Where is Cape Breton Island?

Cape Breton Island, is usally a irregularly shaped island. This island is a hilly island and it is present in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada,which is located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

About the Island

The length of the island is 177 km and the width is 140 km. Strait of Canso is the one which separates this Cape Breton Island from the mainland of Nova Scotia and it is divided into two parts by the large Bras d'Or Lake.

The area of this island is 10,311 sq km

History of the Island

In 1497, John Cabot was the first European to discover this island and he is a famous Italian navigator .The French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534,  visited this island,and it was he who named this island asCap Breton,and it is named after a region of France.

A group of Scots in 1629 founded the island's first settlement by the Europeans and after that it was captured by the French. However in 1713,by the Peace of Utrecht, this island was formally assigned to France.

During the early 18th century, at Louisbourg, in the southeast,the French built a large fortress, which is now a part of Louisbourg National Historic Park,so that they could defend the sea route to the St. Lawrence River.

But in 1745, during King George's War,this fortress was seized by British colonial forces, but three years later it was returned to French control.The British managed to destroy the fortress and they also gained possession of the island,during the Seven Years' War,in 1758.

Since 1763 this island was under the administration of Nova Scotia.But for 36 years between 1784 and 1820,it was considered as a separate British colony and it also served as  a shelter for American refugees who were loyal to Britain during the American Revolution, which took place between 1775 and 1783.

Tourist Attraction

The reason why many tourists visit Cape Breton Island  is due to the rugged landforms and also due to the cool summer climate. Apart from this another reason why many tourists visit here is "the Cabot Trail", because this is a scenic road which provides the tourists with a  spectacular view along the northeastern coast.

This road aslo passes through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.The important thing about this Cape Breton Highlands National Park is that it contains uplands which has maximum altitude of 1,747 feet.

Apart from Tourism the important industries on the island includes

i)coal mining

ii)Steelmaking

iii)Fishing and

iv)Lumbering

Cape Breton Regional Municipality is the region which contains the principal coal mines.The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is very popular as it has the island's main urban center,that also includes some large steel mills.

Other than this town,there are also some other important towns like

i)Port Hawkesbury

ii)Baddeck and

iii)Ingonish

Inhabitants of the Island

When it comes to the inhabitants of this Island most of them are descended from the Highland Scots and they got settled there by the beggining of the 19th century.Apart from these inhabitants some of the French-Canadians and a small number of Mi’kmaq are also live in this island.

The population was around  161,806 in 1991