, settlement_type =
Region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, image_skyline =
, nickname = "The Interior"
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 =
Province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
, subdivision_name1 =
, parts_type = Principal cities
, p1 =
Kelowna
, p2 =
Kamloops
, p3 =
Prince George
, p4 =
Vernon
, p5 =
Penticton
Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan Valley of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan and Skaha lakes. In the 2016 Canadian Census, its population was 33,761, while its census agglomeration
The ce ...
, p6 =
West Kelowna
West Kelowna, formerly known as Westbank and colloquially known as Westside, is a city in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. The city encompasses several distinct neighbourhoods, including Casa Loma, Gellatly, Glenrosa, Lakeview Heights, Shan ...
, p7 =
Fort St. John
, p8 =
Cranbrook
, area_blank1_title = 14 Districts
, area_blank1_km2 = 669,648
, area_footnotes =
, elevation_max_m = 4671
, elevation_min_m = 127
, elevation_max_footnotes =
Mt. Fairweather
Mount Fairweather (officially gazetted as Fairweather Mountain in Canada but referred to as Mount Fairweather), is the highest mountain in the Canadian province of British Columbia, with an elevation of . It is located east of the Pacific Ocean ...
, elevation_min_footnotes =
Fraser River
, population_as_of =
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, population = 961,155
[Population Estimates - Province of British Columbia]
/ref>
, population_density_km2 = 7.41
, timezone = PST
, utc_offset = −08:00
, timezone_DST = PDT
, utc_offset_DST = −07:00
, postal_code_type = Postal code prefixes
, postal_code = V
, area_code = 236
__NOTOC__
Year 236 ( CCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verus and Africanus (or, less frequently, year 989 ''Ab ...
, 250
__NOTOC__
Year 250 (Roman numerals, CCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Gratus (or, less frequently, y ...
, 672, 778
__NOTOC__
Year 778 ( DCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 778 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method ...
, area_code_type = Area codes
, official_name =
The British Columbia Interior, popularly referred to as the BC Interior or simply the Interior, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. While the exact boundaries are variously defined, the British Columbia Interior is generally defined to include the 14 regional district
In the province of British Columbia in Canada, a regional district is an administrative subdivision of the province that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and governmental authority. there were 28 regional districts in ...
s that do not have coastline along the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
or Salish Sea
, image = PNW-straits.jpg
, alt =
, caption = The Salish Sea, showing the open Pacific Ocean at lower left, and from there, heading inland: the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the narrow Puget Sound at lower ri ...
, and are not part of the Lower Mainland. Other boundaries may exclude parts of or even entire regional districts, or expand the definition to include the regional districts of Fraser Valley
The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...
, Squamish–Lillooet, and Kitimat–Stikine.
Home to just under 1 million people, the British Columbia Interior's 14 regional districts contain many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, provincial, and national
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
parks connected by the province's highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...
and railway network. The region is known for the complexity of its landforms, the result of millions of years of tectonic plate
Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...
movements. The ecology of the region is dominated by temperate coniferous forest
Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needle ...
with patches of alpine tundra found atop its numerous mountain ranges.
Definitions
The region, which includes the Interior Plateau
The Interior Plateau comprises a large region of the Interior of British Columbia, and lies between the Cariboo and Monashee Mountains on the east, and the Hazelton Mountains, Coast Mountains and Cascade Range on the west.''Landforms of British C ...
as well as various mountain ranges and the valleys between them, comprises everything inland from the Coast Mountains and reaching east to the Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
and, in the northeast, British Columbia's sector of the Prairies, the Peace River Block
The Peace River Block is an area of land located in northeastern British Columbia, in the Peace River Country. In exchange for building a rail line across Canada to British Columbia, the Canadian Pacific Railway was given the Railway Belt, of l ...
. "Interior" is usually and properly capitalized but turns up in lower-case in various books and magazines. The non-coastal areas of the province are considered to be "in the Interior", although the sparsely populated regions of its northern half are usually referred to only as "the North".
The town of Hope, at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley
The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...
and at the foot of the Fraser Canyon
The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser ...
, is often considered the "Gateway to the Interior" and bears an entrance arch to that effect, though in practical terms the Interior does not begin until somewhere between Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
and Boston Bar
Boston Bar is an unincorporated community in the Fraser Canyon of the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Name
The name dates from the time of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush (1858–1861). A "bar" is a gold-bearing sandbar or sandy riverbank, and ...
, in the Fraser Canyon, or until the summits of the Coquihalla and Allison Pass
Allison Pass (el. ) is a highway summit along the Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point on the highway between the cities of Hope and Princeton. It is located in the middle of Manning Park, at the divide between ...
es. The boundary between "the Coast" and "the Interior" along the Highway 99 corridor is nominally between Whistler and Pemberton, as Pemberton is often described as being in the Interior, but from the inland perspective it is often seen as part of the Coast because of its wetter climate and close ties to the Lower Mainland.
There are many subregions within the Interior, some regions in their own right, and although there are no precise definitions, it is often broken up informally as the Northern Interior, the Central Interior, the Southern Interior, the Northeast Interior and Southeast Interior, and these names often appear in non-governmental organizations and company names as well as in government administrative districts and ministerial regions, and in weather reports.
Regional Districts
Below are the 14 regional district
In the province of British Columbia in Canada, a regional district is an administrative subdivision of the province that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and governmental authority. there were 28 regional districts in ...
s of British Columbia defined as being in the Interior region:
Major subregions and nomenclature
Northern Interior Cordillera
The Northern Interior begins somewhere between the Cariboo and the city of Prince George, which lies just south of the big bend in the upper Fraser. The city of Quesnel may be considered to be part of the Northern Interior, but it is usually conceived of as primarily being in the Cariboo, which is normally termed the Central Interior, or North-Central Interior. The Northern Interior includes Robson Valley
The Robson Valley is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, comprising the section of the Rocky Mountain Trench that lies southeast of the city of Prince George following the Fraser River to the Yellowhead Pass. The nam ...
(the upper reaches of the Fraser basin) to the southeast of Prince George as well as the Omineca District and the Bulkley and Nechako basins. The communities of the upper Skeena are sometimes referred to as being in the Northern Interior, though in cultural terms and usual usage they are part of the North Coast, which is associated in regional terms usually with the South and Central Coast and Vancouver Island.
The northern reaches of the Northern Interior beyond the Omineca and Skeena-Bulkley regions is usually just referred to as "the North", although it also is considered part of the Northern Interior . "The North" may also refer to Prince George, one of the largest cities in the Interior and also the only major city in the Northern Interior (although that term can also apply to Prince George), which bears the sobriquet "Queen City of the North".
Northern Interior Plain
The Northern Interior Plain is a continuation of the interior plain that takes in nearly all of Alberta and southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It extends from Monkman Provincial Park and Tumbler Ridge in the south, to Hudson's Hope
Hudson's Hope is a district municipality in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, in the Peace River Regional District. Having been first settled along the Peace River in 1805, it is the third-oldest European-Canadian community in the province, a ...
and the Williston Lake
Williston Lake is a reservoir created by the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and is located in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada.
Geography
The lake fills the basin of the upper Peace River, backing into the Rocky Mountain Trench which is ...
in the west, to Fort St. John and Charlie Lake in the north. The term is used to mean the whole of the Northeastern Interior east of the Rockies, including Fort Nelson and other parts of the Liard drainage, and before W.A.C. Bennett Dam
The W. A. C. Bennett Dam is a large hydroelectric dam on the Peace River in northern British Columbia, Canada. At high, it is one of the world's highest earth fill dams. Construction of the dam began in 1961 and culminated in 1968. At the dam ...
included the upper Peace River through its canyon between Finlay Forks
Finlay Forks (also called Finlay Junction and sometimes misspelt Findlay), is the confluence of the Finlay River and Parsnip River. The Finlay Bay Recreation Site, on the southeast bank, is about southeast of the former settlement (on the earlier ...
and Hudson's Hope.
Central Interior Cordillera
The Central Interior is composed, roughly, of the Chilcotin, Cariboo, Bridge River
The Bridge River is an approximately long river in southern British Columbia. It flows south-east from the Coast Mountains. Until 1961, it was a major tributary of the Fraser River, entering that stream about six miles upstream from the town of ...
-Lillooet
Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abo ...
, Fraser Canyon, Nicola, Thompson and Kamloops- Shuswap Countries. Some usages may refer to the Okanagan cities south of the Shuswap as being in the Central Interior, but these are usually referred to as being in the Southern Interior or South-Central Interior. The Nicola, Fraser Canyon, Thompson and Bridge River -Lillooet Country are sometimes also referred to as being in the Southern Interior, with the Bridge River-Lillooet Country sometimes referred to, along with the Chilcotin, as the West-Central Interior, and the Lillooet Country is historically considered to be part of the Cariboo, though distinct in its own right. The Bridge River Country has also been referred to as the West Cariboo, but is not considered to be in the Cariboo by its residents. Many urban residents are under the impression that the Bridge River Country is part of the Chilcotin because of the "South Chilcotin" name for the Spruce Lake Protected Area
The Spruce Lake Protected Area, formerly known variously as the Southern Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park, Southern Chilcotins, and also as South Chilcotin Provincial Park, is a 71,347-hectare Protected Area in the British Columbia provincial ...
, but this is incorrect.
Southern Interior Cordillera
The Southern Interior roughly falls south of the Thompson River and Shuswap Country (corresponding mostly to the post- Oregon Treaty remainder of the old, original, Hudson's Bay Company Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company betw ...
). When used directly, it generally means the Okanagan and adjoining areas, particularly the Similkameen, southern Monashees and Boundary Country The Boundary Country is a historical designation for a district in southern British Columbia lying, as its name suggests, along the boundary between Canada and the United States. It lies to the east of the southern Okanagan Valley and to the west o ...
. Due to a new federal political riding of the same name (see Southern Interior) the usage has now come to apply to the cities of the West Kootenay
The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people.
