British Columbia Maps & Facts

The province’s mainland away from the coastal regions is somewhat moderated by the Pacific Ocean. 75 percent of the province is mountainous (more than 1,000 m 3,300 ft above sea level); 60 percent is forested; and only about 5 percent is arable. The province’s most populous city, Vancouver, sits at the confluence of the Fraser River and Georgia Strait in the southwest corner of the mainland, an area BC game commonly known as the Lower Mainland.

Maps of British Columbia

We can help in over 220 languages and through other accessible options. The B.C. Public Service acknowledges the territories of First Nations around B.C. Preparedness guides and community resources are available to help you prepare for potential emergencies.

Moody and his family arrived in British Columbia in December 1858, commanding the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment. With the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858, an influx of Americans into New Caledonia prompted the colonial office to designate the mainland as the Colony of British Columbia. In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the territory along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia, with the area south of this boundary (excluding Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands) transferred to sole American sovereignty. All that was changed with the westward extension of American exploration and the concomitant overlapping claims of territorial sovereignty, especially in the southern Columbia Basin (within present day Washington and Oregon). Among the places in British Columbia that began as fur trading posts are Fort St. John (established 1794); Hudson’s Hope (1805); Fort Nelson (1805); Fort St. James (1806); Prince George (1807); Kamloops (1812); Fort Langley (1827); Fort Victoria (1843); Yale (1848); and Nanaimo (1853). This opened the way for formal claims and colonization by other powers, including Britain, but because of the Napoleonic Wars, there was little British action on its claims in the region until later.

Where is British Columbia?

• The post-war era saw coalition governments and a booming economy, spearheaded by infrastructure projects and industrial expansion.
• The province’s topography features several mountain ranges, including the Canadian Rockies in the east, the Columbia Mountains in the southeast, and the Coast Mountains along the western coastline.
• Lands now known as British Columbia were added to the British Empire during the 19th century.
• Of the 4,648,055 population counted by the 2016 census, 4,598,415 people completed the section about language.

Located on the southeastern edge of Vancouver Island is Victoria – the provincial capital city of British Columbia. Km, British Columbia is the 5th largest and the 3rd most populous Canadian province. In addition to these regional districts, there are a total of 51 cities, 50 district municipalities, 1 Indian government district, 1 Island municipality, 2 Mountain resort municipalities, 1 resort municipality, 14 towns, and 42 villages. The Canadian Province of British Columbia is administratively divided into 26 regional districts. Additionally, British Columbia benefits from its abundant water resources, utilizing hydroelectric power to meet its energy needs.Notable parks include Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, which protects coastal rainforests and beaches, and Yoho National Park. The province’s vast forests provide timber for the thriving forestry industry, while the mountain ranges hold valuable mineral deposits, such as gold, copper, and coal.

Craters Of The Moon National Monument And Preserve

The early 20th century saw significant interaction between immigrants, First Nations, and economic forces. What had previously been an almost exclusively fur-trading and subsistence economy soon became an area for forestry, farming, and mining. This opened up the North Coast and Bulkley Valley region to new economic opportunities. About 55,570 of the province’s 400,000 residents, the highest per-capita rate in Canada, responded to the military’s need. In World War I, the province responded strongly to the call to assist the British Empire against its German foes in French and Belgian battlefields.

The Columbia District was broadly defined as being south of 54°40′ north latitude, (the southern limit of Russian America), north of Mexican-controlled California, and west of the Rocky Mountains. The establishment of trading posts by the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), effectively established a permanent British presence in the region. His expedition theoretically established British sovereignty inland, and a succession of other fur company explorers charted the maze of rivers and mountain ranges between the Canadian Prairies and the Pacific. The explorations of James Cook in 1778 and George Vancouver in 1792 and 1793 established British jurisdiction over the coastal area north and west of the Columbia River. While it is thought Francis Drake may have explored the British Columbian coast in 1579, it was Juan Pérez who completed the first documented voyage, which took place in 1774. During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30 percent of the Pacific Northwest First Nations.