Victoria, British Columbia

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This article refers to the city of Victoria. Information on Greater Victoria can be found in the Greater Victoria article. For electoral districts with the name Victoria, or in the area of greater Victoria, please see Victoria (electoral districts)

Victoria
British Columbia Legislative Buildings in Victoria
	Image:Victoriaarms.jpg
Location of Victoria within the Capital Regional District in British Columbia, Canada
Area [2]	19.68 km² (7.6 sq mi)
Metro area	338,088 km² (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "," sq mi)
Population [3]	345, 088 (2006)
Pop'n density	3,965.5/km² (10,270.6/sq mi)
Location	48°25′N, 123°21′W
Elevation	23 metres
Incorporation	1862 [1]
Province	British Columbia
Regional District	Capital
Members of Parliament	Denise Savoie
Members of the Legislative Assembly	Carole James, Rob Fleming
Mayor	Alan Lowe (past mayors)
Governing Body	Victoria City Council
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
Postal code	V0S, V8N-V8Z, V9A-V9E
Area Code	+1-250
Victoria.BC.ca
British Columbia Portal

Victoria is the capital of the western Canadian province of British Columbia. It is also the seat of the Capital Regional District. Victoria is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and is a global tourist destination. Its other main industries are government, the technology sector and the Canadian Navy.

Contents 1 Location and population 2 History 3 Climate 4 Physiography and Soils 5 Neighbourhoods of Victoria 6 Other facts 7 Sister cities 8 Education 9 Sports teams 9.1 Defunct teams 9.2 Sport personalities from Victoria 10 Media outlets 10.1 Print 10.2 AM radio 10.3 FM radio 10.4 Television 11 See also 12 References 13 External links

[edit] Location and population

Located on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the City of Victoria has a population of approximately 345,000, and is the second most populous municipality in the province. The metropolitan area comprising thirteen municipalities informally referred to as Greater Victoria has a population of more than 338,000 and is the largest urban area on Vancouver Island. ^[4] By population it currently ranks as the 14th largest metropolitan area in Canada, but by total land area it is the second smallest (after Abbotsford, British Columbia).^{[5] [6]}

Victoria is well-known for its disproportionately large retiree population. Retirees throughout Canada are drawn to Victoria's mild climate, beautiful scenery, year-round golf season, and general easy-going pace of life. A popular saying among locals is that Victoria is for "the newly wed and nearly dead!"

The city's chief industries are tourism, provincial government administration, and the technology sector. Other major employers include the Canadian Forces (the Township of Esquimalt is the home of the Pacific headquarters of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command), and the University of Victoria (located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich).

The city of Greater Victoria is the southernmost urban area in Western Canada, located below the northern 49th parallel, which bisects Vancouver Island at the community of Ladysmith, British Columbia.

[edit] History

Prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the late 1700s, the Victoria area was home to several communities of Coast Salish peoples, including the Songish (Songhees). The Spanish and British took up the exploration of the northwest coast of North America beginning with the voyage of Captain James Cook in 1776, although the Victoria area of the Strait of Juan de Fuca was not penetrated until 1791. Spanish sailors visited Esquimalt harbour (within the modern Capital Regional District) in 1790 and again in 1792. Founded by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1843 as Fort Camosun (after the "camosack", a type of wild lily native to southern Vancouver Island) as a fur trading post, the settlement was later called Fort Victoria, in honour of Queen Victoria ^[8]. The Songhees established a village across the harbour from the fort. The Songhees' village was later moved north of Esquimalt. When the crown Colony of Vancouver Island was established in 1849, a town was laid out on the site and made the capital of the colony. The Chief Factor of the fort, James Douglas was made governor of the colony, and would be the leading figure in the early development of the city until his retirement in 1864.

With the discovery of gold on the British Columbia mainland in 1858, Victoria became the port, supply base, and outfitting centre for miners on their way to the Fraser Canyon gold fields, mushrooming from a population of 300 to over 5000 literally within a few days. In 1866 when the island was politically united with the mainland, Victoria remained the capital of the new united colony and became the provincial capital when British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871. Victoria was incorporated as a city in 1862. In 1865 Esquimalt was made the North Pacific home of the Royal Navy, and remains Canada's west coast naval base.

