Cumberland County Kwesomalegek (Mi'kmaq)
County
Municipality of the County of Cumberland
Flag
Location of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia
Coordinates:45°42′N64°06′W / 45.7°N 64.1°W /45.7; -64.1
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
Towns	Amherst /Oxford
Established	August 17, 1759
Incorporated	April 17, 1879
Named after	Prince William, Duke of Cumberland
Electoral Districts       Federal	Cumberland—Colchester
Provincial	Cumberland North /Cumberland South
Government
• Type	Cumberland County Municipal Council
• Mayor	Rod Gilroy
• MLA	Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin (Independent) Tory Rushton (PCNS)
• MP	Alana Hirtle (LPC)
Area [1]
• Land	4,275.77 km2 (1,650.88 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[1][2]
• Total	30,538
• Density	7.1/km2 (18/sq mi)
• Change 2011-16	1.8%
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Area code	902
Dwellings	18,445
Median Income*	$38,433CAD
Website	www.cumberland county.ns.ca
Median household income, 2005 (all households)

Cumberland County is acounty in theCanadian province ofNova Scotia.

Cumberland was named in 1755 in honour of the Duke of Cumberland to replaceBeausejour. The historic county was founded in 1759 when the English system of administration was installed to complement settlement during the Charles Lawrence governorship, and was later divided at the partitioning of the province and in 1840. The area thrived in the 19th century with the development of lumbering, shipbuilding, and coal mining, but rural outmigration and deforestation led to some communities being abandoned in the 20th century. The county spans an area of 4,271.23 km² making it Nova Scotia's second largest county, with resources including extensive forest land, several mineral resources, and agricultural areas that concentrate on wild blueberry harvesting. As of the 2021 census, Cumberland County had a population of 30,538, with the majority residing in the Municipality of the County of Cumberland. The county includes two towns, Amherst and Oxford, and two unincorporated population centres, Parrsboro and Springhill.

The name Cumberland was applied by Lieutenant-ColonelRobert Monckton to the capturedFort Beauséjour on June 18, 1755, in honour of the third son of KingGeorge II,William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, victor atCulloden in 1746 and Commander in Chief of the British forces. TheMi'kmaq name for the area wasKwesomalegek meaning "hardwood point".

Cumberland County was founded on August 17, 1759, the largest of Nova Scotia's five original administrative divisions. It included the Passamoquody, Wolastoq and Mi'kmaq nations north of the Bay of Fundy which formed the mainland part of the province and formerAcadia, including all of what would become the province of New Brunswick.^[3] 1765 saw for the partitioning ofSunbury County, Nova Scotia out of the western-most part of Cumberland, roughly dividing the county in half along Passamoquody/Wolastoqiyuk and Mi'kmaq territorial lines.

At the partitioning of the province, Cumberland county was severed by the provincial boundary at Chignecto isthmus, where the county now forms the northern-most part of the Province.

When the Township of Parrsboro was divided in 1840, one part was annexed to Cumberland County and the other part annexed toColchester.

The dividing line between Cumberland and Colchester was established in 1840. In 1897, a portion of the boundary line between the Counties of Colchester and Cumberland was fixed and defined. The county thrived in the 19th century with the development of lumbering, shipbuilding and coal mining.Deforestation and rural outmigration in the 20th century led to the abandonment of some communities such asEatonville andNew Yarmouth.

The county has a total area of 4,271.23 km² (1,649.13 sq mi).

Cumberland County is rich in natural resources with extensive forest land supporting lumber mills and pulp contractors. It has many mineral resources, including 2 operating salt mines. Until the 1970s it also had several coal mines which extracted coal from seams that run fromJoggins toRiver Hebert and on toAthol andSpringhill.

Agriculture is concentrated on wildblueberry harvesting throughout theCobequid Hills, as well as mixed farms located in theTantramar Marshes region, theNorthumberland Strait coastal plain, and theWentworth Valley.

The northwestern edge of Cumberland County forms part of theIsthmus of Chignecto, the natural land bridge connecting theNova Scotia peninsula toNorth America. As such, the county hosts several important transportation corridors, includingHighway 104 (theTrans-Canada Highway) andCN Rail's Halifax-Montreal railway line. The county line bordering New Brunswick is around 30 kilometres long (18.5 miles). Cumberland is the only county in Nova Scotia that borders another province.

Two towns are located in Cumberland County:Amherst andOxford. The towns ofSpringhill andParrsboro dissolved and joined the Municipality of Cumberland in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

• Slade Lake

As acensus division in the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Cumberland County had a population of30,538 living in14,139 of its18,363 total private dwellings, a change of1.8% from its 2016 population of30,005. With a land area of 4,275.77 km² (1,650.88 sq mi), it had a population density of7.1/km² (18.5/sq mi) in 2021.^[4]

Forming the majority of the Cumberland County census division, the Municipality of the County of Cumberland, including its Subdivisions A, B, C, and D, had a population of19,964 living in9,126 of its12,988 total private dwellings, a change of2.9% from its 2016 population of19,402. With a land area of 4,253.04 km² (1,642.11 sq mi), it had a population density of4.7/km² (12.2/sq mi) in 2021.^[5]

Population trend[6][7] Census Population Change (%) 2021 30,538 1.8% 2016 30,005 4.3% 2011 31,353 2.2% 2006 32,046 1.7% 2001 32,605 3.5% 1996 33,804 1.4% 1991 34,284 1.6% 1986 34,819 1.2% 1981 35,231 N/A 1941 39,476 1931 36,366 1921 41,191 1911 40,543 1901 36,168 1891 34,529 1881 27,368 1871 23,518 N/A

Mother tongue language (2011)[8] Language Population Pct (%) English only 29,645 97.32% French only 370 1.21% Non-official languages 345 1.13% Multiple responses 100 0.33%

Ethnic Groups (2006)[9] Ethnic Origin Population Pct (%) Canadian 14,580 46.8% English 12,385 39.7% Scottish 9,870 31.7% Irish 6,775 21.7% French 4,730 15.2% German 2,470 7.9% Dutch (Netherlands) 1,045 3.4% North American Indian 945 3.0%

Towns

• Amherst
• Oxford
• Parrsboro (unincorporated)
• Springhill (unincorporated)

Villages

• Pugwash
• River Hebert

County municipality and county subdivisions

• Municipality of the County of Cumberland
  • Cumberland Subdivision A
  • Cumberland Subdivision B
  • Cumberland Subdivision C
  • Cumberland Subdivision D

• Trunk 2
• Trunk 4
• Trunk 6
• Hwy 104 (TCH)
• Hwy 142
• Route 204
• Route 209
• Route 321

• List of municipalities in Nova Scotia
• Royal eponyms in Canada
• Black Lake listings within Nova Scotia.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCumberland County, Nova Scotia.

• Cumberland County official site
• Photographs of the Cumberland County War Memorial monument, Amherst
• Photographs of historic monuments in Cumberland County

• Cumberland County, Nova Scotia
• 1759 establishments in Nova Scotia
• States and territories established in 1759
• County municipalities in Nova Scotia
• Prince William, Duke of Cumberland
• Counties of Nova Scotia

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments
• Use mdy dates from June 2021
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Mi'kmaq-language text
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata