Halifax, NS

Halifax Regional Municipality is the municipality that holds the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, making it the seat of the provincial Crown. The municipality is commonly called HRM or informally, Halifax.

The population in 2006 was 372,679; the urban area of HRM had a population of 282,924, giving the municipality the largest urban area in the Atlantic Canada and largest population centre in Canada east of Quebec City.

The first permanent European settlement in the area was …

Halifax Regional Municipality is the municipality that holds the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, making it the seat of the provincial Crown. The municipality is commonly called HRM or informally, Halifax.

The population in 2006 was 372,679; the urban area of HRM had a population of 282,924, giving the municipality the largest urban area in the Atlantic Canada and largest population centre in Canada east of Quebec City.

The first permanent European settlement in the area was the establishment of the Town of Halifax in 1749 when the colonial capital was transferred from Annapolis Royal; other towns and villages were established throughout adjacent areas of what would become Halifax County in the decades that followed. In 1996 the provincial government amalgamated all municipal governments within Halifax County to create HRM, a regional municipality comprising approximately 200 individual communities or place-names for civic addressing grouped into 18 planning areas for zoning purposes.

HRM's urban area is a major economic centre in eastern Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defence, various levels of government, and the Port of Halifax. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of HRM.