In 1886, with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus on Burrard Inlet, Victoria's position as the commercial centre of British Columbia was irrevocably lost to the City of Vancouver. The city subsequently began cultivating an image of genteel civility within its natural setting, an image aided by the impressions of visitors such as Rudyard Kipling, the opening of the popular Butchart Gardens in 1904 and the construction of the Empress Hotel by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1908. Robert Dunsmuir, a leading industrialist whose interests included coal mines and a railway on Vancouver Island, constructed Craigdarroch Castle in the Rockland area, near the official residence of the province's lieutenant-governor. His son James Dunsmuir became premier and subsequently lieutenant-governor of the province and built his own grand residence at Hatley Park (used for several decades as a military college, now Royal Roads University) in the present City of Colwood.

A real estate and development boom ended just before World War I, leaving Victoria with a large stock of Edwardian public, commercial and residential structures that have greatly contributed to the City's character. A number of municipalities surrounding Victoria were incorporated during this period, including the Township of Esquimalt, the District of Oak Bay, and several municipalities on the Saanich peninsula. Since World War II the Victoria area has seen relatively steady growth, becoming home to two major universities. Since the 1980s the western suburbs have been incorporated as new municipalities, such as Colwood and Langford. The thirteen municipal governments within the Capital Regional District afford the residents a great deal of local autonomy, although there are periodic calls for amalgamation.

[edit] Climate

Victoria has a temperate climate that is usually classified as Marine west coast(Cfb) ^[9], with mild, damp winters and relatively dry and mild summers. It is sometimes arguably classified as a Mediterranean climate (Csb).^[10]

Daily temperatures rise above 30°C (86°F) on an average of one or two days per year and fall below -5°C (23°F) on an average of only 2 nights per year. During the winter, the average daily high and low temperatures are 8.2°C (47°F) and 3.6°C (38°F), respectively. The summer months are equally mild, with an average high temperature of 19.6°C (67°F) and low of 11.3°C (52°F). Victoria does occasionally experience more extreme temperatures. The highest temperature ever recorded in Victoria was 35.3°C (96°F) on July 23, 2004, while the coldest temperature on record was -15.6°C (4°F) on December 29, 1968 and January 28, 1950. Victoria has not recorded a temperature below -10°C (14°F) since 1990.

Thanks to the rain shadow effect of the nearby Olympic Mountains in Washington State, Victoria is the driest location on British Columbia's coasts, experiencing much lower rainfall than other nearby areas. Total annual precipitation is just 608 mm (24in) at the Gonzales weather station in Victoria, contrasted to nearby Seattle, (137 km/85 miles away to the southeast), with 970mm (38in) of rainfall, or Vancouver, 100 km away, with 1,219 mm (48in) of rainfall. Perhaps even more dramatic is the difference in rainfalls on Vancouver Island. Port Renfrew, just 80 km from Victoria on the wet southwest coast of Vancouver Island receives 3,671 mm (145 in). Even the Victoria Airport, 25 km north of the city, receives about 45% more precipitation than the city proper. One of the most striking features of Victoria's climate is the distinct dry and rainy seasons. Nearly two thirds of the annual precipitation falls during the four wettest months, November to February. Precipitation in December, the wettest month (109 mm/4 in) is nearly eight times as high as in July, the driest month (14 mm/.5 in). During the summer months, Victoria is the driest major city in Canada.

Victoria averages just 26 cm (10 in) of snow annually. Every few decades, Victoria receives very large snowfalls, including the more than 100 cm (39 in) of snow that fell in December 1996. On the other hand, roughly one third of winters will see virtually no snow, with less than 5 cm (2 in) falling during the entire season. When snow does fall, it rarely lasts long on the ground. Victoria averages just 2-3 days per year with at least 5 cm (2 in) of snow on the ground.

The rainshadow effect also means that Victoria gets more sunshine than surrounding areas. With 2,223 hours of sun annually, Victoria is one of the sunniest places in British Columbia, and gets more sunshine than most other cities in Canada except those in the southern Prairies. The benefits of Victoria's climate are evident through the city's gardens, which are more likely to display drought-tolerant oak trees, eucalyptus, arbutus, and even bananas, than they are likely to feature evergreen conifers, which are typically associated with the coastal Pacific Northwest environment.

