Revision as of 01:19, December 21, 2011

British Columbia is the western most province in Canada. It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the US State of Alaska to the northwest. To the north it is bounded by the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, on the east by Alberta, and on the south by the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, and province's population is 4,338,106 in 2007 accounting for 13% of the national population^[1]. The total area of British Columbia is 947,800 km₂ with 25,730 km of coast line. It was explored by the Spanish in 1774, Captain Cook explored in 1778, and Captain Vancouver was sent to survey the coast by the Royal Navy in 1792. British Columbia joined Confederation in 1871, based on a promise that a transcontinential railway would be completed in 10 years.^[2] Since March 14, 2011, the premier of British Columbia is Christy Clark, the leader of the British Columbian Liberal Party, which is the comparitively conservative party in British Columbian politics. ^[3]

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. British Columbia is also home to Gibsons, setting of the long running Canadian television series The Beachcombers.

Industry

British Columbia's primary source of jobs is in forestry and mining, ^[4] employing 45 percent of the population. It is also reliant on it's chief port, Vancouver, for commerce with the pacific rim.

Further reading

• Francis, Daniel, ed. Encyclopedia of British Columbia. Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour, 2000. 806 pp.
• The Dictionary of Canadian Biography (1966-2006), thousands of scholarly biographies of notables who died by 1930
• Canadian Encyclopedia (2008) reliable detailed encyclopedia, on-line free
• Barman, Jean. The West Beyond the West: A History of British Columbia U. of Toronto Press, 1991. 430pp
• Johnston, Hugh, ed. The Pacific Province: A History of British Columbia. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1996. 352 pp.
• McGillivray, Brett. Geography of British Columbia: People and Landscapes in Transition. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 2000. 235pp
• 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.

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.
• Battien, Pauline. The Gold Seekers: A Two Hundred-Year History of Mining in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Lower British Columbia. Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon, 1989. 265 pp.
• BC Hydro Power Pioneers. Gaslights to Gigawatts: A Human History of BC Hydro and its Predecessor. Vancouver: Hurricane, 1998. 236 pp.
• Burkinshaw, Robert K. Pilgrims in Lotus Land: Conservative Protestantism in British Columbia, 1917-1981. Montreal: McGill-Queen's U. Press, 1995. 353 pp.
• Carlson, Roy L. and Bona, Luke Dalla, eds. Early Human Occupation in British Columbia. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1996. 261 pp.
• Carty, R. K., ed. Politics, Policy, and Government in British Columbia. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1996. 381 pp.
• Christophers, Brett. Positioning the Missionary: John Booth Good and the Confluence of Cultures in Nineteenth-Century British Columbia. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1998. 200pp.
• Clayton, Daniel W. Islands of Truth: The Imperial Fashioning of Vancouver Island. U. of British Columbia Press, 2000. 330pp.
• Creese, Gillian and Strong-Boag, Veronica, eds. British Columbia Reconsidered: Essays on Women. Vancouver: Press Gang; U. of British Columbia, Center for Research in Women's Studies and Gender Relations, 1992. 454 pp.
• Davis, Chuck, ed. The Greater Vancouver Book: An Urban Encyclopedia. Vancouver: Linkman, 1997. 882 pp.
• Dunford, Muriel Poulton. North River: The Story of BC's North Thompson Valley and Yellowhead Highway 5. Merritt, B.C.: Sonotek, 2000. 384 pp.
• Drushka, Ken. Tie Hackers to Timber Harvesters: The History of Logging in the BC Interior. Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour, 1998. 200 pp.
• Drushka, Ken. Working in the Woods: A History of Logging on the West Coast. Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour, 1992. 304 pp.
• Fleming, Thomas, ed. School Leadership: Essays on the British Columbia Experience, 1872-1995. Mill Bay, BC: Bendall, 2001. 427 pp.
• Furniss, Elizabeth. The Burden of History: Colonialism and the Frontier Myth in a Rural Canadian Community. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1999. 237 pp.
• Griffin, Harold. Radical Roots: The Shaping of British Columbia. Vancouver: Commonwealth Fund, 1999.
• Hak, Gordon. Turning Trees into Dollars: The British Columbia Coastal Lumber Industry, 1858-1913. U. of Toronto Press, 2000. 239 pp.
• Harris, Cole. The Resettlement of British Columbia: Essays on Colonialism and Geographical Change. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1997. 314 pp.
• Hayes, Derek. Historical Atlas of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest: Maps of Exploration. Vancouver: Cavendish, 1999. 208 pp.
• Kesselman, Amy. Fleeting Opportunities: Women Shipyard Workers in Portland and Vancouver during World War II and Reconversion. Albany: State U. of New York Press, 1990. 192 pp.
• Leonard, Frank. A Thousand Blunders: The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and Northern British Columbia. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1996. 344pp.
• Leonard, David W. Delayed Frontier: The Peace River Country to 1909. Calgary: Detselig, 1995. 256 pp.
• Loo, Tina. Making Law, Order, and Authority in British Columbia, 1821-1871. Toronto: U. of Toronto Press, 1994. 239 pp.
• McDowell, Jim. Hamatsa: The Enigma of Cannibalism on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Vancouver: Ronsdale, 1997. 297 pp.
• McIntosh, Dale. History of Music in British Columbia, 1850-1950. Victoria, B.C.: Sono Nis, 1989. 296 pp.
• Mackie, Richard Somerset. Trading Beyond the Mountains: The British Fur Trade on the Pacific, 1793-1843. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1997. 420 pp.
• Mitchell, David J. Succession: The Political Reshaping of British Columbia. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1987. 201 pp.
• Muckle, Robert J. The First Nations of British Columbia. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1998. 146pp.
• Norris, John. Strangers Entertained: A History of Ethnic Groups in British Columbia. Vancouver: Evergreen Press, 1971. 254 pp.
• Perry, Adele. On the Edge of Empire: Gender, Race, and the Making of British Columbia, 1849-1871. U. of Toronto Press, 2001. 360 pp.
• Resnick, Philip. The Politics of Resentment: British Columbia Regionalism and Canadian Unity. U. of British Columbia Press, 2000. 172pp
• Roy, Patricia E. A White Man's Province: British Columbia Politicians and Chinese and Japanese Immigrants, 1858-1914. U. of British Columbia Press, 1989. 327pp.
• Roy, Patricia; Granatstein, J. L.; Iino, Masaka; and Takamura, Hiroko. Mutual Hostages: Canadian and Japanese during the Second World War. U. of Toronto Press, 1990. 282 pp.
• Sandwell, R. W., ed. Beyond the City Limits: Rural History in British Columbia. U. of British Columbia Pess., 1999. 293pp.
• Sterne, Netta. Fraser Gold, 1858! The Founding of British Columbia. : Washington State U. Press, 1998. 187 pp.
• Verchere, David R. A Progression of Judges: A History of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. U. of British Columbia Press, 1988. 196pp.
• Wynn, Graeme and Oke, Timothy, eds. Vancouver and Its Region. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia Press, 1992. 333pp.

References

1. ↑ http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/070628/d070628c.htm
2. ↑ Reader's Digest Atlas of Canada, 1995
3. ↑ List of political parties by ideology (1995)
4. ↑ British Columbia Jobs Plan

External Links

• BC Tourism
• Town of Gibsons
• The New Beachcombers