SORRY...NOT AN ISLAND
In the popular imagination, Nova Scotia is often figured to be an island. Though a misperception, the thought is well meaning; all part and parcel of a romantic notion that Nova Scotia is a detached bit of terra firma, a friendly, sane and idyllic place to escape from a whole lot of places on this continent and planet that cannot claim any of these qualities. Well, in fact, this historic province...with its past wound up in Anglo-French rivalry of the 17th & 18th centuries...can claim all of the virtues cited above, even though it is an attached peninsula, rather than an island.
Another romantic notion of islands, in general, is that they are somehow more holistic-cum-integral communities, and the positive value of such a social arrangement stands in stark contrast to the contemporary world with its social conflict and the individual sense of anomie and lack of belonging-ness. Well, community-focused belonging is definitely easy in Nova Scotia (and, indeed, so is reclusiveness, if that is ones preference), but Nova Scotia is really not an integral whole. In fact, I would argue that Nova Scotia's greatest asset is its diversity. That rich diversity is evident in the landscape, culture and language...and, on the map, as a mosaic of distinct REGIONS.
Getting to know Nova Scotia is really a process of getting to know the distinctiveness of the regions. Feeling at home in Nova Scotia is a process of letting the distinctive features of each region woo your soul.
See! We haven't lost the romance of the place, just because we've cleared up the island myth. If you'd like to get a thumbnail sketch of each region, check the Market Watch Archive pull down menu, above.