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[[File:Landscape.jpg|right|thumb|150px|alt=Lake Harrison|Lake Harrison, British Columbia]]

[[File:Landscape.jpg|right|thumb|150px|alt=Lake Harrison|Lake Harrison, British Columbia]]

The largest city in British Columbia is [[Vancouver]] with a population of approximately 600,000, with the greater Vancouver area accounting for approximately 2,000,000 people. The capital of British Columbia is [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]]  British Columbia is also home to [[Gibsons]], setting of the long-running Canadian television series [[The Beachcombers]].   

The largest city in British Columbia is [[Vancouver]] with a population of approximately 600,000, with the greater Vancouver area accounting for approximately 2,000,000 people. The capital of British Columbia is [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]]  British Columbia is also home to [[Gibsons]], the setting of the long-running Canadian television series [[The Beachcombers]].   

==Industry==

==Industry==

==Demographics==

==Demographics==

British Columbia has a very diverse ethnic population, with a large number of immigrants having lived in the province for 30 years or less. First-generation immigrants from the British Isles remain a strong component of local society despite limitations on immigration from Britain since the ending of special status for British subjects in the 1960s. Also present in large numbers relative to other cities in Canada (except Toronto), and also present in BC ever since the province was first settled (unlike Toronto), are many European ethnicities of the first and second generation, notably Germans, Ukrainians, Scandinavians, Yugoslavs and Italians; third-generation Europeans are generally of mixed lineage, and traditionally intermarried with other ethnic groups more than in any other Canadian province. The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian"). In recent decades, the proportion of those of Chinese ethnicity has risen sharply, though still outnumbered by the historically-strong population of those of German ancestry. Visible minorities have become an important factor in ethnic-based politics, though most visible minorities are less numerous than the long-standing non-British European ethnicities making up BC's "invisible minorities".<ref>[http://www.gov.bc.ca/search&query=394983843243 demographics]</ref>

British Columbia has a very diverse ethnic population, with a large number of immigrants having lived in the province for 30 years or less. First-generation immigrants from the British Isles remain a strong component of local society despite limitations on immigration from Britain since the ending of special status for British subjects in the 1960s. Also present in large numbers relative to other cities in Canada (except Toronto), and also present in BC ever since the province was first settled (unlike Toronto), are many European ethnicities of the first and second generation, notably Germans, Ukrainians, Scandinavians, Yugoslavs, and Italians; third-generation Europeans are generally of mixed lineage, and traditionally intermarried with other ethnic groups more than in any other Canadian province. The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian"). In recent decades, the proportion of those of Chinese ethnicity has risen sharply, though still outnumbered by the historically-strong population of those of German ancestry. Visible minorities have become an important factor in ethnic-based politics, though most visible minorities are less numerous than the long-standing non-British European ethnicities making up BC's "invisible minorities".<ref>[http://www.gov.bc.ca/search&query=394983843243 demographics]</ref>

==History==

==History==

British Columbia has been settled by humans since the last ice age.<ref>Barman, Jean. The West Beyond the West: A History of British Columbia U. of Toronto Press, 1991. 430pp</ref> By 1774, Europeans had landed, notably Captain Cook and Captain Vancouver. Soon, a bustling industry of fur, as natives and traders coveted for furs, and guns.

British Columbia has been settled by humans since the last ice age.<ref>Barman, Jean. The West Beyond the West: A History of British Columbia U. of Toronto Press, 1991. 430pp</ref> By 1774, Europeans had landed, notably Captain Cook and Captain Vancouver. Soon, a bustling industry of fur, as natives and traders coveted for furs, and guns.

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Recksten, Terry. ''The Illustrated History of British Columbia.'' Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2001. 280 pp.

* Recksten, Terry. ''The Illustrated History of British Columbia.'' Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2001. 280 pp.

* Woodcock, George. ''British Columbia: A History of the Province.'' Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1990. 288 pp.

* Woodcock, George. ''British Columbia: A History of the Province.'' Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1990. 288 pp.

===Specialized studies===

===Specialized studies===

*  Barman, Jean; Sutherland, Neil; and Wilson, J.  Donald, eds. ''Children, Teachers and Schools in the History of  British Columbia.''  Calgary, Alta.: Detselig, 1995. 426 pp.

*  Barman, Jean; Sutherland, Neil; and Wilson, J.  Donald, eds. ''Children, Teachers and Schools in the History of  British Columbia.''  Calgary, Alta.: Detselig, 1995. 426 pp.

==References==

==References==

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[[Category:Canadian Provinces]]

[[Category:Canadian Provinces]]