The Halifax Common is Canada's oldest public park. It is centrally located with wide fields which make it a popular location for sports. Some of Halifax's most popular attractions are the Halifax Pop Explosion, Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The downtown area has a great music and nightlife scene.
The city of Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia. The city is made up of a downtown core, with rural areas to the east west and north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Many residents from the rural areas commute to Halifax to work in the downtown core.
Halifax has a population of 403,131 with 316,701 residing in the urban area centered on the Halifax Harbour. The urban area is the most populous on Canada's Atlantic Coast and the second largest coastal population centre in Canada. Halifax is a major economic centre in Atlantic Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers in the city include the Department of National Defence, Dalhousie University and the Port of Halifax. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are the major industries in the rural areas of the city.
