Geography of British Columbia

Geography of British Columbia
Continent	North America
Region	Western Canada
Coordinates	--
Area	944,735 km² (364,764.2 sq mi) 97.9% land 2.1 % water
Borders	Total land borders: U.S. states Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana; Canadian provinces Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories
Highest point	Mount Fairweather 4,663 m (15,299 ft)
Lowest point	Pacific Ocean sea level
Longest river	Fraser River 1,368 km (850 mi)
Largest lake	Williston Lake 1,761 km² (680 sq ft)

British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, bordered by the Pacific Ocean. With an area of 944,735 square kilometers (364,764 square miles) it is Canada's third-largest province. The province is nearly four times the size of Great Britain, two and one-half times larger than Japan and larger than every U.S. state except Alaska. It is bound on the northwest by the U.S. state of Alaska, directly north by Yukon and the Northwest Territories, on the east by Alberta, and on the south by the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty. The province is dominated by mountain ranges, among them the Canadian Rockies but dominantly the Coast Mountains, Cassiar Mountains and the Columbia Mountains. Most of the population is concentrated on the Pacific coast, notably in the area of Vancouver, located on the southwestern tip of the mainland.

Urban areas

British Columbia's capital is Victoria, at the southeast tip of Vancouver Island. Its most populous city is Vancouver. Other major cities include Surrey (the second-largest), Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond, Delta, and New Westminster in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD); Abbotsford, Langley, Maple Ridge, Mission and Chilliwack, in the central and upper Fraser Valley; Nanaimo on Vancouver Island; and Kelowna and Kamloops in the "Interior." Prince George is the major city nearest the centre of the province; however, a small town called Fraser Lake, 150 km to the west, is much nearer the geographic centre.

Statistics

See also: Demographics of British Columbia

• Total area is 944,735 km²
• Land area is 925,186 km²
• Water area is 19,549 km² (2.1%)

Physical geography

Terrain

The Canadian Rockies and the Inside Passage's fjords provide some of British Columbia's renowned and spectacular scenery. These landforms provide the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry. In the southwestern corner of B.C., the Lower Fraser Valley forms a flat, fertile triangle of intensively used land. The Okanagan is one of only three wine-growing regions in Canada and also produces ciders. While exports are minimal, BC wines are highly-prized and ranked well internationally. The city of Penticton and the small towns Oliver, and Osoyoos have some of the warmest summer climates in Canada, although the hottest spots are the towns of Lillooet and Lytton in the Fraser Canyon. Much of Vancouver Island is covered by a temperate rain forest, one of a mere handful of such ecosystems in the world (notable others being on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and in Chile. One-third of the province consists of barren alpine tundra, icefields, and glaciers.

Sky Pilot Group (L), Tantalus Range (R), part of the Coast Mountains as seen from the Cheakamus Canyon

Mountains

The younger ranges of the Canadian Rockies were uplifted during the late Cretaceous period (140 million-65 million years ago) and are a relatively new, tall and uneroded mountain range [1], [2]. During the Ice age all of British Columbia was covered by ice (except Queen Charlotte Islands).

B.C.'s Eastern Mountain System comprises the dominant Canadian Rockies, with the Cariboo, Selkirk, Monashee, and Purcell ranges of the Columbia Mountain system in the south. The Canadian Rockies incorporate the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. The southern end in Alberta and British Columbia borders Idaho and Montana of the United States. The northern end is at the Liard Plain in British Columbia.

The Western Mountain System's Coast Mountains are the westernmost range of the Pacific Cordillera, running along the western shore of the North American continent, extending south from the Alaska Panhandle and covering most of coastal British Columbia. The range is covered in dense temperate rainforest on its western exposures, the range rises to heavily glaciated peaks, including the largest temperature-latitude icefields in the world, and then tapers to the dry interior plateau on its eastern flanks, or to the subarctic boreal forest of the Skeena Mountains and Stikine Plateau.

Mount Waddington (4016 m) is the highest mountain within B.C. and Fairweather Mountain in the Saint Elias Mountains on the B.C. and Alaska border has the highest point. Much of the B.C. coast has a fjord scenery, due to the many islands along the Pacific coast being the highest points of a partly submerged mountain range.

Sources Statistics Canada, peakbagger.com

Volcanoes

Main article: Volcanism in Canada

Mount Edziza, a large shield volcano in northwestern British Columbia.

