British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest amongst the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that total rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. British Columbia borders the province of Alberta to the east; the territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories to the north; the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho and Montana to the south, and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of greater than 5.6 million as of 2024, it is Canada’s third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, while the province’s largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver and its suburbs together make going on the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, with the 2021 census recording 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver. British Columbia is Canada’s third-largest province in terms of total area, after Quebec and Ontario.

The first known human inhabitants of the area settled in British Columbia at least 10,000 years ago. Such groups put in the Coast Salish, Tsilhqotʼin, and Haida peoples, among many others. One of the archaic British settlements in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, which gave rise to the city of Victoria, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island. The Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) was subsequently founded by Richard Clement Moody, and by the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in confession to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Moody agreed the site for and founded the mainland colony’s capital New Westminster. The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were incorporated in 1866, subsequent to which Victoria became the joined colony’s capital. In 1871, British Columbia entered Confederation as the sixth province of Canada, in deed of the British Columbia Terms of Union.

British Columbia is a diverse and cosmopolitan province, drawing on a plethora of cultural influences from its British Canadian, European, and Asian diasporas, as capably as the Indigenous population. Though the province’s ethnic majority originates from the British Isles, many British Columbians also savor their ancestors to continental Europe, East Asia, and South Asia. Indigenous Canadians constitute just about 6 percent of the province’s total population. Christianity is the largest religion in the region, though the majority of the population is non-religious. English is the common language of the province, although Punjabi, Mandarin Chinese, and Cantonese next have a large presence in the Metro Vancouver region. The Franco-Columbian community is an officially certified linguistic minority, and roughly speaking one percent of British Columbians allegation French as their mom tongue. British Columbia is house to at least 34 certain Indigenous languages.

Major sectors of British Columbia’s economy improve forestry, mining, filmmaking and video production, tourism, real estate, construction, wholesale, and retail. Its main exports attach lumber and timber, pulp and paper products, copper, coal, and natural gas. British Columbia exhibits tall property values and is a significant centre for maritime trade: the Port of Vancouver is the largest harbor in Canada and the most diversified port in North America. Although less than 5 percent of the province’s territory is arable land, significant agriculture exists in the Fraser Valley and Okanagan due to the warmer climate. British Columbia is home to 45% of all publicly listed companies in Canada.