Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored and first mapped the area in the 1790s.

The metropolitan area is the third-largest in the country, and most populous in Western Canada, with the city proper ranked eighth among Canadian cities. According to the 2006 census Vancouver had a population of 578,041, and 2,116,581 people resided in its metropolitan area. In 2009, Vancouver and the surrounding area (including Abbotsford) was estimated to have a population of 2,501,699. The 2010 estimated population of the city proper was 642,843. Over the last 30 years, immigration has dramatically increased, making the city more ethnically and linguistically diverse; 52% do not speak English as their first language. Almost 30% of the city's inhabitants are of Chinese heritage.

From a logging sawmill established in 1867 a settlement named Gastown grew, around which a townsite named Granville arose. With the announcement that the railhead would reach the site, it was renamed "Vancouver" and incorporated as a city in 1886. By 1887, the transcontinental railway 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. Port Metro Vancouver is the new name for the Port of Vancouver, which is now the busiest and largest in Canada, as well as the fourth largest port (by tonnage) in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry. It also is the third-largest film production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York City, earning its film industry the nickname Hollywood Nort