living in Template:Nts of its Template:Nts total private dwellings, a change of Template:Percentage from its 2016 population of Template:Nts. With a land area of Template:Convert, it had a population density of Template:Pop density in 2021.<ref name=2021census>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Population trend<ref>Censuses 1871-1941</ref><ref>Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006 census</ref>

Census	Population	Change (%)
1871	23,834	N/A
1881	28,583	Template:Gain19.93%
1891	31,075	Template:Gain8.72%
1901	32,389	Template:Gain4.23%
1911	33,260	Template:Gain2.69%
1921	33,742	Template:Gain1.45%
1931	31,674	Template:Loss6.13%
1941	32,942	Template:Gain1.45%
1981	45,746	N/A
1986	46,483	Template:Gain2.5%
1991	47,634	Template:Gain4.1%
1996	47,561	Template:Loss0.2%
2001	47,591	Template:Gain0.1%
2006	47,150	Template:Loss0.9%
2011	47,313	Template:Gain0.3%
2016	47,126	Template:Loss0.4%
2021	48,599	Template:Gain3.1%

Template:Col-2 Mother tongue language (2011)<ref>Statistics Canada: 2011 census</ref>

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%

Template:Col-2 Ethnic Groups (2006)<ref name="SC2006-Ethnicity">2006 Statistics Canada Census Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada: Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia</ref>

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 (Netherlands)	3,105	6.7%
North American Indian	1,930	4.1%
Welsh	1,000	2.1%

Template:Col-2 Religious make-up (2001)<ref name="SC2001">[1] Religious make-up, for Lunenburg County, 2001 census - 100% data</ref>

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%

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Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county boundary:<ref>Atlantic Canada Back Road Atlas Template:ISBN Pages 78-80, 86-87</ref> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-4