CANADIAN RELOCATION
BRITISH COLUMBIA PROFILE

British Columbia is the westernmost province. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the U.S. state of Alaska, on the north by the Yukon and Northwest Territories, on the east by the province of Alberta, and on the south by the northwestern United States. British Columbia stretches 740 miles (1,180 km) from north to south and 640 miles (1,020 km) from east to west at its widest point. Area: 365,948 square miles (947,800 square km)

The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the Colony of British Columbia. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, and the second-largest in the Pacific Northwest. In October 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371 (about 2.5 million of whom were in Greater Vancouver). The province is currently governed by the BC Liberal Party, led by Premier Christy Clark.

At the time of the initial contact with European explorers, Indians in the area numbered about 80,000. The coast was dominated by such peoples as the Coast Salish, Nootka, Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, Tsimshian, and Haida. The area was first seen by Europeans in the late 18th century. Spanish ships came first (in 1774), followed by the British explorer Captain James Cook, who was searching for the Northwest Passage. British and American fur traders were the first to explore the area, and for years the claim to Vancouver Island was in dispute. The island was finally recognized as solely British territory, and in 1849 it was made a crown colony by the imperial government.

The first large immigration occurred with the gold strike of 1858, creating a city out of Fort Victoria (the western headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company) and opening the mainland to settlement. The mainland was proclaimed the Colony of British Columbia in 1858. The two colonies joined Canada in 1871 as the province of British Columbia.

The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 and the extension of the line to Vancouver in 1887 stimulated settlement, and the establishment of a steamship line connecting Vancouver with Asia in 1891 assured that city's future as a port.

Hundreds of coastal islands--the largest of which are Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islands--offer protection to ships along the coastline. The broad Fraser River delta, behind Vancouver to the south, is the largest of the limited coastal lowlands. More than half of the province's land is forested, while another third is barren tundra, snowfields, and glaciers. More than three-quarters of the province is above 3,000 feet (900 m) in elevation.

British Columbia in the late 20th century was the most urbanized province of Canada and also one of the most racially diverse. People of British descent formed the controlling elite, though the arrival after 1945 of large numbers of Europeans, especially Dutch, Germans, and Italians, has challenged the province's ethnic identity. More recent arrivals include ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong and Sikhs from India.

In the late 20th century the province had a modern and prosperous economy based on logging for the production of sawn lumber and plywood; the extraction of coal, copper, and oil and natural gas; hydroelectric production along various rivers; and the raising of grain, fruits, and cattle in the warmer and more sheltered lowland areas. Tourism and the shipping trade are also vital to the economy. Vancouver is the largest port of Canada, providing shipping facilities for the prairie provinces and the Yukon.

Provincial parliamentary government dates to 1856, but the present system of government was formed in 1871 when British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation. Members of the legislative assembly are elected to a four-year term, with predetermined election dates. The executive branch is headed by a premier, who is leader of the majority party in the assembly and who selects the members of the executive council from the assembly. A lieutenant governor appointed by the Canadian governor-general represents the federal government. The Social Credit Party and the New Democratic Party dominated the province's politics in the second half of the 20th century.

The University of British Columbia (1908) is the chief centre for higher education in the province.

Many cultural activities in British Columbia tend to reflect its pioneer background and an economic orientation toward resource industries and the outdoors. Of note are the annual Williams Lake Stampede and the Kelowna Regatta. Vancouver is the major urban cultural centre, with museums, art galleries, and a theatre complex.

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