What is Halifax?

Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia and the largest city in Atlantic Canada, with a population of about 480,000 in the Halifax Regional Municipality and a metropolitan area of about 530,000. The city is built on a peninsula and adjacent shorelines around Halifax Harbour, the second-largest natural ice-free harbour in the world after Sydney Harbour, Australia. Halifax was founded on June 21, 1749 by British Governor Edward Cornwallis as a counterweight to the French fortress at Louisbourg, and was the colonial capital of Nova Scotia from 1749 onward.

Halifax Citadel National Historic Site, a star-shaped fort built between 1828 and 1856 on Citadel Hill, dominates the downtown skyline and was designated a National Historic Site in 1935. The Old Town Clock at the base of the Citadel was a gift from Prince Edward (Duke of Kent and son of King George III) in 1803. Pier 21 on the Halifax waterfront was the principal Canadian immigration arrival point from 1928 to 1971, processing about 1 million immigrants and 500,000 returning Canadian Armed Forces members, and is now the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 (a national museum since 2009).

The Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917 was the largest human-caused explosion before the atomic bomb. The French munitions ship SS Mont-Blanc collided with the Norwegian relief ship SS Imo in the harbour narrows. Mont-Blanc, carrying 2,653 tonnes of explosives bound for the First World War front, caught fire and exploded with a force of approximately 2.9 kilotons of TNT. The blast killed about 2,000 people, injured 9,000 more, and flattened the city's north end. Boston, Massachusetts sent immediate relief, beginning the annual Halifax tradition of donating a Christmas tree to Boston that continues today.

Modern Halifax is a federal naval port (Canadian Forces Base Halifax is the largest naval base in Canada and home of the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet), a financial-services centre, a major university city (Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, the University of King's College, Mount Saint Vincent University, and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design), and the busiest container port east of Montreal. The Halifax Stanfield International Airport is the largest in Atlantic Canada. The Cunard cruise line was founded in Halifax by Sir Samuel Cunard in 1840.