Peggy's Cove lighthouse in Nova Scotia

With 7,400 kilometres of Atlantic coastline to explore, Nova Scotia certainly lives up to its reputation as "Canada's Ocean Playground".

A remote and rugged province, more than a third of its 937,000-strong population lives in its capital, Halifax.

Extending for 560 kilometres, in Nova Scotia you are never more than 56km from the ocean. Tourists are increasingly flocking to this province to explore its roaring surf beaches, long sandy stretches, dramatic cliffs, rocky coves, pristine bays and old-world fishing villages.

Nova Scotia has longed looked to the ocean to pay its way, and the burgeoning tourism industry has seen remarkable growth in the likes of sports fishing and whale-watching. The best spots for whale-watching are off sleepy Westport on Brier Island as well as at Cheticamp and Pleasant Bay.

The craggy coastline of Nova Scotia's sparsely-populated Cape Breton Island has come to epitomize the salty romance of the Canadian Maritimes. The island is the domain of quaint Acadian settlements, inland lakes, fast-flowing rivers and picturesque highlands. The Cabot Trail - a 300km-long highway that winds around the Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the island's northwest coast - is Nova Scotia's most scenic drive, and widely considered the most breathtaking coastal road in the country.

The southern half of the province also boasts a glut of scenic attractions: the apple orchards of the rolling Annapolis Valley; the colourful World Heritage-listed coastal town of Lunenburg; and the Tobeatic and Kejimikujik national parks which together make up the UNESCO Southern Nova Scotia Biosphere Preserve - Atlantic Canada's largest protected wilderness area.

Nova Scotia is an ethnically diverse province, with a rich Scottish heritage (Gaelic is still spoken in some pockets), Acadian influence (French is widely used) and a number of Mi'kmaw First Nations communities. Nova Scotia's diversity is reflected in its array of summertime festivals, from the Celtic Colours International Festival on Cape Breton Island and the Festival Acadien de Clare in Clare to New Scotland Days in Pictou and the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival.

Ferries link Nova Scotia with Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island as well as to Maine in the United States.

Halifax is home to Nova Scotia's main international airport.