		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average daily maximum	°C	7.0	8.6	10.6	13.1	15.9	17.9	19.8	20.1	18.5	13.8	9.4	7.1	13.5
Average daily minimum	°C	3.0	3.7	4.5	6.0	8.2	10.0	11.3	11.7	10.7	7.9	5.0	3.2	7.1
Average precipitation	mm	94.3	71.7	46.5	28.5	25.8	20.7	14.0	19.7	27.4	51.2	98.9	108.9	607.6
Average total snow	cm	9.7	3.5	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.1	7.8	26.3
Average Sunshine	h	78	102	150	205	267	271	331	303	222	148	81	65	2223
Data [11]

Victoria's equable climate has also added to its reputation as the "City of Gardens" . With its mild temperatures and plentiful sunshine, Victoria boasts gardens that are home to many plant species rarely found elsewhere in Canada. Several species of palms, eucalyptus, and even certain varieties of bananas can be seen growing throughout the area's gardens. The city takes pride in the many flowers that bloom during the winter and early spring, including crocuses, daffodils, early-blooming rhododendrons, cherry and plum trees. Every Februrary there is an annual "flower count" in what for the rest of the country and most of the province is still the dead of winter.

Due to its Mediterranean-type climate, Victoria and its surrounding area (southeastern Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands, and parts of the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast) is also home to many rare, native plants found nowhere else in Canada, including Quercus garryana (Garry oak), Arctostaphylos columbiana (Hairy manzanita), and Canada's only broadleaf evergreen tree, Arbutus menziesii (Pacific madrone). Many of these endangered species exist here at the northern end of their range, and are found as far south as Central and Southern California, and even parts of Mexico.

[edit] Physiography and Soils

The landscape of Victoria was molded by water in various forms. Pleistocene glaciation put the area under a thick ice cover, the weight of which depressed the land below present sea level. These glaciers also deposited stony sandy loam till. As they retreated, their meltwater left thick deposits of sand and gravel. Marine clay settled on what would later become dry land. Post-glacial rebound exposed the present-day terrain to air, raising beach and mud deposits well above sea level. The resulting soils are highly variable in texture, and abrupt textural changes are common. In general, clays are most likely to be encountered in the northern part of town and in depressions. The southern part has coarse-textured subsoils and loamy topsoils. Sandy loams and loamy sands are common in the eastern part adjoining Oak Bay. Victoria's soils are relatively unleached and less acidic than soils elsewhere on the British Columbia coast. Their thick dark topsoils denoted a high level of fertility which made them valuable for farming until urbanization took over.

[edit] Neighbourhoods of Victoria

The following is a list of neighbourhoods in the City of Victoria, as defined by the city planning department. For a list of neighbourhoods in other area municipalities, see Greater Victoria, or the individual entries for those municipalities.

• Burnside
• Downtown
• Fairfield
• James Bay
• Fernwood
• Royal Oak
• Gonzales
• Harris Green
• North Jubilee
• North Park
• Oaklands
• Rockland
• South Jubilee
• Victoria West

Other city districts often regarded as neighbourhoods include:

• Chinatown
• Rock Bay
• Oak Bay Border
• Songhees
• Selkirk

[edit] Other facts

The Greater Victoria area comprises 13 separate municipalities (total pop. 345,080 CMA).

The oldest (and most intact) Chinatown in Canada is located within Victoria. In the heart of downtown are the Parliament Buildings, the Fairmont Empress Hotel, the gothic Christ Church Cathedral, and the acclaimed Royal British Columbia Museum, with large exhibits on local Aboriginal peoples, Natural History and Modern History. In addition, the heart of downtown also has the Royal London Wax Museum, Victoria Bug Zoo, and the Pacific Undersea Gardens, which showcases the Giant Pacific Octopus, the Wolf Eel and other marine life of British Columbia. North of the city on the Saanich Peninsula are the Butchart Gardens, one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island, as well as the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria Butterfly Gardens and Centre of the Universe planetarium ^[12]. There are also numerous National Historic Sites, such as the Fisgard Lighthouse, Craigflower Manor and Schoolhouse, Hatley Castle and Hatley Park and Fort Rodd Hill, which is a coastal artillery fort built in the late 1890s, located west of the city in Colwood. Also located west of the city you will find Western Speedway, a 4/10th-mile oval and the largest in Western Canada.

Beacon Hill Park is the city's main urban green space. Its area of 75 hectares lie along Victoria's southern shore, and includes numerous playing fields, manicured gardens, exotic species of plants and animals such as wild peacocks, and a petting zoo. The sport of cricket, the rules of which have mystified tourists and locals alike, has been played in Beacon Hill Park since the mid-nineteenth century. The park also includes a few areas of natural Garry oak meadow habitat, an increasingly scarce ecosystem that once dominated the region. Each summer, Beacon Hill Park plays host to several outdoor concerts, and the popular Luminara Community Lantern Festival.

