Talk:Nova Scotia

@JM2023, what citation do you need that Nova Scotia was a British colony before it was a province? Would it be enough if I grabbed any of the article's existing sources that refer to it as a colony? —Arctic Gnome (talk • contribs) 15:42, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

If you can find an RS that refers to it as either "Nova Scotia Colony" or "Colony of Nova Scotia" it would be good. I didn't do an exhaustive search but I didn't find it referred to that way anywhere else on Wikipedia (same for NB and PEI).

As far as I know, although they were colonies, they were not titled "Colony of [blank]" or "[blank] Colony", and were just simply known by their basic names, in the same way that, for example, New Caledonia is a French colony simply referred to with its basic name.

But if you can find RS saying that these provinces were indeed officially called ex. "Nova Scotia Colony / Colony of Nova Scotia" then it would be an interesting addition, I just don't think they were, which is why I'm challenging it in the first place. Even if you find a source, it's not necessarily a good-enough source to verify anything, so it would have to be a pretty good source (maybe a government source?).

As for your second version where it was stated as "Nova Scotia colony" I don't think that's a meaningful addition because it's a strangely-phrased description, not an official name. But I wonder if it could instead say "British colony of Nova Scotia" or simply "British colony" (I prefer the latter over the former, especially if it's a description of "pre-confederation status") but I'm not really sure if that's significant enough to include either. JM (talk) 15:55, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

Just fyi, even as a colony, when they needed to affix a "full name" for the colony, it was more often than not called the "Province of Nova Scotia".

See:

• Treaty of 1752
• Proclamation for Election, 1758
• Statutes of NS, 1851

Leventio (talk) 17:16, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

Thank you, I didn't expect it to be named "colony" anywhere and I figured there was a good reason it wasn't in the article after 22 years (this article is older than me!) JM (talk) 18:09, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

I'd be happy with "British colony of Nova Scotia" or "British colony" or "colony with the same name" or "Nova Scotia (colony)" or anything similar. I do think it is useful for every province's infobox to have the same field saying what is was before it became a province. In the case of Nova Scotia, the answer to that question might be less interesting than for Newfoundland or Quebec, but I think it should be in the infobox for the sake of consistency with the other provinces. —Arctic Gnome (talk • contribs) 19:37, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

I think another issue that has to be considered is that many provinces have articles for their former statuses (i.e. Newfoundland was a Dominion and Quebec was the Canada East division of the Province of Canada. And out west and up north it would mostly be NWT). But for a province like Nova Scotia, where it was always just "Nova Scotia" and simply joined confederation and became a federal constituent, the article covers all of Nova Scotia's history, from colony to province. Logically, there need not be a "pre-confederation" line in the infobox for such cases, as pre-confederation is still the same article; if I were the only one deciding, I would simply omit the pre-confederation line altogether.

Also see above, where Leventio shows that when it was not simply Nova Scotia it was "Province of Nova Scotia" anyway (although that itself may simply be a capitalized noun that is not part of a title, given its from the era where all nouns were often capitalized).

Like I said, on a sliding scale from "Nova Scotia Colony" to "British colony" to nothing at all, obviously "British colony" is closer to what I want (nothing) than "Nova Scotia Colony". It's not like I can reasonably stop you from adding what you want to the article without having to go through an ordeal, but I would strongly recommend that there just not be a line about pre-confederation in the infobox, given the above. JM (talk) 21:09, 5 December 2023 (UTC)

53,000 sq km area ÷ 970,000 population is not 18 sq km. Additionally 18.31 sq km is not 47.4 sq mi. 24.222.250.175 (talk) 03:51, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

Sorry, you mixed up your numbers. It is population per km², not the other way around. Divide the population by the area, and you will get the correct result of about 18. Apenguinlover<talk>() 11:07, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

The redirect Scottish America has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 March 4 § Scottish America until a consensus is reached. Duckmather (talk) 17:05, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Relevant discussion at

→ Wikipedia talk:Canadian Wikipedians' notice board #Provincial infoboxes with 'other names' → Talk:Newfoundland and Labrador#Infobox → Talk:Prince Edward Island#Infobox

Aren't we overdoing it, with the different language names? GoodDay (talk) 23:31, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Yes, absolutely. I'd sooner have only the English name, but I didn't dare to raise the issue myself. MediaKyle (talk) 23:32, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Although I agree..... and I think we can establish a new consensus. There was a long talk about this somewhere I don't remember where.... perhaps Wikiproject Canada... to add the "officially" recognized names. Moxy🍁 23:34, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

I remember awhile back I pitched an idea to solve this problem at Template talk:Infobox province or territory of Canada but it didn't go over well, I think that's around the time the fourth name got added here. It's actually a little comical how long the section for names is. MediaKyle (talk) 23:36, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

The infobox at Prince Edward Island is another (though less severe) example. GoodDay (talk) 23:38, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

I removed the native name parameter a few years ago as seen here due to the talk at Wikipedia talk:Canadian Wikipedians' notice board/Archive 29 [Native name]. But there's always a work around one I removed here ....but Template:Native name is used regardless of what we do to the template itself. Moxy🍁 23:45, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

