User:JimWae/Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located on a mainland peninsula in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city itself has a population of over 600,000, making it the largest city in Western Canada and the eighth largest in Canada. Metro Vancouver, with a population over 2.3 million, is the third largest metropolitan area in Canada (behind Toronto and Montreal). Vancouver has a mix of people from different cultures, with 52% of city residents having a first language other than English.

Vancouver is named after British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790s. The area was first settled by Europeans following gold rushes further inland in the 1860s. Logging sawmills established in 1867 became the nucleus around which the townsite grew, and Vancouver was incorporated as a city in April 1886. By 1887, the transcontinental railroad was extended to the city to take advantage of its large natural seaport, which soon became a vital link in a trade route between the Orient, Eastern Canada, and London. The Port of Vancouver is now the fourth largest in North America and the busiest in Canada.

Razed by a fire just two months after it was incorporated in 1886, by 1929 the rebuilt and expanding city had become the third largest city in Canada.

Chinese - Chinatown

Fishing

tourism, movies

Livable city

Winter Olympics

Often mistakenly thought to be located on Vancouver Island, Vancouver is a coastal city located on the mainland of the Pacific Northwest, less than an hour's drive north of the Canada-US border.

Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is located on a peninsula with the Fraser River to the south, the mainland to the east, and the salt-water bodies of Georgia Strait, English Bay, and Burrard Inlet to the west and north. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer, whose name originated from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from Coevorden, an old city in The Netherlands.

According to the 2006 Census, the city of Vancouver had a population just over 578,000 and its Census Metropolitan Area exceeded two million. As of July 2009, the city's estimated population exceeded 615,000. Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area in Western Canada and the third largest in the country, although the city proper is ranked eighth nationally. Vancouver is ethnically diverse, with more than half of city residents having a first language other than English.

The area east of Vancouver was first settled by Europeans in the 1860s as a result of immigration to the Colony of British Columbia caused by the Fraser and Cariboo Gold Rushes, with only a very few settling in what would become the city of Vancouver. The city's roots are based in logging and the founding of a large lumber mill, which gave birth to Gastown. The settlement expanded into a metropolitan centre following the arrival of the transcontinental railway in 1887. The Port of Vancouver became internationally significant as a node in the global trade network of the British Empire with the combined steamship and railway of the Canadian Pacific Railway shortening shipping times between the Orient and London. The port is now the busiest in Canada, and the fourth largest port (by tonnage) in North America.

Prior to the 1980s, the economy of Vancouver remained very resource-based. Having since diversified, its second largest industry, after forestry, is tourism, and it has become the third-largest film production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York City, earning it the nickname Hollywood North.

Vancouver ranks as one of the most livable cities in the world, and has done so for more than a decade. It is a destination for many international conferences and events, including the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements in 1976 and the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication (Expo 86). The 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics will be held in Vancouver and nearby Whistler, a mountain town 125 km north of the city.

Climate


Vancouver's climate is unusually temperate by Canadian standards; after Victoria, it is the second warmest major city in Canada during the winter. Precipitation varies from about 1,100 mm (43 inches) at Point Grey to 3,500 mm or more (137 inches) near the north shore mountains. Summer months are generally sunny and dry, with moderate temperatures. The daily maximum averages 22°C in July and August. Thunderstorms are rare, with about four to six per year. Rainfall is frequent in winter.

A wide range of plant species, including many exotics, can be found growing in Vancouver thanks to the mild climate. The increasingly popular Chinese Windmill Palm which can grow as high as 40 feet is a common sight in many areas, especially in the city's West End and beach neighbourhoods.

Religion
About half the population is of Christian background, one of the lowest rates in the country. The vast majority of them are technically Protestant, although Vancouver, like the rest of British Columbia, has a very low rate of church attendance compared to the rest of the continent and the vast majority of the population does not practise religion seriously.  Around 5% are Sikh, 3.7% Buddhist, 2.6% Muslim, and 1.4% Hindu. Within the growing Muslim population, there is a large contingent of Ismaili Muslims of Indian ethnicity who have settled in the area due to the hostile environment that has arisen in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.