NOVA SCOTIA

NOVA SCOTIA

1.- GEOGRAPHY 

Nova Scotia is a  province of Canada, it´s located on the East  Coast and it´s almost surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

2) HISTORICAL FACTS AND NAME ORIGIN

- First citizens of Nova Scotia were the Mi’kmaq (about 10,000 years ago), they were hunters, traders and fishermen.

- Here I lend you a link of a video which explains something about the history of Nova Scotia. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13fUdpuRJBg

- Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland" and it's the recognized  English language for the province. The province was first named in 1621.

3) LANGUAGES

- The official languages are English and French but they also speak other languages like  Arabic, Mi’kmaq, German…

4) MAIN CITIES

- HALIFAX: it's the capital and the biggest city of the province, is the major economic centre in Atlantic Canada.The municipality had a population of 403,131 in 2016.

- AMHERST: it's a canadian town in northwestern Cumberland County. It´s the largest town in Cumberland County, and it has with a population of 9500 and growing. It´s located approximately two hundred kilometers northwest of the province capital Halifax.

- CAPE BRETON: is an island on the Atlantic Coast o Nova Scotia.  This island is divided into four of the eighteen countries of Nova Scotia. 

-TRURO: It´s a town in central Nova Scotia. It´s located on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at the eastern end of Cobequid.

-DIGBY. It´s a town in southwestern. The town is famous for its scallop fishing fleet and the MV Fundy Rose ferry service connecting to Saint John.

5) IMPORTANT LANDAMARKS

1) Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site :it was founded in 1713, this reconstruction of the original French town and fortifications is the largest in North America. It can bring you back into one of North America's busiest seasports in the 18th century.

2) Halifax Public Gardens: They were opened in 1867, they are situated in Halifax. If you go there you can see amazing ornate fountains, statues, gardens... Thera are many different species of trees anf flowers. They are one of the finest surviving examples of a Victorian Garden. They are recognized as a National Historic Site.

3) Point Pleasant Park. It's situated in the south of Halifax and it's a historic wooded park.

There, visitors can do lots of activities like runnig, walking... It also has parking, picnic tables... It can be booked for special events like weddings.

6) EVENTS  AND FESTIVALS 

•  Annual Halifax Tea Festival. It's celebrated on April and it's located in Halifax. It's a market event that invites people to learn interestin things about tea. There will be tea sampling, delicious food, live music, a variety of local shops, artisans and tea experts... 

http://www.halifaxteafestival.com/

        

• Swan Lake. It's celebrated on April, it's located in Halifax. Swan Lake is one of the world's most famous ballets. It's special for its inticate dancing, fairy tale fantasy... Here we lend you a link of a video:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAetb-uAhQ

• Annapolis Valley Exibition. It's celebrated on October and it started in 1927. It's famous for its excellent fruit and vegetables displays. It has operated since its inception. It shows traditions and talents.

7) INTERESTING FACTS

• They didn't have flag until 2014.
• In Halifax there are more pubs per capita than any other city in Canada.
• During World War II, Halifax was a major North American port for trans-Atlantic convoys carrying munitions and supplies to Western Europe.
• Most of Nova Scotia is English-speaking, with about 4 percent of its population speaking French.
• There are 81 college students out of every 1000 Halifax residents.

8) MAIN ATTRACTIONS

There are many beautiful things that you can see if you go to Nova Scotia, here we put you two links of videos that show you some of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqq7-YJuHkk&t=32s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EigaCH0G-GU

9) THINGS TO DO

• Oaklawn Farm Zoo. It's located in Aylesford. It was opened in 1984. It's the largest zoo in Nova Scotia and the largest display of Big Cats and Primates in Eastern Canada. It includes a wide variety of mammals, birds and reptiles. It also has endagered and thratened species of exotic, native and domestic animals. Visitors can feed corn to some of the animals and the zoo has a restaurant and a gift shop.

http://www.oaklawnfarmzoo.ca/

• Foundy Geological Museum. It's located in Parrsboro. It was opened in 1993. Its exhibits contain fossils, local minerals... The museum has bus tours, parking, picnic tables, internet access, gift shop.

Manitoba

INTRO:

Manitoba is a province situated in the centre of Canada. It’s one of the three prairie provinces (with Alberta and Saskatchewan). It’s has a widely varied landscape. The province is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west.

       

HISTORICAL FACTS:

In 1979 French stopped being the official language, so schools couldn´t teach it, but in 1985 it became the main language and schools started teaching it again .

ORIGIN:

The name Manitoba comes from three different languages which are: Cree, Ojibwa and Assiniboine. Its language has its origin. From the Cree is manitou-wapow and from Ojibwa is manidoobaa. That means ´´The Great spirit``, this is a place called ´´The Narrow`` in the center of Manitoba.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES:

English and French are spoken in Manitoba.

MAIN CITIES:

Some of the cities of Manitoba are for example: Brandon, Thompson, Churchill, Oak Lake and Winnipeg which is Manitoba’s largest city. It’s also the capital.

EVENTS AND FESTIVALS:

• FESTIVAL DU VOYAGEUR:

Every winter in  Winnipeg’s French quarter, there is a winter paradise which is one of the largest winter festival in Western Canada. The objective is to promote the French language and culture with some artistic, educational, historical and cultural experiences inspired by the voyageur era. In the event some artists participate in many ways like singing.

• Winnipeg Folk Fest:

It attracts thousands of people every year. The Winnipeg Folk Fest is a celebration of folk music, where you can camp for the whole festival, everybody can do it!!, from young to old people. If you don’t want to camp for so long, you also can chill out and rest one day. There are drum circles and fire dancers. You can enjoy this party for four amazing days! You can do many things like eating from a food truck or see a show. If you go to Winnipeg Folk Fest, you will have fun!

• Red River Exhibition:

A lot of  memories are made at the Red River Ex each year. It is a very common event of Manitoba in summers. You can go for the rides or have lunch. In the Red River Ex there are rides for all ages, carnival games, a petting zoo,  plenty of food sold by people and… a Polar Express! What would summer be without at least one ride on the Polar Express? You should go and try these exciting activities!

           

MAIN ATTRACTIONS:

Manitoba has more than 100,000 lakes, including Lake Winnipeg, one of the world’s largest lakes in that area. A big part of the province’s land area is forested.

You can visit the Oodena Celebration Circle. It’s a natural amphitheatre between two rivers. There you can see a monument dedicated to the natives who lived there many years ago. There are also some sculptures, one of them it’s a solar clock used to observe the stars.

   

                                   

Another interesting activity is to visit the Eskimo Museum in Churchill. It’s a small museum with objects created from eskimos. Many of those objects are made with animal’s bones. They represent eskimos’ lifes. I recommend going because it’s really good!

Churchill is the best place to enjoy seeing polar bears walking free and in summer it’s a perfect place to see whales.

In winter they hibernate but in spring is the time you can see them.