Guysborough County, Nova Scotia
# Guysborough County, Nova Scotia

Guysborough County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

## History

Taking its name from the Township of Guysborough, which was named in honour of Sir Guy Carleton, Guysborough County was created when Sydney County (Antigonish County) was divided in 1836.

Guysborough County has had a large Black population since 1784. The Black Nova Scotian community in Guysborough is unique in that they descend almost entirely from Black Loyalists. In 1872, there were 918 residents of African ancestry in Guysborough.

In 1840, Guysborough County was subdivided into two districts for court sessisonal purposes – Guysborough and St. Mary's. In 1863, the boundary between Halifax County and Guysborough County was altered and a polling district was added to Guysborough County. In 1879, the two districts were incorporated as district municipalities.

The last racially segregated school in Canada closed in 1983 in Guysborough County.

## Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Guysborough County had a population of 7,373 living in 3,559 of its 4,897 total private dwellings, a change of -3.3% from its 2016 population of 7,625. With a land area of 4,037.16 $km^2$ (1,558.76 sq mi), it had a population density of $1.8/km^2$ (4.7/sq mi) in 2021.

| Census | Population | Change (%) |
| - | - | - |
| 2021 | 7,373 | 3.3% |
| 2016 | 7,625 | 6.4% |
| 2011 | 8,143 | 10.1% |
| 2006 | 9,058 | 7.8% |
| 2001 | 9,827 | 10.0% |
| 1996 | 10,917 | 6.9% |
| 1991 | 11,724 | 8.5% |
| 1986 | 12,721 | 0.2% |
| 1981 | 12,752 | N/A |
| 1941 | 15,461 | |
| 1931 | 15,443 | |
| 1921 | 15,518 | |
| 1911 | 17,048 | |
| 1901 | 18,320 | |
| 1891 | 17,195 | |
| 1881 | 17,808 | |
| 1871 | 16,555 | N/A |
| Language | Population | Pct (%) |
| English only | 7,755 | 96.52% |
| French only | 160 | 1.99% |
| Non-official languages | 100 | 1.24% |
| Multiple responses | 25 | 0.31% |
| Ethnic Origin | Population | Pct (%) |
| Canadian | 4,520 | 50.5% |
| Scottish | 2,760 | 30.8% |
| English | 2,620 | 29.3% |
| Irish | 2,240 | 25.0% |
| French | 1,795 | 20.1% |
| German | 1,050 | 11.7% |
| Dutch (Netherlands) | 270 | 3.0% |

## Communities

### Towns

* Mulgrave

### District municipalities

* Municipality of the District of Guysborough
* Municipality of the District of St. Mary's

## Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:

