Established August 17, 1759, by Order in Council, Annapolis County took its name from the town of Annapolis Royal which had been named in honour of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. The town was the successor to the French settlement of Port Royal, the chief Acadian settlement in the area. The Acadians had been forcibly removed by British government officials in the 1755 Grand Dérangement.
In 1817 the population of the county was 9,817, and that had grown to 14,661 by 1827. At that time, the county was divided into six townships: Annapolis, Granville, Wilmot, Clements, Digby and Clare.[4]
By 1833, a number of reasons had been advanced for making two counties out of Annapolis County. Two petitions were presented to the House of Assembly in that year requesting that the county be divided. However, it was not until 1837 that Annapolis County was divided into two distinct and separate counties - Annapolis and Digby.
Demographics
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Annapolis County had a population of 21,252 living in 9,855 of its 11,612 total private dwellings, a change of 3.2% from its 2016 population of 20,591. With a land area of 3,183.23 km2 (1,229.05 sq mi), it had a population density of 6.7/km2 (17.3/sq mi) in 2021.[5]
Forming the majority of the Annapolis County census division, the Municipality of the County of Annapolis, including its Subdivisions A, B, C, and D, had a population of 18,834 living in 8,608 of its 10,268 total private dwellings, a change of 3.2% from its 2016 population of 18,252. With a land area of 3,172.36 km2 (1,224.86 sq mi), it had a population density of 5.9/km2 (15.4/sq mi) in 2021.[6]