Although little-known to the general public, British Columbia is home to huge area of volcanoes and volcanic activity in the Pacific Ring of Fire.[3] Several mountains that many British Columbians look at every day are dormant volcanoes. Most of them have erupted during the Pleistocene and Holocene. Although none of Canada's volcanoes are currently erupting, several volcanoes, volcanic fields, and volcanic centers are considered potentially active,[4] 49 of which have erupted in the past 10,000 years[5] and many of which have been active in the past two million years. There are hot springs at some volcanoes while 10 volcanoes in British Columbia appear related to seismic activity since 1975, including: Mount Silverthrone, Mount Meager, Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, Castle Rock, Lava Fork, Mount Edziza, Hoodoo Mountain and Crow Lagoon.[6] Numerous shield volcanoes developed during the Tertiary period in north-central British Columbia and some were active intermittently to recent times. Mount Edziza and the Level Mountain Range are most spectacular examples. Mount Edziza is a stratovolcano consisting of a basal shield of basaltic flows surmounted by a central vent and flanked by numerous satellite cones, ash beds and blocky lavas. The complex has a long history of volcanic eruption that began about 10 million years ago and ended about 1300 years ago. The volcanoes are grouped into four volcanic belts with different tectonic settings.

The Garibaldi Volcanic Belt is a north-south range of volcanoes in southwestern British Columbia. It is the northern extension of the Cascade Volcanic Arc in the United States and contains the most explosive young volcanoes in Canada. It was formed by subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. Eruption styles within the belt range from effusive to explosive, with compositions from basalt to rhyolite. The most recent major catastrophic eruption was the 2350 BP eruption of Mount Meager. It produced a ash column at least 20 km high into the stratosphere and dammed the Lillooet River with breccia.

The Mount Meager volcanic complex as seen from the east near Pemberton, BC. Summits left to right are Capricorn Mountain, Mount Meager, and Plinth Peak.

The Anahim Volcanic Belt is an east-west line of volcanoes. These volcanoes probably formed when the North American Plate moved over the Anahim hotspot. The hotspot is considered similar to the one feeding the Hawaiian Islands. The last volcanic eruption within the belt was about 7000 years ago at a small cinder cone called Nazko Cone.

The Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province (sometimes called the Stikine Volcanic Belt) is the most active volcanic region in Canada, contaning more than 100 volcanoes. Several eruptions are known to have occurred within this region in the past 400 years and contains Canada's largest volcanoes. It formed as a result of faulting, cracking, rifting and the interaction between the Pacific and the North American plates.

The Chilcotin Plateau Basalts in southern British Columbia is thought to have formed as a result of back-arc extension behind the Cascadia subduction zone.

The Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field in southeastern British Columbia consists of numerous small, basaltic volcanoes and extensive lava flows. Many indivdual volcanoes in the field have been active for the last 3 million years during which time the region was covered by thick glacial ice at least twice, prior to the well known Fraser Glaciation (also known as the Wisconsin Glaciation). The origin of the volcanism is yet unknown but is probably related to crustal thining. The last eruption in the field was at Kostal Cone in 1500. Volcanism within the field has also created the 465-foot (142 m)-high Helmcken Falls, which is the fourth highest waterfall in Canada. It owes its foundation to the deposits of volcanic rock that were placed down in the wide valley of the Murtle River. Layer upon layer of fresh lava created flat areas, over which enormous floods flowed during the last ice age. These floods shaped the upright cliff in the lava flows over which the river now flows. The protection of Helmcken Falls was one of the major causes for the development of Wells Gray Provincial Park. As a result, if it had not been for the volcanic eruptions, it is not likely that such a large wilderness region would have been made.

Lakes of British Columbia. See actual size.

A portion of Atlin Lake (on the right half of the image) during the winter, as seen from space. The photo illustrates well the elongated lakes in B.C.