The Victoria Symphony, led by Tania Miller performs at the Royal Theatre and the Farquhar Auditorium of the University of Victoria from September to May. Every BC Day weekend, the Symphony mounts "Symphony Splash", a popular outdoor event that includs a performance by the orchestra sitting on a barge in Victoria's Inner Harbour. Streets in the local area are closed, as each year approximately 40,000 people attend a variety of concerts and events throughout the day. The event culminates with the Symphony's evening concert, with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture as the grand finale, complete with cannon-fire, a pealing carillon and a fireworks display to honour BC Day. The Bastion Theatre, a professional dramatic company, functioned in Victoria through the 1970s and '80s and performed high quality dramatic productions calculated to appeal to a middle-brow audience but ultimately was obliged to declare bankruptcy, Victoria's transient and geriatric population with roots elsewhere in Canada not providing sufficient demand for so expensive a cultural enterprise.

The only Canadian Forces Primary Reserve brass/reed band on Vancouver Island is located in Victoria. The 5th (British Columbia) Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery Band traces its roots back to 1864, making it the oldest, continually-operational military band west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Its mandate is to support the island's military community by performing at military dinners, parades and ceremonies, and other events. The band performs weekly in August at Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site where the Regiment started manning the guns of the fort in 1896, and also performs every year at the Cameron Bandshell at Beacon Hill Park.

Victoria can be reached by air and by ferry. The Victoria International Airport has non-stop flights to and from Toronto, Honolulu (winter), Salt Lake City, Seattle and many cities throughout Western Canada. Multiple scheduled helicopter and seaplane flights are available daily between Victoria harbour and Vancouver International Airport or Vancouver harbour (35 minute flights). The BC Ferries Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal, located 29 kilometers north of Victoria, is a bustling terminal with bi-hourly sailings to Tsawwassen (a ferry terminal south of Vancouver) and to many of the Gulf Islands. The Washington State Ferry terminal in Sidney, British Columbia provides ferry service to Friday Harbor, Orcas Island, and ultimately Anacortes, Washington. In Victoria's Inner Harbour, an international ferry terminal provides car ferry service to Port Angeles, Washington state, high-speed catamaran service to downtown Seattle, and seasonal passenger ferries to destinations in Washington State including Friday Harbor, Port Angeles, and Bellingham. Victoria also serves as the western terminus (Mile Zero) for Canada's Trans-Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world. March 21, 2007, marks the celebration of Nelly Furtado day, a municipal holiday celebrated in Victoria.^[13]

The Greater Victoria/Capital Regional District has three post secondary educational institutions: University of Victoria (Uvic), Camosun College, Royal Roads University (RRU). Uvic was once rated the 4th and then 3rd best comprehensive university in all Canada by Macleans magazine's college/university ratings issue.

The current major sporting and entertainment complex, for Victoria and the southern Vancouver Island Region, is the Save On Foods Memorial Centre arena. It replaced the former Memorial Arena, which was constructed by efforts of World War II veterans as a monument to fallen comrades. World War I, World War II, Korean War, and other conflict veterans are also commemorated. Fallen Canadian soldiers in present and future wars and/or United Nations peace keeping missions are noted by the main lobby monument at the Save On Foods Memorial Centre.

Notable people born in Greater Victoria include:

• Emily Carr
• Russ Courtnall
• Geoff Courtnall
• David Foster
• Nelly Furtado
• Carolyn Mark
• Michael D. Moore
• Rich Harden
• Nell Shipman
• Cliff Thorburn
• Ian Tyson
• Beau Mirchoff

[edit] Sister cities

Victoria has four Sister Cities:

• Suzhou, People's Republic of China
• Morioka, Japan   (other sister cities in Japan)
• Napier, New Zealand
• Khabarovsk, Russia

[edit] Education

Residents are zoned to schools in the Greater Victoria School District.

[edit] Sports teams

• Victoria Salmon Kings (ECHL)
• Victoria Grizzlies (British Columbia Hockey League)
• Victoria Shamrocks (Western Lacrosse Association)
• Victoria Rebels (CJFL)
• Victoria United (Pacific Coast Soccer League)
• Victoria Vikes teams at the University of Victoria
• Victoria Rams sports teams of Camosun College

[edit] Defunct teams

• The Victoria Cougars are perhaps the most famous sports franchise the city has known, winning the Stanley Cup as members of the PCHA in 1925. They exist today in the form of a Junior 'B' team playing in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.

