Nova Scotia (“New Scotland“) is one of Canada’s three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province of the four in Atlantic Canada. Located almost exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole (44º 39′ N Latitude), its provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada, with an area of 55,284 square kilometres (21,300 sq mi), including Cape Breton and some 3,800 coastal islands. As of 2011, the population was 921,727, making Nova Scotia the second-most-densely populated province in Canada.

Nova Scotia is Canada’s second-smallest province in area after Prince Edward Island. The province’s mainland is the Nova Scotia peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, including numerous bays and estuaries. Nowhere in Nova Scotia is more than 67 km (42 mi) from the ocean. Cape Breton Island, a large island to the northeast of the Nova Scotia mainland, is also part of the province, as is Sable Island, a small island notorious for its shipwrecks, approximately 175 km (110 mi) from the province’s southern coast.

Nova Scotia lies in the mid-temperate zone and, although the province is almost surrounded by water, the climate is closer to continental rather than maritime. The temperature extremes of the continental climate are moderated by the ocean.

Described on the provincial vehicle-licence plate as Canada’s Ocean Playground, the sea is a major influence on Nova Scotia’s climate. Nova Scotia’s cold winters and warm summers are modified and generally moderated by ocean influences. The province is surrounded by four major bodies of water, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the north, the Bay of Fundy to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southwest, and Atlantic Ocean to the southeast.

The annual temperatures are:

• Spring from 1 °C (34 °F) to 17 °C (63 °F)
• Summer from 14 °C (57 °F) to 28 °C (82 °F)^[18]
• Autumn about 5 °C (41 °F) to 20 °C (68 °F)
• Winter about −9 °C (16 °F) to 0 °C (32 °F)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Scotia