 What is the truth about Nova Scotia and where the Vikings the first to bring Scots to Canada? Nova Scotia, meaning New Scotland in Latin, was one of the four original provinces of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, along with New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec. The French established a fur trading port at Port Royale in 1605. Early explorers gave this area the name Acadia, probably a corruption of a native word from the indigenous people of the land, the MiGma people. The present day name Nova Scotia is the result of very brief Scottish claims over the area around the 1620s. Britain and France fought over this territory until Britain eventually gained the upper hand. Subsequently, in order to strengthen their position in this area, the British moved foreign protestants from the likes of France and Germany into Nova Scotia modern day Nova Scotia and deported French-speaking Acadians en masse. During the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, numerous loyalists of the British crown moved into Nova Scotia and newly strengthened the British position there. Waves of Scottish and Scottish Irish people moved into Canada over the centuries as well, according to a 2016 census in Canada. The number of Canadians claiming full or partial Scottish descent was around 4.8 million, or just under 14% of the nation's total population. There are numerous nods to Scotland in Nova Scotia today, such as the Clyde River, the municipality of Argyll, Inverness Beach and New Glasgow to name a few. As well as explorers and imperialists, many normal Scots moved to Canada and Nova Scotia in search of a better life. Many moved after the Highland Clearances, where many Scots were forced from the land and didn't really have any prospects in Scotland itself. Many people also moved, Scotch-Irish people moved from Ulster, particularly after the Great Hunger in the 19th century. Centuries before all this however, the Vikings brought two Scottish slaves on one of their voyages to Vinland, the eastern coast of North America, and these two Scots potentially explored Nova Scotia itself, which is pretty mad to think. The story is told in the Vinland sagas, ancient sagas from around the 13th century, and it details how two Scots, Hackey and Hickja accompanied Thorfinn, Carol Sefney, an explorer on one of his voyages to Vinland. So the story goes that the Vikings sailed the length of the Fear Distrandor, this bit on Nova Scotia, essentially modern day Nova Scotia, and the Scots were told to jump out and explore the land south and return within three days. So it's likely that the Scots actually did explore Nova Scotia, what we call Nova Scotia today, if these sagas are true, which is really interesting to think. But what did the Scots find in this mysterious land? To find out, please click here. Thanks for watching, please subscribe and hit the bell, and I'll see you next time.