Today’s maps visualizes population density in Halifax Regional Municipality as recorded in the 2006 Census of Canada. This map demonstrates the clear urban-rural split in Halifax since the majority of census tracts outside of Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford/Sackville have a population density of less than 500 people per square kilometre:
Until you zoom into Halifax’s urban core, all of HRM appears to be washed out in a dull blue-white haze. By zooming down toward Halifax Harbour, however, we begin to see definite density patterns that run along major transportation corridors. In Dartmouth, high population numbers track along Main Street until it meets the Forest Hills Parkway, where the numbers begin to dwindle as suburban HRM turns into rural countryside. The same can be said of Highway 102 through Bedford and of Highway 101 at “the Sackvilles”: the population is situated very close to the highways, creeping out from the centre. Even west of the peninsula, the only census tract with a population density greater than 500 people per kilometre is in Timberlea, along Highway 103.
As with other mapped projections of census tract data for Halifax, the usual caveats apply. Keep in mind that we’re examining population figures for a part of Canada where tract configurations vary wildly. Some tracts are only 5 square kilometres while others are over 1000 square kilometres; populations range from the hundreds to the thousands. With this in mind, it is best to compare tract density figures only to their surrounding tracts, or to other tracts of a similar size.
Base Statistics:
- Population of Nova Scotia, 2006: 913,462
- Total Area of Nova Scotia, 2006:
52917.4571 square KM
- Population Density: 17.3
- Population of Halifax, 2006: 372,858
- Total Area of Halifax, 2006: 5,495.6192 square KM
- Population Density: 67.8
