The district municipality occupies the eastern portion of the county and is one of three municipal units - the other two being the Town of Yarmouth and the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth. Argyle is a bilingual community, in which native speakers of English and French each account for about half of the population. As of 2016, 60% of the population speaks both French and English, one of the highest rates of bilingualism in Canada.
History
Originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, it was called "Bapkoktek". In 1766, after his service in the French and Indian Wars, Lt. Ranald MacKinnon was given a land grant of 2,000 acres (8.1 km). He called it Argyle (Argyll) because he was reminded of his previous home in the Highlands of Scotland. The township was granted in 1771.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Municipality of the District of Argyle had a population of 7,870 living in 3,455 of its 3,818 total private dwellings, a change of -0.4% from its 2016 population of 7,899. With a land area of 1,526.07 km (589.22 sq mi), it had a population density of 5.2/km (13.4/sq mi) in 2021.
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth had a population of 10,067 living in 4,430 of its 5,072 total private dwellings, a change of 2.3% from its 2016 population of 9,845. With a land area of 584.69 km (225.75 sq mi), it had a population density of 17.2/km (44.6/sq mi) in 2021.
