Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada and the most important in the west of the country. Although it is not the capital
of the province of British Columbia (that honour belongs to Victoria), most of the people of the province work and live there.
Vancouver is located on a peninsula which lies between the mouth of the Fraser River and Burrard Inlet. It is the centre of an administrative region that stretches from
mountains to the north to the United States border to the south, and to the adjoining municipalities on the Fraser River delta to the east.
The city has a fine natural harbour and because it is protected from Pacific storms by Vancouver Island, it is a busy deep-sea port. The
coastal mountains to the north catch Pacific breezes and cause heavy rain from time to time.
People have lived in what is now the city of Vancouver for at least 3,000 years, and in the greater Vancouver region for 8,000 years. The coastal area of British Columbia was explored and claimed for the British, in 1778, by Captain James Cook. However, it was not until the late 1860s that any European settlement appeared where the city now stands. Brickyards, logging camps, and sawmills were among the earliest businesses established on the peninsula. Following the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, the company president, Sir William Van Horne, was given a huge area of land by the provincial government in order to extend the line and build a port. In 1886 Vancouver became a city, and was named after the English navigator George Vancouver, who surveyed the west coast of North America in 1792. The city developed slowly until the end of World War II in 1945. After that the growth of trade with Japan, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand made it possible for Vancouver to grow too. Products from British Columbia’s forests, minerals from the mines, grain and meat from the prairies, and manufactured goods pass through the city to other countries bordering the Pacific Ocean.
The harbour extends within a great arm of the coastal mountains and is one of the finest in the world. Across the harbour entrance (the narrows) is the Lions Gate bridge, a fine suspension bridge linking the city with the municipalities of North and West Vancouver.
The city itself is bright and modern. Huge skyscrapers tell of its importance to business and trade. In 1986, Vancouver was the site of a world’s fair, Expo 86, which attracted millions of visitors to the city.
A maritime museum, art galleries, a planetarium, an opera house, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the Queen Elizabeth Theatre contribute to the cultural life of the city. The University of British Columbia (founded 1908), Simon Fraser University (1963), and several colleges of applied arts and technology are found in and around Vancouver. A domed stadium, “BC Place”, and the Pacific Coliseum provide facilities for sport.
The population of the metropolitan area is about 1,600,000.