British Columbia
British Columbia is Canada's most westerly province — a mountainous area whose population is mainly clustered in its southwestern corner.
British Columbia is Canada's most westerly province, and is a mountainous area whose population is mainly clustered in its southwestern corner. BC is Canada’s third-largest province after Québec and Ontario, making up 10 per cent of Canada’s land surface. British Columbia is a land of diversity and contrast within small areas. Coastal landscapes, characterized by high, snow-covered mountains rising above narrow fjords and inlets, contrast with the broad forested upland of the central interior and the plains of the northeast. The intense "Britishness" of earlier times is referred to in the province's name, which originated with Queen Victoria and was officially proclaimed in 1858.
Land and Resources
Regions
British Columbia has two main regions, often called "the Coast" and "the Interior." These two regions both have numerous contrasts and variations within them. The so-called "Lower Mainland," dominated by metropolitan Vancouver, contains over 60 per cent of the province's population and is its commercial, cultural and industrial centre. A slightly broader region, sometimes called the “Georgia Strait” region, includes Victoria and the southeast coast of Vancouver Island; this area holds approximately 20 per cent of the population.
The vast interior is dominated by parallel mountain ranges and its population spreads north–south along valleys, notably the Okanagan and the Kootenay. Population centres are dispersed, as at Kamloops and Prince George in the interior, Prince Rupert and Kitimat on the northern coast, and Dawson Creek and Fort St. John in the Peace River Lowland. Each of these towns are centres of separate sub-regions and depend more on world markets than local markets.
Much of the development of resource-based economic activity in the province has been concerned with linking these separate regions together into a broader provincial economy. The northern half of the province is virtually uninhabited north of Prince Rupert and is cut off from the Pacific Ocean by the Alaska Panhandle. The Peace River Lowland of the northeast is actually an extension of the Interior Plains and more closely resembles neighbouring Alberta than the rest of the province.
Landforms, Geology and Drainage
The Cordilleran mountain system of western North America covers most of British Columbia, except for the Peace River area in the northeast. The Rocky Mountains rise abruptly about 1,000–1,500 m above the foothills of Alberta, and some of their snow- and ice-covered peaks tower more than 3,000 m above sea level; the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, Mount Robson, west of Jasper, AB, is 3,954 m.
In the southern Rockies the sharp, jagged sedimentary rock peaks from the Palaeozoic era (542 to 251 million years ago) differ from the older more rounded, lower peaks of Proterozoic era (2.5 billion to 542 million years ago) to the north. The Rocky Mountains terminate south of the Liard River in northeastern BC.
The western boundary of the Rocky Mountains is the narrow Rocky Mountain Trench — the longest valley in North America, extending for 1,400 km from Montana to the Yukon and along the length of BC. Out of the trench flow the headwaters of the Kootenay, Columbia, Fraser, Parsnip, Finlay, Kechika and Liard rivers, each separated from the others by low drainage divides.
Two other mountain systems lie west of the Rocky Mountain Trench: the Columbia Mountains to the south; and the Cassiar-Omineca Mountains to the north. The Columbia Mountains consist of three parallel north–south ranges (Purcell, Selkirk and Monashee) with sharp peaks of 2,000–3,000 m separated by long, narrow valleys occupied by Kootenay Lake and the Columbia River. These mountains consist mainly of sedimentary and intrusive rocks of Cretaceous (146 to 65.5 million years ago), Triassic (248 to 206 million years ago) and Jurassic (199.6 to 145.5 million years ago) ages, and contain many mineral deposits. The fourth range of the group, the Cariboo Mountains northwest of the Thompson River, is composed of sedimentary rocks of Proterozoic age which appear to have fewer mineral deposits.
The Interior Plateau, made up of broad and gently rolling uplands, covers central British Columbia. The region is a basin or watershed, because it is surrounded by higher mountains. Many of the rocks are lavas of Cretaceous and Tertiary (65.5 million to 2.6 million years ago) geological ages with apparently little mineralization except around the plateau edges. The Fraser River has cut deeply into the bedrock in the southern part of the plateau to form the spectacular Fraser River Canyon. The Stikine Plateau is to the north. Another upland area of mainly Jurassic lava rocks with some recent volcanoes, the plateau contains the headwaters of the Stikine River. Both the Interior and Stikine plateaus are about 1,000 m above sea level.
The western section of the province’s mountain ranges consists of the Coast Mountains along the coast and the offshore Insular Mountains. The northern end of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State terminates at the Fraser River, and then the high, snow and ice-covered peaks of the Coast Mountains extend northward along the Alaskan Panhandle into the Yukon. These scenic mountains have peaks up to 3,000 m in the southern part, with Mount Waddington, the highest peak entirely in BC, rising to 4,016 m.
