Inverness County, Nova Scotia

Established as the County of Juste au Corps in 1835, Inverness County was given its present name in 1837. It was named after Sir Cameron Inverness of Scotland, the land from which many of the early settlers came.[3] Agriculture and fishing dominated the economy with exports of butter and cattle to Newfoundland and Halifax for most of the nineteenth century.[4] The construction of the Inverness and Richmond Railway in 1901, and the subsequent opening of coal mines at Port Hood, Mabou, and Inverness, created the "only home market" local farmers had ever had.[5]

The boundaries of Inverness County had been previously defined when Cape Breton Island was divided by statute into three districts in 1823. In 1996, the county was amalgamated into a single municipality with the exception of Port Hawkesbury.

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Inverness County had a population of 17,346 living in 7,693 of its 9,737 total private dwellings, a change of 0.6% from its 2016 population of 17,235. With a land area of 3,817.61 km² (1,473.99 sq mi), it had a population density of 4.5/km² (11.8/sq mi) in 2021.[6]

Forming the majority of the Inverness County census division, the Municipality of the County of Inverness, including its Subdivisions A, B, and C, had a population of 13,239 living in 5,989 of its 7,914 total private dwellings, a change of 0.5% from its 2016 population of 13,170. With a land area of 3,795.34 km² (1,465.39 sq mi), it had a population density of 3.5/km² (9.0/sq mi) in 2021.[7]

Population trend[8][9] Census Population Change (%) 2021 17,346 0.6% 2016 17,235 4.0% 2011 17,947 5.7% 2006 19,036 4.5% 2001 19,937 4.7% 1996 20,918 3.2% 1991 21,620 1.5% 1986 21,946 1.8% 1981 22,337 N/A 1941 20,573 1931 21,055 1921 23,808 1911 25,571 1901 24,353 1891 25,779 1881 25,651 1871 23,415 N/A

Native language (2011)[1] Language Population Pct (%) English only 14,360 81.31% French only 2,315 13.11% Non-official languages 825 4.67% Multiple responses 165 0.93%

Ethnic groups (2006)[10] Ethnic Origin Population Pct (%) Scottish 9,365 49.9% Canadian 6,460 34.5% French 4,620 24.6% English 3,880 20.7% Irish 3,680 19.6% Acadian 1,180 6.3% North American Indian 910 4.9% German 580 3.1% Dutch (Netherlands) 555 3.0%

• Cabot Trail: scenic route which passes through the area
• Communities in Inverness County
• List of municipalities in Nova Scotia
• People from Inverness County