• Victoria Capitals (Canadian Baseball League)

[edit] Sport personalities from Victoria

• Former NASCAR driver Rick O'Dell is from the city.
• Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, although born in South Africa, grew up in Victoria.
• MLB pitcher Rich Harden grew up in Victoria.
• Former NHL stars Russ Courtnall and Geoff Courtnall are from the Victoria area.
• Lacrosse legends and twin brothers Gary Gait and Paul Gait were born and raised in Victoria.
• Former field hockey international Deb Whitten was born in Victoria.
• NHLer Matt Pettinger was raised in Victoria.

[edit] Media outlets

[edit] Print

• Victoria Times-Colonist
• Monday Magazine
• The Martlet - UVic student newspaper
• Black Press

[edit] AM radio

• AM 900 - CKMO, Camosun College campus radio
• AM 1070 - CFAX, news/talk

[edit] FM radio

• FM 88.9 - CBUX, Espace musique
• FM 90.5 - CBCV, CBC Radio One
• FM 91.3 - CJZN (The Zone @ 91-3), modern rock
• FM 92.1 - CBU-2, CBC Radio Two
• FM 98.5 - CIOC (Ocean 98.5), soft adult contemporary
• FM 100.3 - CKKQ (100.3 The Q!), active adult rock
• FM 101.9 - CFUV, University of Victoria campus radio
• FM 103.1 - CHTT (Jack FM), adult hits
• FM 107.3 - CHBE (Kool FM), hot adult contemporary

[edit] Television

There are two local stations and a community access channel in Victoria:

• Channel 6: CHEK (CH)
• Channel 53: CIVI (A-Channel)
• Cable 11: "Shaw TV", Shaw Communications community channel

Victoria is the only Canadian provincial capital without a local CBC TV affiliate. The region is considered to be a part of the Vancouver television market, receiving most stations that broadcast from across the Strait of Georgia, including the CBC, CTV, and Global networks.

See also: List of Vancouver media outlets#TV Stations

[edit] See also

• List of mayors of Victoria, British Columbia
• Canadian cities
• Monarchy in British Columbia
• School District 61 Greater Victoria

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 48.422151° -123.3657°
  • WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
  • Street map from Mapquest
  • Aerial photograph from Terraserver
  • Topo, Nautical, Aeronautical maps from Maptech
• Victoria Official Tourism Website
• Victoria BC Travel & Tourism Information
• Victoria Official website
• Photos of Victoria - Terra Galleria
• Live Victoria events calendar
• Vibrant Victoria Development, Culture, and Entertainment in Victoria
• Gulch Budget Guide to Victoria, BC
• A History of Victoria 19th century Victoria
• Victoria travel guide from Wikitravel

v • d • e Neighbourhoods in Greater Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria	Chinatown • Cook Street Village • East Burnside-Gorge • Fairfield • Fernwood • Harris Green • Hillside • Humboldt Valley • James Bay • Jubilee • North Park • Rockland • Victoria West
Saanich	Beaver Lake-Elk Lake • Broadmead-Sunnymead • Cadboro Bay • Cedar Hill • Cloverdale • Cordova Bay • Glanford • Gordon Head • Gorge-Tillicum • Interurban • Lake Hill • Maplewood • Marigold • Mount Douglas • Mount Tolmie-Lansdowne • Prospect Lake • Royal Oak • Strawberry Vale • Swan Lake • Ten Mile Point • Town and Country-Burnside • West Saanich
Other areas	Belmont Park • Brentwood Bay • Broom Hill • Cloak Hill • Colwood Corners • Craigflower • Dean Park • Deep Cove • Durrance Lake • East Sooke • Florence Lake • Glen Lake • Goldstream • Gonzales • Gorge Vale • Happy Valley • Hatley Park • Island View • Kemp Lake • Lands End • Luxton • Matheson Lake • Mill Hill • Millstream • Otter Point • Pat Bay • Ravenwood • Rockheights • Rocky Point • Saanichton • Saseenos • Songhees • Swartz Bay • Thetis Lake • Uplands • Whiffen Spit • William Head • Willis Point • Willows Beach • Windsor Park • Work Point