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Cape Breton Island

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Cape Breton Island island (1991 pop. 161,686), 3,970 sq mi (10,282 sq km), forming the northeastern part of N.S., Canada, and separated from the mainland by the narrow Gut, or Strait, of Canso. The easternmost point is called Cape Breton. The center of the island is occupied by the Bras d'Or salt lakes. Gently sloping in the south, the island rises to rugged hills in the wilder northern part. The inhabitants are mainly of Scottish Highlander descent. There are many summer resorts on the lakes and fishing villages on the coast. In the northeast are steelworks, once fueled by the extensive Sydney coal fields, which were worked from the 1720s to 2001.

The Cabot Trail, a scenic road through Cape Breton Highlands National Park, commemorates the discovery of Cape Breton Island in 1497 by John Cabot . The island was a French possession from 1632 to 1763. After the Peace of Utrecht (1713) many Acadians migrated there from mainland Nova Scotia, which was ceded to the English. They renamed the island Île Royale and established the fortress at Louisburg . With the final cession of Canada to the British (1763), Cape Breton was attached to Nova Scotia. It was made a separate colony in 1784, with Sydney as its capital, but was rejoined to Nova Scotia in 1820.

Bibliography: See history by R. J. Morgan (2 vol., 2008–9).

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"Cape Breton Island." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Cape Breton Island." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CapeBretIsl.html

"Cape Breton Island." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CapeBretIsl.html

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Cape Breton Island

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia/Canada Île Royale ‘Royal Island’ when it was a French colony, but renamed later, possibly by Basque fishermen from Cap Breton, near Bayonne in France. Captured by the British in 1758, it became part of Nova Scotia, but in 1784 it was hived off to become a British crown colony; it rejoined Nova Scotia in 1820.

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Cape Breton Island." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Cape Breton Island." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-CapeBretonIsland.html

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Cape Breton Island." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-CapeBretonIsland.html

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Cape Breton Island

The Oxford Companion to British History | 2002 | | Copyright

Cape Breton Island has formed part of Nova Scotia since 1820. Named Île Royale by the French, who built Louisbourg, it was ceded to Britain in 1763. There are French- and Gaelic-speaking communities, coal-mining, and an ailing steel industry. A causeway was built to the mainland in 1955.

Ged Martin

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JOHN CANNON. "Cape Breton Island." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Cape Breton Island." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-CapeBretonIsland.html

JOHN CANNON. "Cape Breton Island." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-CapeBretonIsland.html

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Cape Breton Island

A Dictionary of British History | 2004 | | Copyright

Cape Breton Island has formed part of Nova Scotia since 1820. Named Île Royale by the French, who built Louisbourg, it was ceded to Britain in 1763.

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JOHN CANNON. "Cape Breton Island." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Cape Breton Island." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-CapeBretonIsland.html

JOHN CANNON. "Cape Breton Island." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-CapeBretonIsland.html

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Cape Breton Island

A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology | 2004 | | Copyright

Cape Breton Island. See NOVA SCOTIA.

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JAMES MacKILLOP. "Cape Breton Island." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JAMES MacKILLOP. "Cape Breton Island." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-CapeBretonIsland.html

JAMES MacKILLOP. "Cape Breton Island." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-CapeBretonIsland.html

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