The city was named after British Naval Captain George
Vancouver, who explored the area in 1792.
The city was originally named Granville and was incorporated in 1886 and renamed to
Vancouver. As of 2011 Vancouver is only 125 years old. A resident of
Vancouver is called a Vancouverite.
Vancouver is surrounded by water from three
sides. Vancouver is the largest city in
British Columbia (BC) and third-largest city in Canada.
Vancouver is ranked the number 1 most livable cities in the world for many
years.
In fact Vancouver has the largest and busyest port in Canada
and 4th largest on the continent! Vancouver is an ethnically diverse city
with a large immigrant population. Nearly half of the city's residents claimed to be
immigrants from somewhere else.
Vancouver has the highest per capita proportion of Asians of any North American
city. Vancouver’sChinatownis actually
the second largest Chinatown in North America (after San Francisco)
Vancouver has the highest percentage of mixed race marriages in Canada!
(8.5%)
Vancouver is a major tourist destination - British
Columbia attracts an average of 15 million visitors per year. Vancouver
is the birthplace of the one of the world’s largest environmental organizations
- Greenpeace. Vancouver is probably
the only place in the world where it is possible to ski, play golf and go sailing,
all in the same day.
The Vancouver
Aquarium is located within Stanley Park. The aquarium houses more than
70,000 species of marine life.
