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British Columbia, Canada

British Columbia
  • Colombie-Britannique (French)
Flag of British Columbia
Flag
Coat of arms of British Columbia
Coat of arms
Motto: Latin: Splendor sine occasu
(English: Splendour without diminishment)
BC
Canadian Provinces and Territories
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
 • 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.gov.bc.ca
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 and Alaska.

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.


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Wikipedia

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