Water

Fraser River forms an important transportation corridor when it drains much of central and southern British Columbia flowing to the Pacific Ocean. Other major rivers include the upper Columbia River and the Kootenay River. In the northern B.C. the Stikine, Nass and Skeena rivers flow toward the Pacific Ocean, and Peace River flows northeast toward the Arctic Ocean. Hydroelectric resources in B.C. are highly developed with large plants along the rivers operating pulp and paper mills. The Fraser, Nass, and Skeena rivers have not been dammed in order to protect the salmon runs on them. Rivers and their valleys have for a long time provided routes through the mountains for people in B.C. [7]

Long, narrow lakes are found throughout the valleys of the southern and central interior. Among these are Atlin, Kootenay, Okanagan, Quesnel, and Shuswap lakes. Several high dams have impounded large reservoir lakes like Kinbasket Lake, particularly on the Columbia (see Hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River) and Peace rivers. Williston Lake, on the Peace River, is the province’s largest freshwater body.

View of Okanagan Lake

Source Statistics Canada

Sources Statistics Canada, WLD, anglersatlas.com

Climate

British Columbia's climate is best described as varied. The mountainous terrain causes huge changes climatic conditions over short distances. All winter long the coast is pounded with storm after storm off the Pacific Ocean. The Coastal Mountains block most of the precipitation which forces the majority of the precipitation to fall on the West side of the mountains. In contrast, the leeward side is much drier with some areas are classified as semi-arid. The coast of British Columbia is by far the wettest area in Canada, while the village of Ashcroft located 200 km inland is the driest place in Canada outside of the high arctic.

Coastal British Columbia experiences the mildest winters in Canada were freezing temperatures are infrequent. Victoria, generally considered the mildest city in Canada, has gone the entire winter without freezing. Along with the moderating effect of the Pacific Ocean, the mountains impede the flow of the cold arctic air during the winter. The only exception is the northeastern portion of the province situated on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. Without the protection of the mountains, the climate is similar to that found in the neighboring parts of Alberta. The winters are very cold and the summers are warmer than areas west of the Rockies.

Summer daytime temperatures in the Southwestern Interior are the hottest in Canada. During July, the average daily maximum temperature around Osoyoos and Spence's Bridge is over 29 °C (84.2 °F). This heat combined with little precipitation means that arid animals and vegetation thrive. Although winter temperatures are much colder than Coastal British Columbia, this area is still milder than almost anywhere else in Canada. Although the Southern Interior valleys, including the Okanagan Valley, are spared the copious amounts of precipitation, they receive some the lowest amounts of bright sunshine in Canada during the winter months. This is a result of winter temperature inversions that leave the valleys in a layer of think cloud while the rest of the province basks in sunshine.

Source: Environment Canada, Canadian Climate Normals or Averages 1971-2000

Source: Environment Canada, Weather Winners WebSite

Parks and Protected Areas

There are 14 designations of parks and protected areas in the province that reflects the different administration and creation of these areas in a modern context. There are 141 ecological Reserves, 35 provincial marine parks, 7 Provincial Heritage Sites, 6 National Historic Sites, 4 National Parks and 3 National Park Reserves. 12.5% (114,000 km²) of BC is currently considered 'protected' under one of the 14 different designations that includes over 800 distinct areas.

British Columbia contains seven of Canada's national parks:

• Glacier National Park
• Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
• Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site
• Kootenay National Park
• Mount Revelstoke National Park
• Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
• Yoho National Park

BC also contains a large network of provincial parks, run by BC Parks of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.

In addition to parks, British Columbia also protects approximately 47,000 square kilometers of agricultural land via the Agricultural Land Reserve.

See also: List of British Columbia Provincial Parks

Ecoregions

British Columbia's ecosystems are divided on five different levels, each classifying the area on a progressively more detailed basis. At the top level, ecodomains delineate areas of broad climatic uniformity across the world. The ecodomains are then divided into ecodivisions which delineate areas of broad climatic and physiographic uniformity. Next, the ecodivisions are divided into ecoprovinces which consider climate, oceanography, relief and regional landforms. The ecoprovinces are then divided into ecoregions which consider major physiographic and minor macroclimatic or oceanographic variations. Finally, the ecoregions are divided into ecosections for minor physiographic and macroclimatic or oceanographic variations. Overall, B.C. is divided into 4 large ecodomain areas which are progressively divided down into 114 small ecosections.

