Halifax (Nova Scotia) - Geography.

Halifax (Nova Scotia) - Geography. I INTRODUCTION Halifax (Nova Scotia), city, capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Halifax is built around Halifax Harbour, the world's second largest natural harbor, which offers a protected, deepwater, ice-free anchorage for international shipping. Halifax Harbour is one of Canada's busiest ports. In 1996 Halifax merged with the former city of Dartmouth and other neighboring municipalities to form the Halifax Regional Municipality. This merger made it the largest urban center in Canada's Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Halifax is a regional center for trade, industry, government, and cultural activity. The city also has a strong military presence, largely as a result of being home port for Canada's east coast navy and coast guard. Halifax possesses a relatively mild but damp climate, with an average daily temperature range from 0° C (32° F) to -9° C (16° F) in January and from 23° C (74° F) to 13° C (56° F) in July. Typically it rains or snows 170 days of the year, and in spring the city is frequently blanketed in fog. II PEOPLE The Halifax Regional Municipality had a population of 359,111 at the 2001 census. The census metropolitan area (CMA) of Halifax was home to 369,100 people in 2001, up from 320,501 in 1991. The Halifax CMA is home to more than 1 in 3 of all Nova Scotians. About half of the Halifax CMA's residents live in the urban core; another one-third reside in the suburbs while the remainder are rural. The 5-year growth rate of the city's population was 4.7 percent from 1996 to 2001, with most of that increase taking place in the suburbs. There has been little foreign immigration; most residents of Halifax are Canadian-born and of British descent. A major exception is the city's small (under 3 percent) but historically significant black community; its roots go back to the early 19th century. III CITY LANDSCAPE The Halifax Regional Municipality covers a land area of 5,577 sq km (2,153 sq mi). The CMA covers a land area of 2,503 sq km (966 sq mi). Halifax began as a fortified village located on the eastern shore of a hilly peninsula, which juts into the surrounding harbor. That site, originally selected because it offered shelter against storms and enemy attack, today contains a modern high-rise city, along with many reminders of a lively past. Overlooking the downtown core is the Citadel, a mid-19th century fortification. The Citadel sits on a hill and is topped by towering flagpoles, which were once used to signal the approach of merchant and naval ships. Just below the Citadel's ramparts sits Halifax's most famous landmark, the Old Town Clock, built in 1803. Nearby are a series of historic buildings. These include St. Paul's, the oldest Protestant church in Canada; St. George's, the first round church in North America; Government House, the oldest executive residence in North America; and Province House, the longest-serving parliament building in Canada. Along the waterfront are a series of wooden and stone warehouses and shops put up during Halifax's 19th-century age of sail, when Halifax merchants owned many wooden sailing ships. Artifacts from this era are found in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, located on the waterfront. This museum also houses a modern warship, which chased submarines during World War II (1939-1945). A short distance away are other interesting sites, such as the Old Burying Ground, with gravestones from the 1750s; the Public Gardens, laid out in formal Victorian style; and Point Pleasant Park, which contains Canada's oldest martello tower, a circular fortification whose massive stone walls could defy bombardment. Leading cultural institutions in metropolitan Halifax include the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotian Symphony, Neptune Theatre, the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, the Dartmouth Heritage Museum, and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. Major institutions of higher education and research include the University of King's College (1789), Dalhousie University (1818), Saint Mary's University (1841), Mount Saint Vincent University (1925), and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (1962). Every year the city hosts a series of cultural events. Particularly well known are the Scotia Festival of Music, Shakespeare by the Sea, the Atlantic Jazz Festival, the Halifax International Busker Festival, and the Atlantic Winter Fair. IV ECONOMY Halifax's workforce is concentrated in public administration, commerce, and personal services. Despite recent cutbacks, the government remains the single largest employer. A large percentage of workers in Halifax are employed at the two military bases in the area, Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax and CFB Shearwater. Important industries are food processing, printing and publishing, petroleum refining, ship repair, motor-vehicle assembly, and tourism. In addition, electronic equipment, plastic goods, clothing, cordage, and furniture are manufactured in the area. From the 1960s to the 1980s, economic growth came primarily from investment in business parks located in the suburbs. Since then, plans for growth have been focused more and more on the port of Halifax and on making it capable of handling ever larger ocean-going container ships. To this end, administration of the port was put under the control of the newly created Halifax Port Corporation in 1984, which is responsible for all Halifax port facilities and is constantly enlarging and upgrading them. In addition to shipping, electronics technology and ocean-based research, including the continued exploitation of offshore gas and oil deposits begun in the early 1990s, are also gaining importance in the economy of the region. The Halifax area is served by nearby Halifax International Airport and is the Atlantic terminus of the Canadian National Railways. The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge and the A. Murray MacKay Bridge span Halifax Harbour and provide a link to Dartmouth. V GOVERNMENT When the Halifax Regional Municipality was established, a new Halifax Regional Council was created. This council is made up of a mayor and 23 councilors who are popularly elected to two-year terms. The city of Halifax is also the site of the provincial governing bodies for the province of Nova Scotia. VI HISTORY Called Chebucto ("at the great harbor") by the indigenous Mi'kmaq (Mi'kmaq) nation, this part of Nova Scotia's coast remained unoccupied by Europeans until 1749. In that year, British colonel Edward Cornwallis established a settlement and military base on the harbor and named it in honor of the earl of Halifax, a British official who had planned the enterprise. The base was created primarily to defend the area against potential attacks by the French, who had a fortress at Louisbourg on Isle Royale (now Cape Breton Island in eastern Nova Scotia). In 1752 the first newspaper in Canada was established in Halifax, and in 1758 Halifax became the site of the first elected legislature in what is now Canada. During the 19th century, the port emerged as a major center for trade. Halifax was incorporated as a city in 1841. During World War I (1914-1918) Halifax again became a military bastion. Huge convoys of ships assembled at the inner harbor (Bedford Basin) to prepare for sailing through the submarine-infested North Atlantic. On December 6, 1917, a munitions ship arriving to join a convoy collided with another vessel at the Narrows leading into the Basin. A massive explosion resulted, killing nearly 2000 people and devastating the whole north end of the city. In World War II Halifax played a vital role in the Allied effort. Many of the supplies and ordnance going to Europe from the Americas were shipped through its port facilities. For both its modern military presence and for its important role during both world wars, Halifax has earned the nickname "Warden of the North." Contributed By: David A. Sutherland Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.