British Columbia is Canada's most westerly province — a mountainous area whose population is mainly clustered in its southwestern corner.
British Columbia is Canada's most westerly province, and is a mountainous area whose population is mainly clustered in its southwestern corner. BC is Canada’s third-largest province after Québec and Ontario, making up 10 per cent of Canada’s land surface. British Columbia is a land of diversity and contrast within small areas. Coastal landscapes, characterized by high, snow-covered mountains rising above narrow fjords and inlets, contrast with the broad forested upland of the central interior and the plains of the northeast. The intense "Britishness" of earlier times is referred to in the province's name, which originated with Queen Victoria and was officially proclaimed in 1858.Land and Resources
Regions
British Columbia has two main regions, often called "the Coast" and "the Interior." These two regions both have numerous contrasts and variations within them. The so-called "Lower Mainland," dominated by metropolitan Vancouver, contains over 60 per cent of the province's population and is its commercial, cultural and industrial centre. A slightly broader region, sometimes called the “Georgia Strait” region, includes Victoria and the southeast coast of Vancouver Island; this area holds approximately 20 per cent of the population.
The vast interior is dominated by parallel mountain ranges and its population spreads north–south along valleys, notably the Okanagan and the Kootenay. Population centres are dispersed, as at Kamloops and Prince George in the interior, Prince Rupert and Kitimat on the northern coast, and Dawson Creek and Fort St. John in the Peace River Lowland. Each of these towns are centres of separate sub-regions and depend more on world markets than local markets.
Much of the development of resource-based economic activity in the province has been concerned with linking these separate regions together into a broader provincial economy. The northern half of the province is virtually uninhabited north of Prince Rupert and is cut off from the Pacific Ocean by the Alaska Panhandle. The Peace River Lowland of the northeast is actually an extension of the Interior Plains and more closely resembles neighbouring Alberta than the rest of the province.
Landforms, Geology and Drainage
The Cordilleran mountain system of western North America covers most of British Columbia, except for the Peace River area in the northeast. The Rocky Mountains rise abruptly about 1,000–1,500 m above the foothills of Alberta, and some of their snow- and ice-covered peaks tower more than 3,000 m above sea level; the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, Mount Robson, west of Jasper, AB, is 3,954 m.
In the southern Rockies the sharp, jagged sedimentary rock peaks from the Palaeozoic era (542 to 251 million years ago) differ from the older more rounded, lower peaks of Proterozoic era (2.5 billion to 542 million years ago) to the north. The Rocky Mountains terminate south of the Liard River in northeastern BC.
The western boundary of the Rocky Mountains is the narrow Rocky Mountain Trench — the longest valley in North America, extending for 1,400 km from Montana to the Yukon and along the length of BC. Out of the trench flow the headwaters of the Kootenay, Columbia, Fraser, Parsnip, Finlay, Kechika and Liard rivers, each separated from the others by low drainage divides.
Two other mountain systems lie west of the Rocky Mountain Trench: the Columbia Mountains to the south; and the Cassiar-Omineca Mountains to the north. The Columbia Mountains consist of three parallel north–south ranges (Purcell, Selkirk and Monashee) with sharp peaks of 2,000–3,000 m separated by long, narrow valleys occupied by Kootenay Lake and the Columbia River. These mountains consist mainly of sedimentary and intrusive rocks of Cretaceous (146 to 65.5 million years ago), Triassic (248 to 206 million years ago) and Jurassic (199.6 to 145.5 million years ago) ages, and contain many mineral deposits. The fourth range of the group, the Cariboo Mountains northwest of the Thompson River, is composed of sedimentary rocks of Proterozoic age which appear to have fewer mineral deposits.
The Interior Plateau, made up of broad and gently rolling uplands, covers central British Columbia. The region is a basin or watershed, because it is surrounded by higher mountains. Many of the rocks are lavas of Cretaceous and Tertiary (65.5 million to 2.6 million years ago) geological ages with apparently little mineralization except around the plateau edges. The Fraser River has cut deeply into the bedrock in the southern part of the plateau to form the spectacular Fraser River Canyon. The Stikine Plateau is to the north. Another upland area of mainly Jurassic lava rocks with some recent volcanoes, the plateau contains the headwaters of the Stikine River. Both the Interior and Stikine plateaus are about 1,000 m above sea level.
The western section of the province’s mountain ranges consists of the Coast Mountains along the coast and the offshore Insular Mountains. The northern end of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State terminates at the Fraser River, and then the high, snow and ice-covered peaks of the Coast Mountains extend northward along the Alaskan Panhandle into the Yukon. These scenic mountains have peaks up to 3,000 m in the southern part, with Mount Waddington, the highest peak entirely in BC, rising to 4,016 m.
