British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. British Columbia borders the province of Alberta to the east; the territories of Yukon to the north; the Northwest Territories to the northeast; the US states of Washington, Idaho and Montana to the south; and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of over 5.5 million as of 2023, it is Canada's third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, while the province's largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada; with the 2021 census recording 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver.
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,100 km2 (12,400 sq mi) in total area, while 31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi) are of land. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along the west coasts of the Americas.
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for 1,375 kilometres (854 mi), into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual discharge at its mouth is 112 cubic kilometres (27 cu mi) or 3,550 cubic metres per second (125,000 cu ft/s), and each year it discharges about 20 million tons of sediment into the ocean.
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Set up in 1960 to provide a similar service to that provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by job action at the time, BC Ferries has become the largest passenger ferry line in North America, operating a fleet of 41 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast.
Saysutshun Provincial Park, formally known as Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park, is a provincial park located on a small island off the coast of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.
Comox is a town on the southern coast of the Comox Peninsula in the Strait of Georgia on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Thousands of years ago, the warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil, and abundant sea life attracted First Nations, who called the area kw'umuxws.
The Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United States. It is approximately 240 kilometres (150 mi) long and varies in width from 20 to 58 kilometres. Along with the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, it is a constituent part of the Salish Sea.
The history of British Columbia covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day British Columbia were inhabited for millennia by a number of First Nations.
Mayne Island is a 21-square-kilometre (8.1 sq mi) island in the southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is midway between the Lower Mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, and has a population of 995. Mount Parke in the south-central heart of the island is its highest peak at 255 metres.
The Comox Valley is a region on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, that includes the city of Courtenay, the town of Comox, the village of Cumberland, and the unincorporated settlements of Royston, Union Bay, Fanny Bay, Black Creek, and Merville. The communities of Denman Island and Hornby Island are also considered part of the Comox Valley. The Comox Valley contains the 47th largest metropolitan area in Canada with a population of about 76,000 as of 2022.
The Musqueam Indian Band is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the only First Nations band whose reserve community lies within the boundaries of the City of Vancouver.
Jervis Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast, about 95 km (59 mi) northwest of Vancouver, and the third of such inlets north of the 49th parallel, the first of which is Burrard Inlet, Vancouver's harbour.
Parts of this article have been adapted from the BC Parks website.
Strathcona Provincial Park is the oldest provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, and the largest on Vancouver Island. Founded in 1911, the park was named for Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, a wealthy philanthropist and railway pioneer. It lies within the Strathcona Regional District. The Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve, established in 2000, includes three watersheds in the western area of the park.
Fanny Bay is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located on Baynes Sound on the east coast of Vancouver Island. It has a population of 921. It is best known for its fine oysters. The area is served by the Island Highway.
Indian Arm is a steep-sided glacial fjord adjacent to the city of Vancouver in southwestern British Columbia. Formed during the last Ice Age, it extends due north from Burrard Inlet, between the communities of Belcarra and the District of North Vancouver, then on into mountainous wilderness. Burrard Inlet and the opening of Indian Arm was mapped by Captain George Vancouver and fully explored days later by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano in June 1792.
Gambier Island is an island located in Howe Sound near Vancouver, British Columbia. It is about 17,049 acres in size and is located about 10 kilometres north of the Horseshoe Bay community and ferry terminal in westernmost West Vancouver.
Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island.
Checleset Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is located southeast of Brooks Peninsula and northwest of Kyuquot Sound. Much of the land around the bay is part of Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park. Checleset Bay has three large inlets, Nasparti Inlet, Ououkinsh Inlet, and Malksope Inlet.
Pachena Bay is located 13 km (8.1 mi) south of Bamfield in Pacific Rim National Park at the southern end of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It was the location of a First Nation's village that was destroyed by a tsunami in 1700.