Biogeoclimatic Zones of British Columbia¹

• Coastal Western Hemlock Zone: Wet, mossy, dense temperate rain forests of Western Hemlock, Western Redcedar, Pacific Silver (Amabilis) Fir, Yellow Cedar, Coast Douglas-fir, Grand Fir, Sitka Spruce, and Western White Pine, Bigleaf Maple, Red Alder, sword fern, devil's club, and red huckleberry predominate on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the west coast of the mainland north of the Fraser River delta to north of Prince Rupert, farther inland along the Fraser and Skeena River Valleys, and on the Queen Charlotte Islands. This zone was the original locus of British Columbia's forest industry; and most of the trees have been harvested at least once. There has been much effort (some successful) to protect the remaining old growth forest from logging.
• Coast Douglas-fir Zone: A drier region of temperate rain forest, this is the smallest and most heavily populated biome of the province. It encompasses the southern and most of the eastern coastal fringe of Vancouver Island, the Fraser River delta, the Gulf Islands, and parts of the Sunshine Coast. Trees unique to this area include the Arbutus, Garry oak, and manzanita.
• Interior Douglas-fir–Montane–Ponderosa Pine–Bunchgrass Zones: The dry valleys and plateaus of BC's southern interior, stretching from the lower reaches of the Chilcotin Plateau, across the southern Cariboo, and south through the Okanagan. A separate, isolated region exists in the East Kootenay. This region encompasses the Fraser Canyon, the lower Thompson River, and the Nicola and Similkameen watersheds. It is characterised by treeless bunchgrass steppes, sagebrush scrub, and open forests of Ponderosa Pine, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, trembling aspen, Lodgepole Pine, and Western Larch. Much of the area is used for timber harvesting, ranching, and orchard-growing. The winters are cold and dry, and the summers are hot and drier.
• Interior Redcedar-Western Hemlock Zone: An interior wetbelt, similar to the Coastal Western Hemlock Zone, is found in the low to middle elevations of the Columbia Mountains in southeastern British Columbia, west of the Rockies, as well as north in the Nass and Skeena River drainages. The cool, wet winters and warm, moist summers produce the greatest plant diversity of any zone in the province. Western Hemlock and Western Redcedar predominate, but Grand Fir, Western Larch, White Spruce, Engelmann Spruce, black cottonwood, trembling aspen, Western White Pine, and Subalpine Fir are also common, depending on the elevation. The dense and diverse forests make this zone the second most productive forest zone in British Columbia and Canada.
• Sub-Boreal (Hemiboreal) Spruce and Pine-Spruce Zones: The central interior of the province, consisting of the rolling lake-studded terrain of the Cariboo — the Fraser and Nechako Plateaus — is characterised by severe, snowy winters and warm, short summers. This is a transitional zone between southern and northern biomes. Seral species include Lodgepole Pine, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, and trembling aspen; mature species include White and Engelmann Spruce, and Subalpine Fir. The moderately dense forests are interrupted in places by ponds and muskeg. The generally flat plateaus make this an active area for logging.
• Boreal Zones: The northern third of the province is dominated by long, cold winters, and short, warm summers. This is a vast, largely unpopulated region, with isolated logging and mining activity. White Spruce, Black Spruce, Lodgepole Pine, trembling aspen, Tamarack Larch, and Paper Birch predominate among the meadows and muskeg of the Peace and Liard Plains. At higher elevations, the winters are harsher, the summers briefer, and White Spruce and Subalpine Fir give way to scrub willow and birch.
• Mountain Zones: At higher elevations (above about 850 m on the southwest coast, less as one goes farther inland and north), the summers are shorter and the winters are colder. Along the coast, the lush, diverse forests give way to more uniform stands of Mountain Hemlock, Pacific Silver (Amabilis) Fir, and Yellow Cedar. These are interrupted by subalpine heaths, meadows, and fens. In the drier, interior regions, the higher elevations are marked by Engelmann Spruce, Subalpine Fir, Subalpine Larch, and Lodgepole Pine, the trees clumped among meadows and grassland.

¹: Cameron Young, The Forests of British Columbia (North Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 1985); R.C. Hosie, Native Trees of Canada, seventh edition (Ottawa: Canadian Forestry Service, 1969)

Political geography

British Columbia is divided into defined regions for three political purposes. One is for the purpose of providing local government services. This involves municipalities, which are incorporated areas, and regional districts, which are federations of member municipalities and rural areas. Another purpose is for the provision of provincial services. The provincial government has dividing certain services into regional services, such as health authorities and agricultural commissions, which administer specified regions according to their own policies. The province is also divided to provide electoral districts by Elections BC for provincial elections and Elections Canada for federal elections. In addition to these, Indian Reserves have been established throughout the province but are administered by the federal government.

