Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word kiʔláwnaʔ, referring to a grizzly bear.
Okanagan Lake is a lake in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. The lake is 135 km (84 mi) long, between 4 and 5 km wide, and has a surface area of 348 km2.
The Okanagan, also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of the Okanagan Country, extending into the United States as Okanogan County in north-central Washington. According to the 2016 Canadian census, the region's population is 362,258. The largest populated cities are Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon, and West Kelowna.
Highway 97 is a major highway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the longest continuously numbered route in the province, running 2,081 km (1,293 mi) and is the only route that runs the entire north–south length of British Columbia, connecting the Canada–United States border near Osoyoos in the south to the British Columbia–Yukon boundary in the north at Watson Lake, Yukon.
The Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, representing two unincorporated Electoral Areas of Central Okanagan East and Central Okanagan West, along with the member municipalities of the City of Kelowna, City of West Kelowna, the District of Lake Country, the District of Peachland, and Westbank First Nation. The RDCO office is located in Kelowna.
Westbank is one of the communities within the City of West Kelowna in the province of British Columbia. It is 12 km to the west of Kelowna. Other communities in West Kelowna include Casa Loma, West Kelowna Estates, Shannon Lake, Smith Creek, Glenrosa, Rose Valley and Lakeview Heights. Westbank sits to the south of West Kelowna.
Lake Country is a district municipality with a population of approximately 15,000 in the Okanagan Valley region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a part of the Central Okanagan Regional District, and of the Kelowna metropolitan area. The city of Kelowna lies to the south, while the city of Vernon lies to the north. As its name suggests, there are a number of lakes in the vicinity of Lake Country, and outside the municipal boundaries in the hills to the east. Okanagan Lake defines the western boundary of the municipality, while the entirety of Wood Lake and the southernmost portion of Kalamalka Lake are encompassed by it.
Skaha Lake is a freshwater lake, through which the Okanagan River flows, in the Okanagan region of south central British Columbia. Along the shoreline are Penticton (north), Kaleden (west), and Okanagan Falls (south).
Mount Boucherie is a mountain located in West Kelowna on the west shore of Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canada, opposite the city of Kelowna. It is the remnants of a former stratovolcano created nearly 60 million years ago. Between four and six different glacial periods over the past 50 million years have eroded the volcano to produce Mount Boucherie. Though it now only rises 417 metres above the nearby lake level, it is estimated to once have had an elevation of 2,000 m (6,562 ft) or more.
Winfield is a neighbourhood and formal ward within the District Municipality of Lake Country, British Columbia, located adjacent to the northern city boundary of Kelowna.
School District 23 Central Okanagan is a school district in the Okanagan valley of British Columbia. It includes the cities of Kelowna, and West Kelowna, and the District Municipalities of Lake Country, and Peachland, and is the 5th largest district in BC. The boundaries of the school district are identical to those of the Regional District of Central Okanagan.
Kelowna Pacific Railway was a short-line railroad, formerly a Canadian National Railway line, leased by Knighthawk Rail. The KPR's line ran from Kelowna to Kamloops through the Okanagan Valley. Operations started on January 30, 2000, and ended on July 5, 2013, when the company entered receivership.
The Okanagan Country, also known as the Okanagan Valley, is a region located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington, defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Okanagan River. With an estimated 400,000 residents, the Okanagan Country spans from the Thompson Plateau near Grindrod, British Columbia in the Okanagan to the Okanagan Highland near Douglas County, Washington in the Okanogan. The largest city in the Canadian portion is Kelowna, with a metropolitan population of 222,162 residents as of 2021, while the largest city in the American portion is Omak, with 4,860 residents as of 2020. The region took its current name in honor of the Okanagan term, ukʷnaqín. The mild climate and close proximity to lakes, rivers and mountainous regions make the Okanagan Country an outdoor recreational destination. The region's economy is dominated by the primary sector industries of agriculture and forestry, although economic diversification has also occurred with retirement communities and recreational tourism. The American portion is considered to be more remote than the Canadian division, with approximately 10 percent of the population.
West Kelowna, formerly known as Westside and colloquially known as Westbank, is a city in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley on the west shore of Okanagan Lake. The city encompasses several neighbourhoods, including Casa Loma, Gellatly, Glenrosa, Lakeview Heights, Shannon Lake, Smith Creek, Rose Valley, Westbank, and West Kelowna Estates. As of 2021, West Kelowna had an estimated population of 36,078.
Kelowna West or Westside-Kelowna is a former provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada. It combined a portion of the City of Kelowna on the east shore of Lake Okanagan with communities on the west shore.
Kelowna Regional Transit System is operated by Transdev, providing public bus transportation services in part of the central Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Funding for the transit system is shared between the City of Kelowna, Regional District of Central Okanagan, District of Lake Country, City of West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and BC Transit, while the planning and routing decisions are primarily made by Kelowna City Council. Kelowna Regional Transit was one of the first public transit systems in Canada to have double-decker buses, and the first in Canada to have hybrid buses on regular routes. The hybrid and double deckers buses have since been relocated to Victoria.
Okanagan Mission, also known colloquially as the Mission is a neighbourhood of the City of Kelowna in the Okanagan region of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located on the south side of the city at the foot of Okanagan Mountain. It derives its name from the Okanagan Mission founded by Father Pandosy, historically known as the Okanagan Mission, which was located here and was the first non-native settlement in the Okanagan Valley.
The Okanagan Valley wine region, located within the region of the same name in the British Columbia Interior, is Canada's second-largest wine producing area. Along with the nearby Similkameen Valley, the approximately 8,619 acres of vineyards planted in the Okanagan account for more than 80% of all wine produced in British Columbia, and are second in economic importance for wine production to the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. Some 182 licensed wineries existed from south to north in the valley in 2018, with many situated along the 135 km (84 mi)-long Okanagan Lake and its tributaries and downstream lakes, including Skaha Lake, Vaseux Lake, and Osoyoos Lake. The Okanagan has diverse terrain that features many different microclimates and vineyard soil types, contributing characteristics which are part of an Okanagan terroir.
Mission Creek is a large creek in the Okanagan Region of British Columbia. Originally called N'wha-kwi-sen, it was later mapped as Rivière de l’Anse-au-Sable, the name Mission Creek was adopted in 1860 in honour of the Catholic Oblate Mission established by Father Pandosy and other settlers. The Creek rises in the Greystoke Mountain Range and runs west about 43 kilometres (27 mi) before emptying into Okanagan Lake south of Kelowna. Its watershed covers about 200,000 square kilometres . Mission Creek was designated a BC Heritage River by the province in 1996.
97 Express Kelowna RapidBus or 97 Okanagan is a bus rapid transit line operated by Kelowna Regional Transit System since September 2010 in Central Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada. The service connects UBC Okanagan Exchange, Downtown Kelowna and Westbank Centre. 97X RapidBus offers high speed bus service by utilizing traffic signal priority and HOV lanes on Highway 97.
