South Western Nova and South West Nova were ridings that covered roughly the same geographic area and were represented in the House of Commons from 1968 to 1979 and 1979 to 1997, respectively.

The district is rural with a few small towns and communities located along the coast. The riding has been called a microcosm of rural Canada because it includes fishing, farming, tourism, small business and an English-French mix. The riding is noted as having the highest Baptist proportion in Canada at 28%.

The riding tends to have socially conservative views. In the 1990s, Harry Verran was able to win the district as a Liberal in part because of his socially conservative views, including campaigning against same-sex marriage.

The electoral district was created in 1966 from Digby—Annapolis—Kings and Shelburne—Yarmouth—Clare ridings. In 1996, Seal Island was added and the name was changed from South West Nova to West Nova. In 2004, 20 percent of Kings—Hants was added to the district. The boundaries of this riding will remain unchanged as per the 2012 federal electoral redistribution.

From the 2006 census

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It reaches from Berwick in Kings County (it only includes the western part of Kings County) down through Annapolis County, Digby County and Yarmouth County, ending at the Yarmouth-Shelburne border.

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