British Columbia Colombie-Britannique (French) |
|||
---|---|---|---|
|
|||
Motto: Latin: Splendor sine occasu (English: Splendour without diminishment) |
|||
Confederation | July 20, 1871 (7th) | ||
Capital | Victoria | ||
Largest city | Vancouver | ||
Largest metro | Metro Vancouver | ||
Government | |||
• Type | Constitutional monarchy | ||
• Lieutenant Governor | Judith Guichon | ||
• Premier | Christy Clark (BC Liberal) | ||
Legislature | Legislative Assembly of British Columbia | ||
Federal representation | (in Canadian Parliament) | ||
House seats | 42 of 338 (12.4%) | ||
Senate seats | 6 of 105 (5.7%) | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 944,735 km2 (364,764 sq mi) | ||
• Land | 925,186 km2 (357,216 sq mi) | ||
• Water | 19,548.9 km2 (7,547.9 sq mi) 2.1% | ||
Area rank | Ranked 5th | ||
9.5% of Canada | |||
Population (2016) | |||
• Total | 4,648,055 | ||
• Estimate (2017 Q1) | 4,777,157 | ||
• Rank | Ranked 3rd | ||
• Density | 5/km2 (10/sq mi) | ||
Demonym(s) | British Columbian | ||
Official languages | English | ||
GDP | |||
• Rank | 4th | ||
• Total (2015) | C$249.981 billion | ||
• Per capita | C$53,267 (8th) | ||
Time zone |
Pacific (most of province) Mountain (far eastern) UTC−8 & −7 |
||
Postal abbr. | BC | ||
Postal code prefix | V | ||
ISO 3166 code | CA-BC | ||
Flower | Pacific dogwood | ||
Tree | Western red cedar | ||
Bird | Steller's jay | ||
Website | www |
||
Rankings include all provinces and territories |
British Columbia (BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, with a population of more than four million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the U.S. states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and western Montana.
The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, which gave rise to the city of Victoria, at first the capital of the separate Colony of Vancouver Island. Subsequently, on the mainland, the Colony of British Columbia (1858–66) was founded by Richard Clement Moody and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Moody was Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for the Colony and the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia: he was hand-picked by the Colonial Office in London to transform British Columbia into the British Empire's "bulwark in the farthest west", and "to found a second England on the shores of the Pacific". Moody selected the site for and founded the original capital of British Columbia, New Westminster, established the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park, and designed the first version of the Coat of arms of British Columbia.Port Moody is named after him.