VancouverBy: Kevin Zhu

History Vancouver is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of

British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790s. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch phrase "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from Coevorden, a city in the Netherlands. Logging sawmills established in 1867 in the area became known as Gastown became the nucleus around which the town grew, and Vancouver was incorporated as a Canadian 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. The Port Metro Vancouver is now the busiest and largest in Canada, as well as the fourth busiest port in North America.

CultureVancouver International Film Festival – over 350

films and 150,000 attendees each year

Vancouver Art Gallery – 5th largest art gallery in Canada with over 10,000 pieces

Home of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team at GM Place

Recent site of 2010 Olympic Winter Games

CharacteristicsVancouver's Downtown is the financial, business, and

commercial hub of the city, it is located between Burrard St. (West) & Seymour St. (East) and between Robson St. (South) & the Burrard Inlet (North).

The majority of downtown area has many zoning area regulations with the majority being focused on high-rise housing and offices

Vancouver is the third most densely populated large city in North America with 13,817.6 people per square mile

Does not follow any development models

Map of Vancouver Neighbourhoods

Location49° 15' 0" N / 123° 8' 0" W

Located just north of the US-American border near Bellingham, WA and about 60 miles North-East of the province’s capital city of Victoria

Located on the Burrard Peninsula, Vancouver lies between Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River to the south. The Strait of Georgia, to the west, is shielded from the Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island.

The area is relatively flat with mountain ranges surrounding it. The location was previously inhabited by a large douglas fir forest

DemographicsSize: 603,527 as of January 2010

52.3% Female to 47.7% Male

The main age group of the city is from 18 to around 50 mainly due to the location of the University of British Columbia and the center of Canada’s Western business

Population Pyramid

Ethnic and Religious Affiliation

Major religion is “No Religion” at 42.2%

Major ethnicity is British Isles Origin at 35.9%

InfrastructureOne of the nation’s largest industrial centers

The Port of Vancouver does more than $75 billion dollars worth of trade with 130 countries

Headquarters of forest product and mining corporations and a growing center for film, software and biotechnology

Has both primary and tertiary sectors but focuses more on the sale of goods

TransportationWestern end of Canada’s transcontinental

highway and rail routes

Helps transport goods from the logging, mining, and import industries across Canada

The Port of Vancouver is Canada’s largest port mainly due to the convenient location and protected location

City ClassificationBeta world order

Emerging megalopolis – high population density, hub of transportation

Core country