How Big Is British Columbia?
Last updated on September 22nd, 2023 at 01:30 pm
This article will show you just how big British Columbia, Canada really is along with some interesting statistics of the province located on the west coast of Canada.
Area – square miles
British Columbia is ranked #4 in terms of land area when compared to other Canadian provinces and measures 357,216 square miles.
The province of BC is so large that it outranks every USA state in size with the exception of Alaska.
It is also larger than many countries such as Italy, Japan, Sweden, and many others.
Population
The province of British Columbia is home to over 5.1 million people. This ranks as the 3rd in terms of population of all provinces in Canada.
The population has been growing each year by around 1%.
Cities
There are 52 named cities in British Columbia with the largest city in terms of size and population being Vancouver.
Vancouver has over 2.5 million people with an area of 44.39 square miles.
Greenwood, BC is only 623 acres in size and has a population of 663.
Airports
In British Columbia, there are close to 500 total airports with 4 of them being large international airports. They include:
- Vancouver International Airport
- Victoria International Airport
- Kelowna International Airport
- Abbotsford International Airport
The largest airport in BC is Vancouver International. It is the second-largest airport in Canada in terms of passengers and aircraft movements. Only Pearson International Airport in Toronto has more.
The remaining airports vary in size from small private aerodromes to larger commercial use airports. There are 36 airports in BC that have scheduled flights.
Highways
British Columbia is famous for its breathtaking scenery and there are numerous highways that are popular for road trips, sightseeing, and photography.
HWY 16 which is part of the Trans Canada Highway (TCH), is the longest highway in BC and is over 660 miles long.
HWY 1 is next in size at just over 600 miles long.
The shortest highway in BC is HWY 97A which is only 2 miles long.
There are numerous other highways in BC that run in various directions. This includes 5 main routes that run North-South and East-West.
Rivers
The largest river in BC is the Fraser River which is 854 miles or 1375 kilometers long. This is the 5th longest river in Canada.
Although there are thousands of other named rivers, there are 6 main rivers in BC. Some of them are located partly outside of the province flowing into other parts of Canada or into the USA.
They include:
- Fraser River
- Columbia River
- Peace River
- Skeena River
- Stikine River
- Liard River
Lakes
There are over 20,000 lakes in British Columbia. The largest lake is Williston Lake at 680 square miles.
The 5 largest lakes in BC are:
- WIlliston Lake – 680 square miles
- Nechako Reservoir – 340 square miles
- Atlin Lake – 299 square miles
- Babine Lake – 191 square miles
- Kootenay Lake – 157 square miles
Universities
There are 14 public universities and 11 colleges in the province of British Columbia.
In the Greater Vancouver area, there are 5 universities with the largest being the University Of British Columbia which has over 40,000 full-time students.
The area of British Columbia is 357,216 square miles.
Hospitals
According to the Government Of Canada website, there are 622 hospitals in British Columbia.
The largest hospital in BC is Vancouver General which has over 1000 beds and is the 3rd largest hospital in Canada.
Golf courses
British Columbia is home to some of the best golf courses in Canada and some would even say best in the world.
There are over 300 golf courses in the province with Capilano arguably being one of the best courses to play.
How big is Vancouver, British Columbia?
The city of Vancouver, BC has an area of 44 square miles. The Vancouver Metro area is close to 900 square miles.
How big is Victoria, British Columbia?
Victoria, BC is the capital city of BC and has an area of 12 square miles. It sits on Vancouver Island and has a population of over 90,000 in the city with close to 400,000 in urban areas.
How big is Vancouver Island?
Vancouver Island sits to the west of Vancouver and is 283 miles long and 62 miles wide at the widest point. The area of the island is over 12,000 square miles.
The total population of the island is over 850,000 with around half of that amount in the Victoria metro area.
