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British
Columbia is located in western North America, and borders
Yukon (north), Northwest Territories (north-east), Alaska (north-west),
Washington (south), Idaho (south-east), Montana (south-east), and
Alberta (east). A fertile plateau west of the Rocky Mountains gives
way to rain forests along the Pacific coast. European explorers
and fur trappers first arrived in the late 1700s. Later BC was populated
by gold seekers, lumberjacks and fishermen. The yearly precipitation
of 150 inches sustains enormous tracts of Sitka spruce, hemlock
and red cedar, which all account for a tenth of North America's
standing timber. BC's largest city, Vancouver, is North America's
gateway to Asia, and has absorbed thousands of ethnic Chinese from
Hong Kong.
Population
& Geography
Total
Area: 944,735 sq km / 364,764 sq mi1
Population:
4,380,300 (2007)1
Capital
City: Victoria
Largest
Metro Areas: Vancouver: 2,285,900; Victoria: 337,400; Abbotsford: 164,600 (2007)1
Economy
GDP:
$159.006 billion USD (2006)1
GDP
per capita: $36,300
USD (2006)1
Unemployment
Rate: 4.2% (2007)1
Government
Premier:
Gordon Campbell (Lib) (2007)2
Legislative
Assembly: 46 Liberals (including Premier), 33 New Democrats
(2007)2
Other Information
Federal Representation:
18 Conservatives, 10 New Democrats, 8 Liberals (2007)3
Origin
of Name: Chosen by Queen Victoria, British Columbia is
named after the Columbia River originally named by USAmerican
Captain Robert Gray for his ship Columbia.4
If British Columbia were to become the 51st state today...
Area
Rank: 2nd
biggest State (bigger than Texas, smaller than Alaska).5
Population
Rank: 25th
most populous State (bigger than Louisiana, smaller than South Carolina).5
GDP
Rank: 26th biggest economy in US (bigger than Oregon, smaller
than Alabama).6
Congressmen:
6 House Representatives and 2 Senators.
Electoral
Votes:
8
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