Annapolis Royal, town, seat of Annapolis County, in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, at the mouth of the Annapolis River, along an arm of the Bay of Fundy. It is a commercial center and a summer resort. Annapolis Royal is the oldest permanent European settlement in Canada. It was founded as Port Royal in 1605 at a nearby site by the French explorers Samuel de Champlain and Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts. The community was moved to its present location in 1635. The French and British fought over the settlement until 1710, when the British gained definitive control. In that year, it was renamed in honor of Queen Anne. Annapolis Royal served as the capital of Nova Scotia from 1713 until the founding of Halifax in 1749. A reconstruction of the 1605 Port Royal settlement is included in Port Royal Habitation National Historic Site, and remnants of early fortifications at Annapolis Royal are in Fort Anne National Historic Park. Annapolis Royal was incorporated in 1892. Population 631 (1986); 583 (1996).