I collapsed the list, so hopefully it's a non-issue now, yeah? — W.andrea (talk) 00:22, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

I say we just removed the "other name" parameter again and watch out for that "native name template". Moxy🍁 00:29, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

but why? — W.andrea (talk) 00:49, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

As evident by all the links provided in this conversation is clearly a contentious topic..... that keeps coming up..... resulting in a Time Sink for our content editors..... as these are normally added on mass to multiple articles by those with no vested interest in the articles.Moxy🍁 00:55, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

I'm inclined to agree with their removal. Honestly, I sorta came to the talk page to question why "New Scotland (English)" and "Enmiktaqamu'k (Mi'kmaq)" were included in the first place (not to get too into it, but the first is just a literal translation of the Latin based English name for the province, not a widespread other name used to refer to the province itself. The second, from what I can tell, is just incorrect, as Enmiktaqamu'k is not only not a translation of the provice's name in Mi'kmaq, but the term seemingly only refers to mainland Nova Scotia, and does not include Cape Breton Island).

Like I was going to suggest removing those two. But if the other entries have similar issues, removing the whole thing and keeping the infobox limited to non contentious items seems reasonable. The article body is a better place to add these items where the nuances can be expanded in full. Leventio (talk) 03:19, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Good points. The French is well-established and official, so I added it back after @MediaKyle removed it. The Mi'kmaq name wasn't actually mentioned in the source. I checked the news release about Mi'kmaq becoming the recognized first language, and there it seems to say No’pa Sko’sia, so I added that to the article text but not the infobox. (I don't actually speak Mi'kmaq myself, but I have some idea how it works, so correct me if I'm wrong.) — W.andrea (talk) 14:34, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

I don't think we even particularly need the French name in the infobox. It's just inviting folks to add back the others. It's not something I feel all that strongly about, though... It looks a lot better now. MediaKyle (talk) 14:39, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

It's the official name of the province in French and French is an official language of Canada, so it's worth including. — W.andrea (talk) 14:40, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

I've removed it, as Nova Scotia's only provinical official language is English. This page is about Nova Scotia, not Canada. GoodDay (talk) 18:19, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

I've made deletions at Newfoundland and Labrador & Prince Edward Island, too. GoodDay (talk) 18:33, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Note - W.andrea has reverted my deletions. GoodDay (talk) 21:03, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

@GoodDay I'll come back shortly with a proper explanation. Right now I'm on mobile and the app doesn't support important talk page features, so I can't be sure of what I'm seeing. Suffice to say, French is an important language for Canada in general, but I'll explain better later. — W.andrea (talk) 21:20, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

We don't use French in the infoboxes at British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba & Ontario. So why use it in PEI, NS, NL? GoodDay (talk) 21:24, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario are all the same in French. French isn't terribly common or otherwise relevant to BC, but I see your point. I'll get back to you. — W.andrea (talk) 23:43, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

BTW, I'm assuming you don't speak French based on that. Just noting for reference. — W.andrea (talk) 23:44, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Whether or not one speaks French, is irrelevant. You & I have already made are positions clear on the general topic. You want to keep non-english, I want to delete. Input from others will be helpful. GoodDay (talk) 23:49, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Well it's relevant in terms of knowledge about the topic, but I'm only mentioning because at first I was confused why you brought up the prairie provinces and Ontario when they're the same in French. — W.andrea (talk) 23:54, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

You & I have already made [our] positions clear ...

Well no, I literally just said "I'll get back to you" because I feel I haven't made myself clear. This is not to argue though, just to clarify. — W.andrea (talk) 23:56, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

@W.andrea: Only New Brunswick (provincial level) have English & French as official languages. GoodDay (talk) 20:55, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

The Mi'kmaq name seems to be No’pa Sko’sia so I added that to the article. Could anyone who speaks Mi'kmaq confirm? I'd like to also add the pronunciation, which from what I can tell is [noːpa skoːsia], is that right? BTW, it might be realized like ⟦noːba əskoːzia, -ja⟧. — W.andrea (talk) 14:38, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

This is the first I'm hearing of this. Traditionally, the Mi'kmaq would've referred to Nova Scotia as being part of Mi'kma'ki. No’pa Sko’sia seems like a modern translation. MediaKyle (talk) 14:48, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Well, it's a transliteration. (The P is as close as you can get to a V in Mi'kmaq phonology.)

Yes it's part of Mi'kma'ki, but which part? Above, Leventio said Enmiktaqamu'k [...] seemingly only refers to mainland Nova Scotia. Mi'kmaq Online confirms: Enmigtaqamu'g - Translation: Nova Scotian mainland. If you search it for "Nova Scotia" you don't get any direct translations, so it seems like they loaned the English name. — W.andrea (talk) 15:05, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Good question. Silas Tertius Rand recorded in his Dictionary of the language of the Micmac Indians, p.181, that Megamaage (Mi'kmaki) refers to Nova Scotia, making no distinction. Although it also gives a separate name for Cape Breton on p.51 as "Oonamaagik". I can't find any older mentions of the word "Enmiktaqamu'k". Indigenous toponymy tends to be rather confusing. MediaKyle (talk) 15:16, 26 November 2025 (UTC)