VICTORIA COUNTY, NOVA SCOTIA

'Victoria County' is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Named after Queen Victoria, it was established by statute in 1851. Cape Breton County was divided into two counties in that year, with Victoria County being subdivided at that time. The shire town and largest municipality is the village of Baddeck.

Contents

Regions

Demographics

Economy

Government and politics

Features

External links

Regions

There are several distinctive geographic regions in Victoria county: north of Smokey Mountain, south of Smokey Mountain, St. Ann's Bay, Boularderie Island, Baddeck, Middle River and the Washabuck Peninsula. The county is 2,768 square kilometers in size, 80% of which is covered by forest and the remainder largely by water.

Demographics

The county's population was 7,962 in 2001. It has slowly declined over the last ten years and has also aged, with all age groups under the age of 65 experiencing net out-migration. Half of the county's labor force does not have a high school diploma, and only 5% have college educations. The federal Electoral Riding is Sydney—Victoria.

Economy

71% of the workforce is employed in the services sector. An additional 18% are employed in the primary resources industry, a category that includes both forestry and fishing. Just 11% are employed in manufacturing, less than half of the levels seen in the 1960s.

Government and politics

The county is administered by a county government which is incorporated as the Municipality of the County of Victoria. The county is governed by eight councillors and a warden who oversee the work of a Chief Administrative Officer.

Features

Victoria County contains the eastern half of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, as well as the Cabot Trail, whereas Inverness County contains the western half of these features. The county also contains St. Paul Island, known as the "Graveyard of the Gulf of St. Lawrence" for its many shipwrecks during the age of sail.

External links

★ Municipality of Victoria County website

★ Victoria County strategic plan

★ Visit Victoria County Official Tourism website

★ Victoria County's Broadband Project

★ Tourism Victoria County Corporate web site

★ Tourism Victoria County Blog

★ Central Cape Breton

★ Visit Baddeck

★ North Shore Community Portal

★ Northeast Highlands Chamber of Commerce

★ Cape Breton Highlands

★ Hike the Highlands Festival, Sept. 14-23, 2007

★ Hike the Highlands Festival Blog

★ Victoria County Hospice Society

★ Village of Baddeck

★ Photographs of historic monuments in Victoria County