Vancouver is a city located in southwestern British Columbia, Canada.
It is named after Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer.
Vancouver has a population of 587,891 while Metro Vancouver, its metropolitan region,
has a population of 2,180,737 (2006 estimate). Metro Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area
in western Canada and the third largest in the country. It is also the largest city and second-largest
metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest.
Vancouver is ethnically diverse, with more than half of its residents having a first language
other than English. The population of the city is growing rapidly, and the Metro population
is projected to reach 2.6 million by 2020.
Population density is highest for a major city on the continent after New York City,
San Francisco, and Mexico City, and on track to being second by 2021.
Vancouver is located between the Strait of Georgia and the Coast Mountains.
Its economy has traditionally relied on British Columbia's resource sectors: forestry, mining,
fishing and agriculture. It was first settled in the 1860s as a result of immigration caused by the
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, particularly from the United States, although many immigrants did not
remain after the rush.
The city developed rapidly from a small lumber mill town into a metropolitan centre
following the arrival of the transcontinental railway in 1887.
The Port of Vancouver became internationally significant after the completion of the Panama Canal,
which reduced freight rates in the 1920s and made it viable to ship export-bound prairie grain
west through Vancouver.
It has since become the busiest seaport in Canada, and exports more cargo than any other
port in North America.
The economy of Vancouver has diversified over time, however.
Vancouver has a growing tourism industry, for example, and has become the third-largest
film production centre in North America, after Los Angeles and New York City, earning it the
nickname Hollywood North.
Vancouver has had an expansion in high-tech industries, most notably video game development.
Vancouver is consistently ranked one of the three most livable cities in the world.
According to a 2007 report by Mercer Human Resource Consulting for example,
Vancouver tied with Vienna as having the third highest quality of living in the world,
after Zürich and Geneva.
In 2007, Vancouver was ranked the second most expensive
in Canada after Toronto, and, in 2006, the 56th most expensive city in which to
live among 143 major cities in the world; in the same survey, Zurich and Geneva were ranked
as the ninth and seventh most expensive, respectively.
The 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver and nearby vancouver.
read full wikipedia reference about Vancouver, BC
OTHER POPULAR DESTINATIONS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
All available cities in British Columbia
100 Mile House
Abbotsford
Alert Bay
Bamfield
Bella Coola
Burns Lake
Cache Creek
Campbell River
Castlegar
Chemainus
Clearwater
Clinton
Courtenay
Cowichan Bay
Cranbrook
Creston
Dawson Creek
Denman Island
Duncan
Fairmont Hotsprings
Fernie
Fort St. James
Fort St. John
Gabriola Island
Galiano Island
Gibsons
Golden
Gold River
Greenwood
Harrison Hotsprings
Hope
Hornby Island
Invermere
Kamloops
Kimberley
Kelowna
Ladysmith
Mackenzie
Mayne Island
Merritt
Nakusp
Nanaimo
Nanoose Bay
Nelson
New Westminster
North Vancouver
Osoyoos
Parksville
Peachland
Pender Islands
Penticton
Port Alberni
Port Hardy
Port Renfrew
Powell River
Prince George
Prince Rupert
Princeton
Queen Charlotte Islands
Quesnel
Radium Hot Springs
Revelstoke
Richmond Vancouver Airport
Rivers Inlet
Rossland
Salmon Arm
Saltspring Island
Saturna Island
Shawnigan Lake
Sicamous
Sidney
Slocan Lake
Smithers
Sooke
Sorrento
Sun Peaks
Tahsis
Terrace
Thetis Island
Tofino
Trail
Ucluelet
Valemount
Vancouver
Vanderhoof
Vernon
Victoria
vancouver
White Rock
Williams Lake
home page./ North America / Canada / British Columbia
