BRITISH COLUMBIA

westernmost province of Canada. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the U.S. state of Alaska, on the north by the Yukon and Northwest Territories, on the east by the province of Alberta, and on the south by the northwestern United States. British Columbia stretches 740 miles (1,180 km) from north to south and 640 miles (1,020 km) from east to west at its widest point. The provincial capital is Victoria, located in the southwest on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. At the time of the initial contact with European explorers, Indians in the area numbered about 80,000. The coast was dominated by such peoples as the Coast Salish, Nootka, Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, Tsimshian, and Haida. The area was first seen by Europeans in the late 18th century. Spanish ships came first (in 1774), followed by the British explorer Captain James Cook, who was searching for the Northwest Passage. British and American fur traders were the first to explore the area, and for years the claim to Vancouver Island was in dispute. The island was finally recognized as solely British territory, and in 1849 it was made a crown colony by the imperial government. The first large immigration occurred with the gold strike of 1858, creating a city out of Fort Victoria (the western headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company) and opening the mainland to settlement. The mainland was proclaimed the Colony of British Columbia in 1858. The two colonies joined Canada in 1871 as the province of British Columbia. The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 and the extension of the line to Vancouver in 1887 stimulated settlement, and the establishment of a steamship line connecting Vancouver with Asia in 1891 assured that city's future as a port. British Columbia's subsequent growth was based primarily on lumbering and mining. The Social Credit Party governed the province from 1952 to 1991 with the exception of the period 197275. British Columbia had become Canada's third most populous province by the late 20th century. The province's vast territory lies almost entirely within the great mountain system, or cordillera, that stretches along the western edge of the Americas. These mountains form ranges aligned in a southeast-northwest direction, creating a series of valleys and a broad central interior plateau where human settlement has concentrated. Hundreds of coastal islandsthe largest of which are Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islandsoffer protection to ships along the coastline. The broad Fraser River delta, behind Vancouver to the south, is the largest of the limited coastal lowlands. More than half of the province's land is forested, while another third is barren tundra, snowfields, and glaciers. More than three-quarters of the province is above 3,000 feet (900 m) in elevation. British Columbia in the late 20th century was the most urbanized province of Canada and also one of the most racially diverse. People of British descent formed the controlling elite, though the arrival after 1945 of large numbers of Europeans, especially Dutch, Germans, and Italians, has challenged the province's ethnic identity. More recent arrivals include ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong and Sikhs from India. In the late 20th century the province had a modern and prosperous economy based on logging for the production of sawn lumber and plywood; the extraction of coal, copper, and oil and natural gas; hydroelectric production along various rivers; and the raising of grain, fruits, and cattle in the warmer and more sheltered lowland areas. Tourism and the shipping trade are also vital to the economy. Vancouver is the largest port of Canada, providing shipping facilities for the prairie provinces and the Yukon. Provincial parliamentary government dates to 1856, but the present system of government was formed in 1871 when British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation. Members of the legislative assembly are elected to a five-year term by universal adult suffrage. The executive branch is headed by a premier, who is leader of the majority party in the assembly and who selects the members of the executive council from the assembly. A lieutenant governor appointed by the Canadian governor-general represents the federal government. The Social Credit Party and the New Democratic Party dominated the province's politics in the second half of the 20th century. The University of British Columbia (1908) is the chief centre for higher education in the province. Many cultural activities in British Columbia tend to reflect its pioneer background and an economic orientation toward resource industries and the outdoors. Of note are the annual Williams Lake Stampede and the Kelowna Regatta. Vancouver is the major urban cultural centre, with museums, art galleries, and a theatre complex. Area 365,948 square miles (947,800 square km). Pop. (1992 est.) 3,446,000. westernmost province of Canada. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the panhandle region of the U.S. state of Alaska, on the north by the Yukon and Northwest territories, on the east by the province of Alberta, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana, Idaho, and Washington. It stretches 740 miles (1,180 kilometres) from north to south and 640 miles from east to west at its widest point. The land has a diversity of climate and scenery unparalleled in Canada, from the island-studded and fjord-indented coast to the great peaks of the western continental cordilleras, with their large interior plateaus. Its area is 365,947 square miles (947,800 square kilometres), making it the third largest province in size. The Coast Mountains rising over Howe Sound at Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver, B.C., where One of the last regions of the North American continent to be explored and settled, British Columbia emerged in the second half of the 20th century as one of the leading provinces of Canada in population, economic wealth, and overall growth. Its main cities include Vancouver, the largest port of Canada and of western North America, and Victoria, the provincial capital, located on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. Additional reading A.L. Farley, Atlas of British Columbia: People, Environment, and Resource Use (1979), provides a comprehensive though brief survey of the province. Roderick Haig-Brown, The Living Land: An Account of the Natural Resources of British Columbia (1961); and Mary L. Barker, Natural Resources of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory (1977), are more specialized studies. A historical look at population development pattern in the area is presented in Robin Fisher, Contact and Conflict: Indian-European Relations in British Columbia, 17741890 (1977); and H.B. Hawthorn (ed.), A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada (1966). The influence of politics on economic and social conditions is thoroughly studied in Donald E. Blake, Two Political Worlds: Parties and Voting in British Columbia (1985). Margaret A. Ormsby, British Columbia, a History (1958, reissued 1971), offers a comprehensive, if somewhat old, treatment. This history can be supplemented by the more current writings in BC Studies (quarterly). Robert A.J. McDonald