The City of Halifax was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County, and was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996.The Town of Halifax was founded by British government under the direction of the Board of Trade and Plantations under the command of Governor Edward Cornwallis in 1749.Today the area of the former City of Halifax is now referred to as an unincorporated "provincial metropolitan area" by the provincial government's place name website and the area is referred to as "Halifax, Nova Scotia" for civic addressing and as a placename.