British Columbia is a province of Canada, bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territory, Alberta, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. It has an area of 364,764 square miles and a population of 4,380,300. Its economy is based on services, manufacturing, natural resources, and tourism. The province has a diverse population, including descendants of English, Scottish, Northern Irish, Chinese, and indigenous peoples. Its emblems include the flowering dogwood, jade, Western Red Cedar, Steller’s Jay, and Spirit Bear.
British Columbia is one of ten provinces of Canada, along with Manitoba, Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan. The remainder of Canada’s territory consists of three territories: the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon Territory.
British Columbia, including its Pacific islands, is bounded on the west by the Campbell River, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Pacific Ocean, Queen Charlotte Sound, the Gulf of Alaska, and the state of Alaska. It borders the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territory to the north, Alberta to the east, and the states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana to the south.
The name British Columbia comes from the colony of the same name, formed in 1858 in the Columbia River region. British Columbia is the third largest province in Canada with an area of 364,764 square miles (944,735 sq km), and the fifth largest division if territories are included. It makes up nearly 10% of the land in Canada. British Columbia’s population in 2007 was 4,380,300, the third largest of any region. Victoria is the provincial capital and other major cities include Vancouver, one of Canada’s largest ports, North Vancouver and New Westminster.
British Columbia is nicknamed the Province of the Pacific and British Columbia’s motto is Splendor Sine Occasu, which means Splendor without detracting. The provincial coats of arms are as follows:
Floral emblem: flowering dogwood
Mineral Emblem: Jade
Tree Emblem: Western Red Cedar
Avian Emblem: Steller’s Jay
Emblem of the mammal: Spirit Bear in its white color phase
Shield of arms: Union Jack above with blue and silver wavy lines to symbolize location between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, with the setting sun below.
Coat of Arms: The shield with a moose and a great antlered sheep supporting it, surmounted by a royal coat of arms in which the lion is decorated with dogwood blossoms and a golden helmet to symbolize sovereignty. The motto appears below.
Flag: The flag design is identical to the weapon shield.
British Columbia’s population directly reflects its history. Still important are the people whose ancestors helped found the province: English, Scottish and Northern Irish, as well as descendants of miners who responded to the 1858 gold rush and Chinese workers who came to help build the Canadian Railroad of the Pacific, and – with an openness if the immigration policy – many other minorities. The native peoples, whose numbers have been severely reduced by the diseases they contracted from the settlers, have now reached something like the population ranks they had before the settlers arrived, but are a minority in the population as a whole.
Service and manufacturing form the mainstay of today’s economy in British Columbia, much of this enterprise is connected to its abundant natural resources, as well as a good deal of tourism. Arable land is limited in this province of mountains and many small islands, but on the other hand, British Columbia has a fifth of Canada’s forests and is responsible for half of the timber harvested in Canada each year.
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