Lunenburg

Town and administrative headquarters of Lunenburg County, southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, on a peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, 64 km/40 mi southwest of Halifax; population (1991) 2,800. There are shipyards, fish processing plants, foundries, and marine engine works. The town is also a tourist centre and has an annual Fisheries Exhibition and Fishermen's Reunion, and the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

History Once an Acadian village, it was resettled by the British in 1753 with largely German-speaking Protestants, and became an agricultural and fishing centre. In the 19th century it was central to Canada's Atlantic fisheries, producing especially dried cod. As a shipbuilding centre, it is best known for the fishing/racing schooner Bluenose (1921).