Western Canada

Western Canada
Region
Country	Canada
Provinces	British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba
Area	2,703,159 km2 (1,043,696 sq mi)
Population	11,091,947 (2016)
Density	4/km2 (10/sq mi)
Western Canada, defined geographically

Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and more commonly known as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. British Columbia is culturally, economically, geographically, and politically distinct from the other parts of Western Canada and is often referred to as the "west coast" or "Pacific Canada", while Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are grouped together as the Prairie Provinces and most commonly known as "The Prairies".

The capital cities of the four western provinces, from West to East, are; Victoria (British Columbia), Edmonton (Alberta), Regina (Saskatchewan) and Winnipeg (Manitoba). Except for Winnipeg, which is the largest city in Manitoba; all the provincial capitals of the Western Provinces are located in second-largest metropolitan areas of their respective province.

As of the 2016 Census, the total population of Western Canada was nearly 11.1 million, including approximately 4.65 million in British Columbia, 4.07 million in Alberta, 1.1 million in Saskatchewan, and 1.28 million in Manitoba. This represents 31.5% of Canada's population. While Vancouver serves as the largest metropolitan area in Western Canada,Calgary serves as the largest city.

As of the 2011 Census, Statistics Canada recognized nine census metropolitan areas within Western Canada, including four in British Columbia, two in each of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and one in Manitoba. The following is a list of these areas and their populations as of 2011.