Vancouver Island Flowers

Vancouver Island is one of several North American regions named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific coast of North America between 1791 and 1794.

It is 460 kilometres (285 mi) long and up to 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide. It is the largest island on the western side of North America at 32,134 km² (12,407 sq mi) and the world's 43rd largest island, Canada's 11th largest island and Canada's second most populous island after the Island of Montreal, which has 1.3 million more people.

The 2001 census population was 656,312. British Columbia statistics in 2004 estimated the population at 734,860.[1] Slightly fewer than half of these (331,491) live in Greater Victoria. Other major cities on Vancouver Island include Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Parksville, Comox, Courtenay, and Campbell River.

Vancouver Island has been the homeland to many main indigenous peoples for thousands of years.[2] These are the Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Coast Salish.

Kwakwaka'wakw territory includes northern Vancouver Island, with parts of the mainland, then Nuu-chah-nulth spanning from the northern western part of the island, to the south, covering the west coast, and Coast Salish covering the lower eastern part.

Their cultures are connected to the natural resources abundant in the area, with oral history spanning thousands of years.

Vancouver Island's economy outside Victoria is largely dominated by the forestry industry, with tourism and fishing also playing a large role. Many of the logging operations are for paper pulp, in "2nd growth" tree farms that are harvested approximately every 30 years.

In recent years the government of British Columbia has engaged in an advertising program to draw more tourists to beach resorts such as Tofino. Logging operations involving old-growth forests such as those found on Clayoquot Sound are controversial and have gained international attention through the efforts of activists and environmental organizations.

There are rapidly expanding vineyards and the island produces wines that outscored some French wines at the St. Catharines Wine Tasting of 2005 in blind evaluations. Between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland there are several high voltage power cables (HVDC Vancouver-Island).

There is also a fast building IT field on Vancouver Island. High Speed Internet is delivered to the island from Shaw, Telus, CRTV and CRCable.Net. Wireless Internet connections can be found all over the island, many free for public use. Many coffee shops provide free wireless Internet access and charge an average of five cents a minute for using their computers.

Higher education plays an economic role in the Greater Victoria area; students and staff of the many post secondary institutions number well over 50,000. The University of Victoria is a large research university with 19,475 students in 2006/2007 and 4,124 staff. Royal Roads University is much smaller with 2,268 students and 680 staff. Camosun College is also located on a few campuses across the Greater Victoria region and has 17,000 students and almost 1,000 staff (though close to half of the students are under the distance education umbrella).

Vancouver Island University is Vancouver Island's other main university with its main campus in Nanaimo, as well as other campuses in Duncan, Parksville and Powell River.

Vancouver Island University represents a unique combination of a degree-granting university and a practical college. University Canada West, located in central Victoria, is a private institution.

There are also numerous community colleges and international education centres. Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific is an international school dedicated to the promotion of world peace, cooperation, and coexistence.

It is named after former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.