British Columbia History, Facts, Map, & Flag

Find resources, maps, and local expertise at BC’s visitor centers to enhance your trip planning. Explore British Columbia’s diverse terrain with online and print maps of regions, cities, parks, and routes. Access BC through airports like Vancouver, highways, and ferries, with various transport options including flights and scenic drives. Thanks to increasing accessibility in accommodations, transportation, and attractions, we ensure a welcoming and inclusive journey for all British Columbia’s vibrant festivals and events celebrate its diverse culture, arts, and stunning natural beauty throughout the year. Bursting with warm sunshine, perfect for exploring lush rainforests, sparkling coastlines, and vibrant cities.

Examples of BC used in Sentences

• Establishing a labour force to develop the province was problematic, and British Columbia was a destination of immigration from Europe, China, Japan and India.
• Most of the thousands of lakes are small, but they are important for the water they store in an age when hydroelectric power has become a prized resource.
• Forestry drew workers to the temperate rainforests of the coast, which was also the locus of a growing fishery.
• Coastal southern British Columbia has a mild and rainy climate influenced by the North Pacific Current.
• Prior to 1979, surface public transit in the Vancouver and Victoria metropolitan areas was administered by BC Hydro, the provincially owned electricity utility.

Following the election, the Greens entered into negotiations with both the Liberals and NDP, eventually announcing they would support an NDP minority government. British Columbia is divided into regional districts as a means to better enable municipalities and rural areas to work together at a regional level. During the absence of the lieutenant governor, the Governor in Council (federal Cabinet) may appoint an administrator to execute the duties of the office. British Columbia’s economy experienced strong growth in recent years with a total growth rate of 9.6% from 2017 to 2021, a growth rate that was second in the country.

In winter, cross-country and telemark skiing are much enjoyed, and in recent decades high-quality downhill skiing has been developed in the Coast Mountain range and the Rockies, as well as in the southern areas of the Shuswap Highlands and the Columbia Mountains. Given its varied mountainous terrain and its coasts, lakes, rivers, and forests, British Columbia has long been enjoyed for pursuits like hiking and camping, rock climbing and mountaineering, hunting and fishing. Other fruits grown in the province include peaches, pears, plums, apricots, strawberries, blackberries, cranberries, and loganberries.

New SkyTrain stations taking shape for transit riders south of Fraser River

The northeast corner of the province east of the Rockies, known as the Peace River Block, was attached to the much larger Athabasca District, headquartered in Fort Chipewyan, in present-day Alberta. The interior south of the Thompson River watershed and north of the Columbia was organized into the Columbia District, administered from Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River. The bulk of the central and northern interior was organized into the New Caledonia district, administered from Fort St. James. Another tier of parks in British Columbia are regional parks, which are maintained and run by the province’s regional districts. 12.5 percent of the province’s area (114,000 km2 or 44,000 sq mi) is considered protected under one of the 14 different designations that includes over 800 distinct areas. During El Niño events, the jet stream is much farther south across North America, making the province’s winters milder and drier than normal.

British Columbia is the most diverse province in Canada; as of 2021, the province had the highest proportion of visible minorities in the country. The metropolitan area also includes several Indian reserves (the governments of which are not part of the regional district). Statistics Canada’s 2021 Canadian census recorded a population of 5,000,879 — making British Columbia Canada’s third-most populous province after Ontario and Quebec. However, the COVID-19 vaccine reduced the spread, with 78 percent of people in BC over the age of five having been fully vaccinated. By 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic had had a major effect on the province, with over 2,000 deaths and 250,000 confirmed cases. In 2023, British Columbia experienced a net population loss of 8,624; a substantial percentage of which were people who moved to Alberta.

Local services are limited to two regions, with TransLink providing rapid transit and commuter services in the Lower Mainland and by the Seton Lake Indian Band South of Lillooet with the Kaoham Shuttle. In the capital city of Victoria, BC Transit and the provincial government’s infrastructure ministry are working together to create a bus rapid transit from the Westshore communities to downtown Victoria. Subsequently, the province established BC Transit to oversee and operate all municipal transportation systems. Prior to 1979, surface public transit in the Vancouver and Victoria metropolitan areas was administered by BC Hydro, the provincially owned electricity utility.

Farming, natural resources and industry

The province reaches its highest elevation in the far northwest at Mount Fairweather (15,300 feet 4,663 metres), located in the St. Elias Mountains (a range of the Coast Mountains) on the Alaskan border. The two major ranges are the Coast Mountains, which lie in the western part of the province, and the Canadian portion of the Rocky Mountains in the eastern part. Its main cities include Vancouver, one of the largest ports of Canada and of western North America, and Victoria, the Bc Game App provincial capital, located on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. One of the last regions of the North American continent to be explored and settled, British Columbia emerged in the second half of the 20th century as one of the leading provinces of Canada in population, economic wealth, and overall growth.