Cape Breton Countyis one of eighteencountiesin the CanadianprovinceofNova Scotia. It is located onCape Breton Island.From 1879 to 1995, the area of the county excluded from towns and cities was incorporated as theMunicipality of the County of Cape Bretonto provide local government services. Since 1995 the only municipality in the county has been a single-tier municipality calledCape Breton Regional Municipality.
Taking its name fromCape Breton, the most easterly point of the island which was called after theBretonsofBrittany, the county has what is probably the oldest surviving European name to have been used to designate part of North America.