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- 948,596 km2 (366,281 sq.miles), rougly 2 1/2 times the size of California, Japan or Germany.
- Serrated coasts, large islands. Mountains rising from deep fjords.
- Interior is mountainous with high plateaus, major lake and river systems. Southern pocket deserts. Highest peak is Mt. Waddington in the Coast Mountains, (4,019m (13,340 ft).
- About 3% of the landmass suitable for agriculture, 55% covered by forests, the rest lakes, rivers, rock faces, glaciers, alpine tundra and semi desert.
- 2/3 of the province's 4.3 million inhabitants live in the "Lower Mainland" as the area is called between Vancouver and Hope. It is British Columbia's economic powerhouse.
- The east/west distance covered on the panorama of Vancouver and the Fraser Valley is about 140 km (90 miles) and about 80 km (60 miles) from the south to the major mountain ranges on the horizon.
- British Columbia's largest river system, drains a quarter of the province.
- Length from the Rocky Mountains to Georgia Strait 1368 km (850 miles)
- Unrestrained its entire length. British Columbia's most important salmon river.
- Cradle of early British Columbia
- B.C. History made on the banks of the Fraser River
Nourished for countless generations by the abundance of food in coastal waters and forests, the Natives now known as Coast Salish have a thriving culture of semi-permanent settlement. The Fraser is a precarious route for trading with their cousins in the Interior.
1791
Spanish explorer Narvaez produces the first map of the estuary and names the river "Florida Blanca". First contact between Europeans and Musqueam.
1792
Spanish explorers Valdes and Galiano meet with Captain Vancouver's British expedition on what is now known as Spanish Banks. Both nations sent their ships to survey the coast lines to secure imperial dominance. British rule is asserted over the lands then called "New Caledonia" after the final Nootka Convention with Spain.
1808
Simon Fraser of the Hudson's Bay Company is the first European to follow the river now bearing his name from Fort George to its mouth on the Strait of Georgia, with the help of native guides .
1827
Fort Langley is established on the banks of the Fraser River as a trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company
1857
Start of the Fraser River Gold Rush. Yale in the Lower Canyon is its center.
1858
Proclamation of the Crown Colony of British Columbia at Fort Langley. The colony's new capital, New Westminster, is built a few miles downriver.
1862
The Cariboo Gold Rush is on after fabulous strikes on a small tributary to the Fraser River 600 km (400 miles) from the coast. The first significant settlement of newcomers is established in the Interior. Barkerville, the goldfield's capital, boasts to have a population of 20,000 and to be the largest city west of Chicago and north of San Francisco. Today a well restored ghost town and historic site.
1862-65
Construction of the remarkable Cariboo Wagon Road through the Fraser and Thompson Canyons from Yale to Barkerville.
1865
A tiny settlement known as Granville grows around Hastings Mills on Burrard Inlet, later destined to become Vancouver.
1868
British Columbia merges with the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island. Victoria becomes the capital of the united colony. The name British Columbia is retained.
1871
British Columbia joins the Dominion of Canada on condition of Canada building a railway to link the new province with Eastern Canada.
1881
Mostly Chinese labourers start blasting a rail link through the Fraser and Thompson Canyon. Connections with Eastern crew made at Craigellaichie, Selkirk Mountains in 1885.
1885
The Canadian Pacific Railway decides to make Granville its western terminus. The settlement is renamed "Vancouver" in honour of the British sea captain and explorer George Vancouver.
1886
The first transcontinental train from the East arrives on the Westcoast.
- Canada's most vibrant province, the Coast and Interior connected with efficient road, rail and air links, the coastal islands and inlets though the B.C. Ferry System.
- Forestry and mining are increasingly complemented by a vibrant service sector ranging from tourism, high tech, movies and distribution and financial services.
- British Columbia continues to be a magnet to people from many cultures and its metropolis on the Coast is Canada's window on the Pacific Rim. Proud of its achievements, it looks confident towards the future.
Vancouver, British Columbia
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