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Victoria, British Columbia

Encyclopedia : V : VI : VIC : Victoria, British Columbia

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 is a Canadian city, and the provincial capital of British Columbia. It is also the seat of the Capital Regional District. Victoria is located on Vancouver Island, and is considered a major tourist destination.

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Location and population

Located near the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island, and overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the City of Victoria has a total population of approximately 74,100, and is the thirteenth most populous municipality in the province. The metropolitan area comprising thirteen municipalities informally referred to as Greater Victoria has more than 335 000 and is the largest urban area on Vancouver Island. [link]. The city's chief industries are tourism and provincial government adminstration. Other major employers include the Canadian Forces (the township of Esquimalt is the base for the Pacific Fleet), 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.

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 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 [link]. 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. Sir 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.

Climate

Victoria's Inner Harbour with The Empress hotel in the background.
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Victoria's Inner Harbour with The Empress hotel in the background.

Victoria's climate is temperate, with daily temperatures rising above 30 °C (86 °F) on only one or two days per year and falling below -10 °C (14 °F) on only one night every second year on average. In January, the average daily high and low temperatures are 6.9 °C (44.4 °F) and 0.7 °C (33.3 °F), respectively. The summer months are equally mild, with an average July high temperature of 21.9 °C (71.4 °F) and low of 10.8 °C (51.4 °F). The record daily high temperature was 36.1 °C (97.0 °F) on July 16, 1941, and the record daily low temperature was -15.6 °C (3.9 °F) on January 28, 1950.

Victoria experiences a mild, rainy winter and relatively dry summers. The wettest month on average is December, with 151 mm (6.0 inches), compared to just 19 mm (0.8 inches) in July. In January, Victoria receives an average of 15.2 cm (6.1 inches) of snow, a figure skewed by the record-breaking Great Blizzard of 1996, when the city was buried under 120 cm (4 feet) of snow, receiving 64.5 cm (25.8 inches) in just one day. Generally speaking, however, snow is an uncommon occurrence, and only an average of three days per year will receive more than 5 cm of snowfall.

Colourful flowers bedeck the genteel "Garden City" downtown
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Colourful flowers bedeck the genteel "Garden City" downtown



Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Average daily maximum °C 6.9 8.4 10.5 13.4 16.6 19.3 21.9 22.0 19.4 14.2 9.5 6.9
Average daily minimum °C 0.7 1.4 2.3 4.1 6.9 9.3 10.8 10.8 8.4 5.3 2.7 1.0

Average precipitation mm 137 108 78 45 37 32 19 24 30 76 147 151
Average total snow cm 15 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 14
Average Sunshine h 68 89 142 190 246 251 321 290 218 138 75 58
Data[http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_e.html?Province=ALL&StationName=victoria&SearchType=BeginsWith&LocateBy=Province&Proximity=25&ProximityFrom=City&StationNumber=&IDType=MSC&CityName=&ParkName=&LatitudeDegrees=&LatitudeMinutes=&LongitudeDegrees=&LongitudeMinutes=&NormalsClass=A&SelNormals=&StnId=118&

Victoria's equable climate has also added to its reputation as the "City of Gardens" . With its mild temperatures and plentiful sunshine (2,193.3 hours per year), 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 prides itself on early-blooming crocus, and 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, southeastern Vancouver Island 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.

Neighbourhoods of Victoria

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

Other facts

British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria.
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British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria.

Victoria's skyline in May 2006.
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Victoria's skyline in May 2006.

One of the stone lions that guards the gate of Chinatown in Victoria
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One of the stone lions that guards the gate of Chinatown in Victoria
According to Statistics Canada, Victoria's crime rate in 1999 was the 2nd highest in the country (11,865 crimes per 100,000 population). By 2002, Victoria was ranked 5th for overall crime (10,146 crimes per 100,000 population). These figures, however, represent the skewing effect of considering crimes committed in "downtown" Victoria in relation only to the "downtown" population. The Greater Victoria area comprises 13 separate municipalities (total pop. 335,000 ). The City of Victoria (pop. 74,100) acts as "downtown" for all of the outlying municipalities, hence the counter-intuitive, inflated crime figures. 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 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, The BC Experience at the Crystal Garden 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[link]. There are also numerous National Historic Sites, like Fisgard Lighthouse, Craigflower Manor and Schoolhouse, Hatley Castle and Hatley Park and Fort Rodd Hill, 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. It comprises more than 620,000 square metres 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 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, including a performance by the orchestra while on a barge on 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, replete with cannon-fire, a pealing carillon and a fireworks display to honour BC Day. 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 is served by Victoria International Airport and ferry terminals to Vancouver, the Gulf Islands, and Washington state. Victoria serves as the western terminus (Mile Zero) for Canada's Trans Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world. For over 10 years, the Hempology 101 non-profit society has gathered weekly in Victoria to openly defy prohibition laws and promote the legalization of marijuanna. This group has involved itself with city politics in an attempt to increase its support.[link][link][link]Also Notable people born in Greater Victoria include: NBA star Steve Nash, although born in South Africa, grew up in Victoria, BC.

