Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia (Latin for "New Scotland", pronounced in English as /ˌnoʊvə ˈskoʊʃə/) (French: Nouvelle-Écosse; Scottish Gaelic: Alba Nuadh; Scots: New Alba) is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces, and one of the four provinces which form Atlantic Canada. Its provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada, with an area of 55,284 square kilometres (21,300 sq mi), including Cape Breton and another 3,800 coastal islands. As of 2011, the population was 921,727, making Nova Scotia the second-most-densely populated province in Canada.

Etymology

Nova Scotia means New Scotland in Latin and is the recognized English language name for the province. In Scottish Gaelic, the province is called Alba Nuadh, which also simply means New Scotland. The province was first named in the 1621 Royal Charter granting the right to settle lands including modern Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and the Gaspé Peninsula to Sir William Alexander in 1632.

Nova

A nova (plural novae or novas) is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion on a white dwarf, which causes a sudden brightening of the star. Novae are not to be confused with other brightening phenomena such as supernovae or luminous red novae. Novae are thought to occur on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system when they are sufficiently near to one another, allowing material (mostly hydrogen) to be pulled from the companion star's surface onto the white dwarf. The nova is the result of the rapid fusion of the accreted hydrogen on the surface of the star, commencing a runaway fusion reaction.

Development

The development begins with two main sequence stars in a binary relation. One of the two evolves into a red giant leaving its remnant white dwarf core in orbit with the remaining star. The second star—which may be either a main sequence star, or an aging giant one as well—begins to shed its envelope onto its white dwarf companion when it overflows its Roche lobe. As a result, the white dwarf will steadily accrete matter from the companion's outer atmosphere; the white dwarf consists of degenerate matter, so the accreted hydrogen does not inflate as its temperature increases. Rapid, uncontrolled fusion occurs when the temperature of this accreted layer reaches ~20 million kelvin, initiating a burn via the CNO cycle.

Scotia

Scotia was originally a Roman name for Ireland, inhabited by the people they called Scoti or Scotii. Use of the name shifted in the Middle Ages to designate the part of the island of Great Britain lying north of the Firth of Forth, the Kingdom of Alba. By the later Middle Ages it had become the fixed Latin term for what in English is called Scotland.

Etymology and derivations

The name of Scotland is derived from the Latin Scoti, the term applied to Gaels. The origin of the word Scoti (or Scotti) is uncertain. It is found in Latin texts from the 4th century describing a tribe which sailed from Ireland to raid Roman Britain. It came to be applied to all the Gaels. It is not believed that any Gaelic groups called themselves Scoti in ancient times, except when writing in Latin.Old Irish documents use the term Scot (plural Scuit) going back as far as the 9th century, for example in the glossary of Cormac úa Cuilennáin.

Oman derives it from Scuit; a man cut off, suggesting that a Scuit was not a Gael as such but one of a renegade band settled in the part of Ulster which became the kingdom of Dál Riata.

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island (French: île du Cap-Breton—formerly Île Royale, Scottish Gaelic: Ceap Breatainn or Eilean Cheap Bhreatainn, Míkmaq: Únamakika, simply: Cape Breton) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. The name probably derives from Cap Breton near Bayonne, or to the name Breton, the Anglicized version of the French historical region, Bretagne.

Cape Breton Island is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The 10,311 km² (3,981 sq mi) island accounts for 18.7% of the total area of Nova Scotia. Although physically separated from the Nova Scotia peninsula by the Strait of Canso, it is artificially connected to mainland Nova Scotia by the 1,385 m (4,544 ft) long rock-fill Canso Causeway. The island is located east-northeast of the mainland with its northern and western coasts fronting on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence; its western coast also forming the eastern limits of the Northumberland Strait. The eastern and southern coasts front the Atlantic Ocean; its eastern coast also forming the western limits of the Cabot Strait. Its landmass slopes upward from south to north, culminating in the highlands of its northern cape. One of the world's larger salt water lakes, Bras d'Or ("Arm of Gold" in French), dominates the centre of the island.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Halifax (/ˈhælᵻfæks/), legally the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The metropolitan area had a population of 414,400 in 2014 with 297,943 in the urban area centred on Halifax Harbour. The regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996; Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and the Municipality of Halifax County.

Halifax is considered a global city and is a major economic centre in eastern Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defence, Dalhousie University, the Halifax Shipyard, various levels of government, and the Port of Halifax. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of the municipality. Halifax was ranked by MoneySense magazine as the fourth best place to live in Canada for 2012, placed first on a list of "large cities by quality of life" and placed second in a list of "large cities of the future", both conducted by fDi Magazine for North and South American cities. Additionally, Halifax has consistently placed in the top 10 for business friendliness of North and South American cities, as conducted by fDi Magazine.