Local government

In order to fund community-wide services, such as a sewer system, urban areas incorporate to form municipalities. The vast majority of British Columbians live in these municipalities but there are also large areas of unincorporated rural areas around the municipalities. In 1964 the provincial government created regional districts, through amendments to the Municipal Act, to better coordinate regional issues and provide community services to unincorporated areas. Only one area, the sparsely populated Stikine Region in northwest B.C., is not covered by a regional district. It has a population of 1,352 people but covers an area of 135,391 square kilometers with no municipalities within its borders. All the regional districts and municipalities are members of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities

Regional districts

Regional district borders

Main article: Regional districts of British Columbia

British Columbia is carved into 27 regional districts. These regional districts are federations of member municipalities and electoral areas. The unincorporated area of the regional district is carved into electoral areas. Each electoral area elects one director who sits on the Regional Board and the Electoral Area Directors Committee. The Islands Trust acts similar to a regional district for several unincorporated islands between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

The regional districts are used to provide local government services (e.g. building inspection) to unincorporated areas, sub-regional services (e.g. street bridge over a border) between two or more members, and regional services (e.g. funding the regional hospital district) required for the entire area. Also, as a collection of municipalities they are able to borrow funds for capital projects at lower interest rates.

Municipalities

There are 153 municipalities in British Columbia. They are divided into cities, districts, towns and villages, according to their population at the time of their incorporation. There are also three other municipalities that were incorporated for special purposes. These are the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Sechelt Indian Government District, and Bowen Island Municipality. With the exception of the City of Vancouver all municipalities attain their legislative powers from the Local Government Act (formerly the Municipal Act), which is being replaced, in phases, by the Community Charter. Vancouver obtains its legislative authority from the Vancouver Charter.

Provincial politics

2005 general election, popular vote by electoral districts

For representation in the Legislative Assembly B.C. is carved into 79 electoral districts. Each one of these ridings elects one candidate to become its Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in a first past the post race contained within the electoral district. In the last general election, in May 2005, three political parties, the British Columbia Liberal Party, New Democratic Party of British Columbia and the Green Party of British Columbia all ran one candidate in each electoral district while 22 other minor parties, as well as 23 independents, ran at least one candidate in an electoral district. However, the results produced a two party system wherein the two major parties, the right-wing B.C. Liberal Party and the left-wing New Democratic Party of B.C., won all the electoral districts. The B.C. Liberals have dominated provincial politics since 2001 when they won. 77 of 79 seats.The B.C. New Democraic Party still won the other two ridings left. The right-wing predecessor of the B.C. Liberal Party, the B.C. Social Credit Party, dominated provincial politics for much of the latter part of the twentieth century. The right-wing parties draw their support from the Lower Mainland suburbs (like Langley, Abbotsford, etc.), Kelowna, Kamloops, and northeastern B.C. The New Democratic Party has traditionally drawn its support from more urbanized areas such as Vancouver and Victoria, as well as northwestern B.C, and the mining towns of the Kootenays and key areas of Vancouver Island. Swing areas include the B.C. Interior, certain urban areas within the Lower Mainland (like Surrey) and certain rural areas (like in southeastern B.C.)

External links

• Biogeoclimatic Zones of British Columbia
• Ecosystems of British Columbia
• List of parks
• Land Cover
• Relief Map of British Columbia
• Ecoregions of British Columbia
• Ecoregion Classification Background
• British Columbia: BCStats

References

Subdivisions of British Columbia Subdivisions Regional districts · Regional district electoral areas · School districts · Regions Communities Municipalities · Cities · First Nations · Ghost towns Urban centres Vancouver · Victoria · Kelowna · Abbotsford · Kamloops · Nanaimo · Prince George

Geography of the Provinces and territories of Canada National Geography of Canada • Canada's landforms Provinces British Columbia • Alberta • Saskatchewan • Manitoba • Ontario • Quebec • New Brunswick • Nova Scotia • Prince Edward Island • Newfoundland and Labrador Territories Yukon • Northwest Territories • Nunavut See also Regions of Canada • Islands • Rivers • Lakes • Mountains • National Parks • Volcanoes