User:Ewaladel/VI

Vancouver Island

Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean, on Canada's southern west coast.
Coordinates	49°30′N 125°30′W / 49.500°N 125.500°W / 49.500; -125.500 [1]
Area	31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi)
Area rank	43rd
Highest elevation	2,200 m (7200 ft)
Administration
Canada
Demographics
Population	748,937[4]
Pop. density	23.94/km2 (62/sq mi)

Vancouver Island is the largest

Originally inhabited for thousands of years by several indigenous groups, lifestyles are now a contrast of urban and rural, based around the technology, logging, fishing, and tourism industries that dominate the economy.

It is one of several

The island was originally named "Quadra and Vancouver Island" in commemoration of the friendly negotiations held by Spanish Commander of the Nootka Sound settlement Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, and British Naval Captain George Vancouver on Nootka Sound in 1792, to find a solution to the Nootka Crisis.

Place under geography:

The island is 460 kilometres (290 miles) in length and 80 kilometres (50 miles) in width at its widest point. At 31,285 km² (12,079.2 sq mi) ^[5] it is the largest island on the western side of North America, the world's 43rd largest island, and Canada's 11th largest island.

Place under population somethingerother

.

History

Indigenous people

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2010)

Vancouver Island has been the homeland to many main

European exploration

Vancouver Island came to the attention of Britain after the third voyage of Captain James Cook, who spent a month during 1778 at Nootka Sound, on the island's western coast. Cook claimed it for the United Kingdom. The island's rich fur trading potential led the fur-trader John Meares to set up a single-building trading post near the native village of Yuquot (Friendly Cove), at the entrance to Nootka Sound. The building was removed by the end of 1788.

The island was further explored by

In 1792, the Spanish explorer Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and his crew were the first Europeans to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. On April 8, 1806 Captain John D'Wolf of Bristol, Rhode Island sailed the Juno to Newettee, a small inlet in the northwestern promontory of Vancouver's Island. The Captain described Newette as one of the southernmost harbors frequented by American fur traders at lat. 51 degrees N. and long. 128 degrees. He relates that since Captain Robert Gray of Tiverton, Rhode Island sailed the Columbia River in 1792, the trade of the Northwest coast had been almost entirely in the hands of Boston merchants, so much so that the natives called all traders "Boston Men." ^[8] While we know this island today as Vancouver Island the English explorer had not intentionally meant to name such a large body of land solely after himself.^[9] In his September 1792 dispatch log report for the British Admiralty, Captain Vancouver reveals that his decision here was rather meant to honour a request by the Spanish Peruvian seafarer Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra that Vancouver:

"would name some port or island after us both in commemoration of our meeting and friendly intercourse that on that occasion had taken place (Vancouver had previously feted Quadra on his ship);....and conceiving no place more eligible than the place of our meeting, I have therefore named this land...The Island of Quadra and Vancouver."^[10]

Bodega y Quadra wrote, however, that it was Vancouver who made the suggestion of combining their names to designate some geographical feature.^[11]

If Vancouver had been vain as some writers had charged, he could have chosen to name the entire Island exclusively after himself instead of sharing its name with Quadra and placing the latter's name before his. The newly discovered "Quadra's and Vancouver's Island" was the most prominent name on maps of the coast, and appeared on most [contemporary] British, French and Spanish maps of the period. But as Spanish interests in the region dwindled, so did Quadra's name. The Hudson's Bay Company played a major part in the transition; by 1824 'Vancouver's Island' had become the usual designation in its correspondence for the island.^[12] A quarter of a century later, Vancouver Island had become such a well known geographical feature, that the founding of the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1849 gave this name full official status.^[13] Period references to "Vancouver" referred to Vancouver Island until the naming of the city of Vancouver in 1885.

British settlement

Shortly thereafter, in 1846, the Oregon Treaty was signed by the British and the U.S. to settle the question of the U.S. Oregon Territory borders. It awarded all of Vancouver Island to what would be Canada, despite a portion of the island lying south of the 49th parallel. In 1849, the Colony of Vancouver Island was established. Following the brief governorship of Richard Blanshard, James Douglas, Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay post, assumed the role in 1851.

The first British settlement on the island was a Hudson's Bay Company post, Fort Camosack, founded in 1843, and later renamed Fort Victoria.^[14] Fort Victoria became an important base during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858, and the burgeoning town was incorporated as Victoria in 1862. Victoria became the capital of the colony of Vancouver Island, then retained that status when the island was amalgamated with the mainland in 1866. A British naval base, including a large shipyard and a naval hospital, was established at Esquimalt, in 1865 and eventually taken over by the Canadian military.

The economic situation of the colony declined following the

Geography

Vancouver Island is located in the southwestern corner of the province of British Columbia. It is separated from the mainland of British Columbia by Johnstone Strait, and Queen Charlotte Strait on the northeast, and by the Strait of Georgia on the southeast, which along with the Strait of Juan de Fuca along its southwest separate it from the United States (the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca are now officially also part of the Salish Sea, which includes Puget Sound as well). West of the island is the open Pacific Ocean, while to its north is Queen Charlotte Sound.

