What is Vancouver?

Vancouver is British Columbia's largest city and Canada's third-largest metropolitan area after Toronto and Montreal. The city has a population of about 705,000 in the city proper and about 2.65 million in the Census Metropolitan Area (Metro Vancouver), which includes 21 municipalities and one unincorporated electoral area. Vancouver is on the Burrard Peninsula on the Pacific coast at the mouth of the Fraser River, with the Strait of Georgia to the west and the Coast Mountains rising abruptly to the north.

The city was incorporated on April 6, 1886 and named after British naval captain George Vancouver, who explored the coast in 1792. The Canadian Pacific Railway main line reached the city on May 23, 1887, making Vancouver the western terminus of the transcontinental railway and the principal Canadian gateway to Pacific trade. The Great Vancouver Fire of June 13, 1886 destroyed much of the early town, which was quickly rebuilt. The Coast Salish peoples (Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations) hold traditional territory across Metro Vancouver and were never signatories to treaties; significant land-claim and reconciliation negotiations are ongoing.

Vancouver is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in North America. The 2021 census recorded that about 49 per cent of residents are visible minorities, with significant communities of Chinese, South Asian, Filipino, Korean, Iranian, Japanese, and Indigenous heritage. Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic Games (along with Whistler, BC) from February 12 to 28, 2010 and the 1986 Specialized World Exposition (Expo 86). The city is the headquarters of Lululemon, Telus, the Canadian operations of Microsoft and Amazon, and many film and television production companies (Vancouver is the third-largest film and television production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York, sometimes called Hollywood North).

Vancouver's geography is constrained by the Coast Mountains (which rise to more than 1,500 metres just north of the city at Mount Seymour and Cypress Mountain) and the Fraser River delta to the south. Stanley Park, an urban park of 405 hectares on the Burrard Peninsula, is one of the largest urban parks in North America and ranks consistently among the world's top urban parks. The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the third-largest in North America by tonnage, handling about 145 million tonnes of cargo a year. The city's mild oceanic climate (mean January temperature about 4 degrees Celsius, July about 18 degrees Celsius) is the warmest of any major Canadian city. The Vancouver Canucks of the NHL, BC Lions of the CFL, and Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS play in the city.