British Columbia (BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, with a population o

f more than 4 million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mou
ntains. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Ca
scadia bioregion, along with the U.S. states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Al
aska.[5][6]
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 C
olony of Vancouver Island. Subsequently, on the mainland, the Colony of British
Columbia (1858 66) was founded by Richard Clement Moody[7] and the Royal Engineers
, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Moody was Chi
ef Commissioner of Lands and Works for the Colony and the first Lieutenant-Gover
nor 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 we
st",[8] and "to found a second England on the shores of the Pacific".[9] Moody s
elected the site for and founded the original capital of British Columbia, New W
estminster, established the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park,[10] and designed the
first version of the Coat of arms of British Columbia.[11][12] Port Moody is nam
ed after him.
In 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia, and Vic
toria became the united colony's capital. In 1871, British Columbia became the s
ixth province of Canada. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu ("Splendour wit
hout Diminishment").
The capital of British Columbia remains Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropol
itan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the original colonies. Th
e largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the
largest in Western Canada, and the third-largest in the Pacific Northwest. In Oc
tober 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371 (about 2.5
million of whom were in Greater Vancouver).[13] The province is currently gover
ned by the BC Liberal Party, led by Premier Christy Clark, who became leader as
a result of a leadership convention vote on February 26, 2011, and who led her p
arty to an election victory on May 14, 2013.
British Columbia evolved from British possessions that were established in what
is now British Columbia by 1871. First Nations, the original inhabitants of the
land, have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area. Today there are few t
reaties and the question of Aboriginal Title, long ignored, has become a legal a
nd political question of frequent debate as a result of recent court actions. No
tably, the Tsilhqot'in Nation has established Aboriginal title to a portion of t
heir territory, as a result of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision (Will
iam [Tsilhqot'in Nation] v. British Columbia).
BC's economy is diverse, with service producing industries accounting for the la
rgest portion of the province's GDP.[14] It is the endpoint of transcontinental
railways, and the site of major Pacific ports that enable international trade. T
hough less than 5% of its vast 944,735 km2 (364,764 sq mi) land is arable, the p
rovince is agriculturally rich, (particularly in the Fraser and Okanagan valleys
), because of milder weather near the coast and in certain sheltered southern va
lleys. Its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economi
c mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and
mining. Vancouver, the province's largest city and metropolitan area, also serve
s as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies. It also
benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the nat
ional average. While the coast of British Columbia and certain valleys in the so
uth-central part of the province have mild weather, the majority of its land mas
s experiences a cold-winter-temperate climate similar to that of the rest of Can
ada. The Northern Interior region has a subarctic climate with very cold winters
. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Can

adian cities, with nighttime January temperatures averaging above the freezing p
oint.[15]
Contents [hide]
1
Etymology
2
Geography
2.1
Climate
2.2
Parks and protected areas
2.3
Fauna
2.4
Forests
2.5
Traditional plant foods
2.6
Ecozones
3
History
3.1
First Nations (Aboriginal) history
3.2
Fur trade and colonial era
3.3
Colony of British Columbia (1858 66)
3.4
Later gold rushes
3.5
Rapid growth and development
3.6
1920s through 1940s
3.7
Coalition and the post-War boom
3.8
1952 1960s
3.9
1970s and 1980s
3.10
1990s to present
4
Demographics
4.1
Ethnic groups and languages
4.2
Cities
5
Economy
6
Government and politics
6.1
Official symbols
6.2
Civil rights
7
Transportation
7.1
Roads and highways
7.2
Public transit
7.3
Rail
7.4
Water
7.5
Air
8
Culture
8.1
Outdoor life