The

Within the island's largest city, Victoria, there is a significant IT and technology industry. According to the Victoria Advanced Technology Council website, over 800 technology companies operate in the Victoria area, with combined annual revenues of $1.95 billion.^[17]

High Speed Internet is delivered to the island by Shaw Communications, Telus, and various local providers with their own networks. Wireless Internet connections can be found all over the island, many free for public use.

While the island does generate much of its own power at several hydroelectric stations, increased demand required the construction of several high voltage power cables, both HVDC and AC, connecting to the Canadian Mainland. See

Logging

Outside of Victoria, Vancouver Island's economy is largely dominated by the

Fishing

Fishing plays a large role in the lives of many islanders. Commercial fishing vessels operate out of the island's ports and harbours, and coastal fish farms (controversially) produce many tons of Atlantic salmon yearly.

Tourism

In recent years the government of British Columbia has engaged in an

• University of Victoria
• Vancouver Island University (Previously Malaspina University-College)
• Royal Roads University

Colleges

• Camosun College
• North Island College
• Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific

Public school districts

There are 11 school districts on Vancouver Island with several elementary, junior high, and high schools in each. Three are in the Greater Victoria area and the other eight cover the rest of the island to the north. All public schooling falls under the jurisdiction of the British Columbia Ministry of Education.

Private schools

• St. Michael's University
• Glenlyon Norfolk
• Brentwood College
• Shawnigan Lake

Transport

Sea

Marine transport is very important to Vancouver Island for access to the mainland of British Columbia and Washington. There are no bridges connecting the island to the mainland, although the idea of building one has been brought up many times. The only vehicle access to Vancouver Island is via ferries operated by

BC Ferries

• Swartz Bay
  (32 km (20 mi) north of Victoria)

Crossing time: 1 hour 35 minutes; 8 sailings per day in the fall, winter, and spring and more in summer)

• Tsawwassen - Duke Point
  (13 km (8 mi) south of Nanaimo)

• Powell River - Comox

Crossing time: 1 hour 20 minutes; 4 round trips daily.

Washington State Ferries

• Anacortes, Washington - Sidney

Crossing time: 2 hours (not counting stops in the San Juan Islands)

Black Ball Transport

• Port Angeles, Washington - Victoria

Crossing time: 1 hour 30 minutes; 1 or 2 round trips daily

Passenger-only service

In addition, there are three passenger-only ferry services from the mainland to Vancouver Island:

• Victoria Clipper
  (Seattle, Washington - Victoria)

Crossing time: 2 hour 45 minutes; 1 to 3 round trips daily

• Victoria Express (Port Angeles, Washington - Victoria)

Crossing time: 1 hour (operates May through September)

• Victoria San Juan Cruises (Bellingham, Washington - Victoria)

Crossing time: 3 hours (operates one trip per day May through October)

• In the past, several passenger catamarans have been run between Nanaimo and Vancouver (most recently by HarbourLynx). Despite the operations repeatedly going bankrupt, there is still popular interest in a passenger service between Nanaimo and Vancouver.^[18][19][20]

Rail

There are two remaining major railways on Vancouver Island. The Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, which assumed control of the

• Tofino
  ;
• Port Renfrew
  ;
• Highway 18 between Duncan and Youbou;
• Highway 28 between Campbell River and Gold River; and
• Port Alice
  .

In addition,

Vancouver Island is well served by secondary routes, and a numerous active and decommissioned logging and forest service roads provide access into the back country.

Many communities are served by public transit. Greater Victoria is one of the few places in North America where double-deck buses are used in the regular public transit system.

Proposals have been made for a "fixed link" to the mainland for over a century. Because of the extreme depth and soft seabed of the Georgia Strait, and the potential for seismic activity, a bridge or tunnel would face monumental engineering, safety, and environmental challenges at a prohibitive cost.^[21]

Air

Victoria International Airport (YYJ)

• Victoria Airport is the major airport on Vancouver Island. In 2005, it was the 9th busiest airport in Canada in terms of passenger movements (1,280,420). In 2009, 1,532,889 passengers used the airport.
  Las Vegas, and Honolulu. The other international airport on the island, CFB Comox—which is a shared civilian and military airport—offers direct flights to Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Campbell River several times daily, as well as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
  , on a weekly basis through WestJet.

Nanaimo Airport (YCD)

• Nanaimo Airport has flights with
  Air Canada Jazz to Vancouver and Island Express Air to Victoria and Abbotsford. A recently installed (as of February 2010) instrument landing system and runway extension has improved the capacity, safety, and punctuality of flights. There are more improvements slated for completion March 2011.^[23][24]

• Nanaimo Harbour (ZNA) also operates a busy water aerodrome. Much of the floatplane traffic is downtown-to-downtown service between these two and Vancouver Harbour, the primary carriers being Harbour Air, West Coast Air, and Baxter Aviation. Harbour Air also flies to other areas around Vancouver, service to Seattle's Lake Union is provided by Kenmore Air, and Orca Airways runs flights between Vancouver and Tofino Harbour. These carriers make several daily scheduled flights, weather permitting. Helicopter service is provided by Helijet
  in Victoria and various private operators elsewhere.

• Canadian wine
• Cascadia subduction zone
• Colony of Vancouver Island
• Cougar Annie
• First Nations on Vancouver Island
• Kinsol Trestle
• Sasquatch
• Vancouver Island Health Authority
• West Coast of Vancouver Island Aquatic Management Board

Notes