|
British Columbia, or simply B.C. (French: la
Colombie-Britannique) is the westernmost of Canada's provinces. It was the sixth province to join the confederation of
Canada (in 1871). As of 2004, the population was
4,168,123 (British Columbians).
Geography
Its capital is Victoria, at the southeast
of Vancouver Island. Its most populous city is Vancouver, which is in the southwest corner of the
mainland of Canada (the city is not on Vancouver Island). Other major cities include Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, and New Westminster in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and Kelowna and Kamloops in the "Interior." Prince George is the major city nearest the centre of the province; however, a small town
called Vanderhoof 100 km to the west, is much nearer the geographic centre.
British Columbia is on the extreme west of Canada, on the Pacific coast. It is bound on the northwest by the U.S. state of
Alaska, directly north by Yukon and the
Northwest Territories, on the east by Alberta, and on the south by the states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846
Oregon Treaty.
The Canadian Rockies and the Inside Passage's fjords provide some of British Columbia's
renowned and spectacular scenery, which forms the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry. The Okanagan area is
the premier wine-growing region in Canada and produces excellent ciders, but exports
little of either drink. The small rural towns of Penticton, Oliver, and Osoyoos have some of the warmest summer climates in Canada and provide hospitality to visitors from around the world.
Much of Vancouver Island is covered by a temperate rain forest, one of a mere handful of such ecosystems in the world (notable others being on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and in Chile.
Parks
British Columbia contains seven of Canada's national parks:
BC also contains a large network of provincial parks, run by BC Parks (http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/) of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.
Recreation
Whitewater Paddling in British Columbia
Politics
BC has a 79-member elected Legislative Assembly. The members are currently elected by the First Past the Post system, but a Citizens' Assembly has recommended replacing this with a Single Transferable Vote system in 2009. A referendum in May
2005 will determine if this change goes ahead.
Politically, British Columbia has tended to swing between right and left, with little middle ground. Within Canada, BC is viewed much as California is in the United
States, prone to unusual politics and scandals. Currently it is governed by the more conservative British
Columbia Liberal Party under Gordon Campbell. However, for a
decade before, it was led by the left-wing NDP. Before that, the
government was led by the right-wing Social Credit Party for many years,
but in the early 1990s the party collapsed due to scandal.
See also: List of British Columbia general elections
History
Main article: History of British
Columbia
From 1818 to 1846, British Columbia south of
54°40′ and west of the Rocky Mountains was part of the Oregon Country. The land was under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company, and was divided into the departments of
Columbia (south of the Columbia River) and New Caledonia (north of the river).
In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the territory along the 49th parallel to Georgia Strait, with the area north of this boundary (and all of Vancouver Island) becoming exclusively British
territory. Vancouver Island became a Crown colony in 1849.
In 1858, in response to the Fraser Canyon gold rush, the mainland portion of the former Oregon Country was organized
into the colony of British Columbia. The Cariboo region ("Central Interior") of
British Columbia experienced a gold rush in the years 1862 to 1865. This created a rapid influx of miners and settlers, about 30,000 in all. The colonial authorities feared the
gold rush might spread beyond B.C.'s northern border (54°40′ north), so the Stikine Territory was created in 1862. However, the following year
this new territory was disestablished, most of its area going to B.C., whose northern limit was increased to its current
location, 60° north.
This period in the province's history is acknowledged today in the Gold Rush Trail: historic and other sites along the
route from Lillooet to Barkerville and beyond. Some of the towns along this route are numbered according to their distance from the
end of the navigable part of the Fraser River at Lillooet. Best known of
these is the town of 100 Mile House which, along with the residential
hub of 108 Mile Ranch, forms a substantial trading, tourism, and
population centre for this region.
After the mainland's gold rushes collapsed and the colony almost went bankrupt from building roads in its interior, the two
colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia agreed to merge and share the debt. The merger was effected in 1866, with the name British Columbia being applied to the newly united colony.
Several factors played in the decision of British Columbia to join the Dominion of Canada in 1871. These included fear of annexation to the United States, the overwhelming debt created by rapid population growth, the need
for government-funded services to support this population, and the economic depression caused by the end of the gold rush.
The decision to join Canada was made largely because the Canadian government offered to link British Columbia to the more
settled parts of Canada via the Canadian Pacific
Railway and offered to pay off the $1,000,000 British Columbian debt. On July 20,
1871, British Columbia became a member of the Dominion of Canada.
The completion of the CPR was a huge boost to Vancouver, the line's terminus, and it rapidly grew to become one of Canada's
largest cities. The province became a centre of fishing, mining, and especially of logging throughout the twentieth century.
In 1907, British Columbia's territory shrank somewhat after the Alaska Boundary Dispute awarded part of northwestern B.C. to
the Americans.
B.C. has long taken advantage of its Pacific coast to have close relations with East Asia. This has also caused friction however with frequent feelings of animosity towards Asian immigrants.
This was most manifest during the Second World War when many people
of Japanese descent were interned in the interior of the province.
The post-World War II years saw Vancouver and Victoria also become
cultural centres as poets and artists flocked to the beautiful scenery and warmer temperatures. Tourism also began to play an
important role in the economy. The rise of Japan and other Pacific economies was a great boost to the B.C. economy.
Maps
Cities
One half of all British Columbians live in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, notably containing Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Coquitlam, and Richmond.
Other cities:
See also: List of
communities in British Columbia
List of communities
in British Columbia
List of
British Columbia Regional Districts
List of
British Columbia provincial highways
List of British Columbia
Universities
Same-sex marriage in
British Columbia
British Columbia Ferry
Corporation
BC Hydro
Canada
|