Sister cities

Victoria has four Sister Cities:

Napier, New Zealand
Suzhou, China
Khabarovsk, Russia
Morioka, Japan   (other sister cities in Japan )

Sports teams

Media outlets

Print

AM radio

FM radio

Television

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
[media]
Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada

Edmonton, AB • Victoria, BC • Winnipeg, MB • Fredericton, NB • St. John's, NL • Yellowknife, NT • Halifax, NS • Iqaluit, NU • Toronto, ON • Charlottetown, PE • Quebec City, QC • Regina, SK • Whitehorse, YT

British Columbia
Regional Districts Alberni-Clayoquot - Bulkley-Nechako - Capital - Cariboo - Central Coast - Central Kootenay - Central Okanagan - Columbia-Shuswap - Comox-Strathcona - Cowichan Valley - East Kootenay - Fraser Valley - Fraser-Fort George - Greater Vancouver - Kitimat-Stikine - Kootenay Boundary - Mount Waddington - Nanaimo - North Okanagan - Northern Rockies - Okanagan-Similkameen - Peace River - Powell River - Skeena-Queen Charlotte - Squamish-Lillooet - Stikine - Sunshine Coast - Thompson-Nicola
Communities over 100,000 Abbotsford - Burnaby - Coquitlam - Delta - Kelowna - Richmond - Saanich - Surrey - Vancouver
70,000-100,000 Chilliwack - Kamloops - Langley Township - Maple Ridge - Nanaimo - District of North Vancouver - Prince George - Victoria
Other major communities Campbell River - Cranbrook - Fort St. John - Mission - New Westminster - City of North Vancouver - Penticton - Port Coquitlam - Port Moody - Vernon

Communities on Vancouver Island         [Edit this list]

Ahousat | Bamberton | Bamfield | Black Creek | Bowser | Brentwood Bay | Campbell River | Cassidy | Cedar | Central Saanich | Chemainus | Clo-oose | Coal Harbour | Cobble Hill | Colwood | Comox | Coombs | Courtenay | Cowichan Bay | Cowichan Station | Crofton | Cumberland | Duncan | Errington | Esquimalt | Fanny Bay | French Creek | Genoa Bay | Gold River | Harewood | Highlands | Holberg | Honeymoon Bay | Kildonan | Koksilah | Ladysmith | Lake Cowichan | Langford | Lantzville | Malahat | Merville | Mesachie Lake | Metchosin | Maple Bay | Mill Bay | Nanaimo | Nanoose Bay | Nitinat | North Cowichan | North Saanich | Oak Bay | Oceanside | Parksville | Port Alberni | Port Alice | Port Hardy | Port McNeill | Port Renfrew | River Jordan | Qualicum Beach | Quatsino | Royston | Saanich | Saanichton | Saltair | Sayward | Shawnigan Lake | Sidney | Sooke | Tahsis | Telegraph Cove | Tofino | Ucluelet | Union Bay | Greater Victoria | Victoria | View Royal | Westholme | Winter Harbour | Woss | Youbou | Yuquot (Friendly Cove) | Zeballos

Members of the Capital Regional District
Municipalities: Central Saanich | Colwood | Esquimalt | Highlands | Langford | Metchosin | North Saanich | Oak Bay | Saanich | Sidney | Sooke | Victoria | View Royal
Electoral areas: B & D (Juan de Fuca) | F (Salt Spring Island) | G (Southern Gulf Islands)
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 | Royal Roads | Saanichton | Saseenos | Songhees | Swartz Bay | Thetis Lake | Uplands | Whiffen Spit | William Head | Willis Point | Willows Beach | Windsor Park | Work Point

 

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