South Shore (Nova Scotia)

South Shore Southern Nova Scotia
Economic Region
The Southern Nova Scotia region as defined by Statistics Canada
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
Counties	Lunenburg County Queens County Shelburne County Yarmouth County Digby County
Area
• Land	12,413.06 km2 (4,792.71 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	116,080
• Density	9.4/km2 (24/sq mi)
• Change 2006-11	2.6%
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
• Summer (DST)	ADT (UTC-3)
Area code(s)	902
Dwellings	61,948

Southern Nova Scotia or the South Shore is a region of Nova Scotia, Canada. The area has no formal identity and is variously defined by geographic, county and other political boundaries. Statistics Canada, defines Southern Nova Scotia as an economic region, composed of Lunenburg County, Queens County, Shelburne County, Yarmouth County, and Digby County. According to Statistics Canada, the region had the highest decrease of population in Canada from 2009 to 2010, with a -10.2% growth rate per thousand. The region also has the second highest median age in Canada at 47.1 years old.

The South Shore is sometimes defined as part of the Halifax West, South Shore—St. Margaret's, and West Nova ridings at the federal level, or as the western rural part of the Halifax Regional Municipality, the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, Queens County, and Shelburne County. There were five MLAs elected from this region in recent Nova Scotia provincial elections, when the region shifted from the Progressive Conservative Party to the more left-leaning New Democratic Party. It is generally considered to be a "swing" region that has changed political leanings in the recent past, and a key target for campaigning.

The South Shore was one of the first areas of North America to be colonized by Europeans following the French settlement at Port-Royal in 1605. The region, without good agricultural land, was only sparsely inhabited by the Acadians, although several settlements were established in present-day Shelburne County and the LaHave River valley. When the British took control of the region in 1713, they initiated a program of importing colonists from continental Europe, known as the Foreign Protestants, mostly from Germany and Switzerland. To this day the South Shore retains many German place names and surnames as well as a distinct accent compared to the New England settlers' influence in the Annapolis Valley or the Highland Scots' influence in northeastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island.