Cape Breton Island
| Ceap Bhreatainn (Gaelic) Cap-Breton (French) | |
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Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada
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 Cape Breton
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| Geography | |
| Location | Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Coordinates | 46°10′N 60°45′W / 46.167°N 60.750°W |
| Area | 10,311 km2 (3,981 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 77th |
| Highest elevation | 535 m (1,755 ft) |
| Highest point | White Hill |
| Administration | |
| Province | Nova Scotia |
| Largest settlement | Cape Breton Regional Municipality (pop. 97,398 ) |
| Demographics | |
| Demonym | Cape Bretoner |
| Population | 132,010 (2016) |
| Pop. density | 12.7 /km2 (32.9 /sq mi) |
Cape Breton Island (French: île du Cap-Breton—formerly Île Royale; Scottish Gaelic: Ceap Breatainn or Eilean Cheap Bhreatainn; Míkmaq: Únamakika; or simply Cape Breton) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Its name may derive from Capbreton near Bayonne, or more probably from the word Breton, the French adjective form of the proper noun Bretagne, the French historical region.
The 10,311 km2 (3,981 sq mi) island accounts for 18.7% of the Nova Scotia's total area. Although physically separated from the Nova Scotia peninsula by the Strait of Canso, the 1,385 m (4,544 ft) long rock-fill Canso Causeway connects it to mainland Nova Scotia. The island is east-northeast of the mainland with its northern and western coasts fronting on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence; its western coast also forms the eastern limits of the Northumberland Strait. The eastern and southern coasts front the Atlantic Ocean; its eastern coast also forms 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 island's centre.
The island is divided into four of Nova Scotia's eighteen counties: Cape Breton, Inverness, Richmond, and Victoria. Their total population at the 2016 census numbered 132,010 "Cape Bretoners"; this is approximately 15% of the provincial population. Cape Breton Island has experienced a decline in population of approximately 2.9 since the 2011 census. Approximately 75% of the island's population is in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) which includes all of Cape Breton County and is often referred to as Industrial Cape Breton, given the history of coal mining and steel manufacturing in this area, which was Nova Scotia's industrial heartland throughout the 20th century.
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