Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest

municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2022, it is estimated that the population of the Halifax CMA was
480,582,[6] with 348,634 people in its urban area.[3] The regional municipality consists of four former
municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996: Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and Halifax County.

Halifax is an economic centre of Atlantic Canada, home to a concentration of government offices and
private companies. Major employers include the Department of National Defence, Dalhousie University,
Nova Scotia Health Authority, Saint Mary's University, the Halifax Shipyard, various levels of government,
and the Port of Halifax. Resource industries found in rural areas of the municipality include agriculture,
fishing, mining, forestry, and natural gas extraction.

History

Main articles: History of Halifax, Nova Scotia; History of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Bedford, Nova Scotia §
History; and Halifax County, Nova Scotia § History

The Mi'kmaq name for Halifax is Kjipuktuk, pronounced "che-book-took".[7] The name means "Great
Harbour" in the Mi'kmaq language.[8]

Halifax, Nova Scotia c. 1762, by Dominic Serres.

The first permanent European settlement in the region was on the Halifax Peninsula. The establishment
of the Town of Halifax, named after the 2nd Earl of Halifax, in 1749 led to the colonial capital being
transferred from Annapolis Royal.

The establishment of Halifax marked the beginning of Father Le Loutre's War. The war began when
Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports and a sloop of war on June 21, 1749.[9]
By unilaterally establishing Halifax, the British were violating earlier treaties with the Mi'kmaq (1726),
which were signed after Father Rale's War.[10] Cornwallis brought along 1,176 settlers and their families.
To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British
fortifications were erected in Halifax (Citadel Hill) (1749), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1749), Dartmouth
(1750), and Lawrencetown (1754), all areas within the modern-day Regional Municipality. St. Margaret's
Bay was first settled by French-speaking Foreign Protestants at French Village, Nova Scotia who migrated
from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia during the American Revolution.

December 6, 1917 saw one of the greatest disasters in Canadian history, when the SS Mont-Blanc, a
French cargo ship carrying munitions, collided with the Belgian Relief vessel SS Imo in "The Narrows"
between upper Halifax Harbour and Bedford Basin. The resulting explosion, the Halifax Explosion,
devastated the Richmond District in the North End of Halifax, killing approximately 2,000 people and
injuring nearly 9,000 others.[11] The blast was the largest artificial explosion before the development of
nuclear weapons.[12] Significant aid came from Boston, strengthening the bond between the two
coastal cities.

The four municipalities in the Halifax urban area had been coordinating delivery of some services
through the Metropolitan Authority since the late 1970s, but remained independent towns and cities
until April 1, 1996, when the provincial government amalgamated all municipal governments within
Halifax County to create the Halifax Regional Municipality. The municipal boundary thus now includes all
of Halifax County except for several First Nation reserves.[13]

Since amalgamation, the region has officially been known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM),
although "Halifax" has remained in common usage for brevity. On April 15, 2014, regional council
approved the implementation of a new branding campaign for the municipality. The campaign would see
the region referred to in promotional materials simply as "Halifax", although "Halifax Regional
Municipality" would remain the region's official name