Boundaries
The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Koot ...
, along with the rest of the Kootenays
The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people.
Boundaries
The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...
, although the West Kootenay has usually been referred to in the past, and is today, as the Southeast Interior.
Exceptions
The Big Bend of the Columbia and the Rocky Mountain Trench are in the Interior, but are not usually included in mentions of either the Central Interior or Southern Interior.
Historical geographic regions
The Interior comprises over 70% of the province and well over 80% of its mainland. As it consists of a series of interlocking valleys and plateaus, geographic effects relating to isolation, physical remoteness, local indigenous culture, the background of various groups of settlers, and more, have contributed to an identifiable patchwork of regional identities, referred to as "districts" or "countries" (e.g., the Omineca Country, the Boundary Country). Usage such as "Lillooet District" are also common but in a few cases that is also a phrase referring to the land district of the same name, which is a system of legal survey blocks rather than descriptive of the actual geocultural landscape which evolved on top of them. In most cases, the "Country" and "District" are often dropped, and these regions are referred to as, for example, "the Kootenay" or "the Omineca". In some cases, notably the Kootenay, the Chilcotin and the Cariboo, they can be are often referred to as simply Kootenay, Chilcotin and Cariboo.. Some are referred to only ''without'' the "Country" or "District" attached, such as "the Tulameen" and "the Similkameen", and in other cases this is more common than the longer form though both occur ("the Stikine" is more common than "the Stikine Country". Combination forms are common, such as Cariboo-Chilcotin, and Thompson-Okanagan, and these often turn up in names of governmental administrative districts, electoral districts and private or public organizations. All often correspond to linguistic and cultural-political divisions of the First Nations as aboriginal history was also shaped by the landscape's isolating and defining characteristics as settler culture.
The main historical subregions, with their own subregions an irrespective of very common overlaps between some areas, and in their most common forms, are as follows:
* The Cariboo
** South Cariboo – ( Clinton-100 Mile House
100 Mile House is a district municipality located in the South Cariboo region of central British Columbia, Canada.
History
100 Mile House was originally known as Bridge Creek House, named after the creek running through the area. Its origins ...
- Bridge Lake, sometimes including the Thompson as far south as Lytton.
*** Bonaparte Country
Bonaparte Provincial Park is an 11,811 hectare provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is located within the Bonaparte Plateau.
History
The park was established April 30, 1996 under the Kamloops Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP ...
– sometimes considered the northern end of "Thompson Country" as these areas share climatic and regional links.
** North Cariboo
** Central Cariboo
** West Cariboo – was once used for the Bridge River Country.
* The Chilcotin
** West Chilcotin – Chilko and Taseko Lakes area.
** North Chilcotin – Anahim Lake, Alexis Creek, Nimpo Lake
Nimpo Lake is a freshwater lake in the Chilcotin District of British Columbia, Canada. It is located 300 kilometres (185 miles) west of Williams Lake on the Chilcotin Highway (Hwy 20) and is approximately 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of Bella ...
.
** South Chilcotin – sometimes used for part of the Bridge River Country
The Bridge River Country is a historic geographic region and mining district in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, lying between the Fraser Canyon and the valley of the Lillooet River, south of the Chilcotin Plateau and north of the Lilloo ...
(see Spruce Lake Protected Area
The Spruce Lake Protected Area, formerly known variously as the Southern Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park, Southern Chilcotins, and also as South Chilcotin Provincial Park, is a 71,347-hectare Protected Area in the British Columbia provincial ...
).
* Fraser Canyon
The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser ...
– a.k.a. "The Canyon". This term is often used to include the canyon of the Thompson River
The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The ri ...
between Ashcroft and Lytton, partly because the highway route is usually referred to as both the Canyon and the Fraser Canyon.
** Lillooet Country
The Lillooet Country, also referred to as the Lillooet District, is a region spanning from the central Fraser Canyon town of Lillooet west to the valley of the Lillooet River, and including the valleys in between, in the Southern Interior of Br ...
– considered part of both the Fraser Canyon and the Cariboo, although distinct within both, and also historically including areas not in either.
*** Bridge River Country
The Bridge River Country is a historic geographic region and mining district in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, lying between the Fraser Canyon and the valley of the Lillooet River, south of the Chilcotin Plateau and north of the Lilloo ...
– an important subarea of the Lillooet Country, often combined as Bridge River-Lillooet and at one time dubbed the West Cariboo. Now sometimes confused with the Chilcotin because of the coining of the term South Chilcotin in the 1950s for the area on its northern flank.
* Thompson Country
Thompson Country, also referred to as The Thompson and sometimes as the Thompson Valley and historically known as the Couteau Country or Couteau District, is a historic geographic region of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, more or less de ...
** Thompson Plateau
The Thompson Plateau forms the southern portion of the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, Canada, lying to the west of Okanagan Lake, south of the Thompson River and east of (although never adjoining it) the Fraser River. At its most southern p ...
** South Thompson – the area around Kamloops, from Chase
Chase or CHASE may refer to:
Businesses
* Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York
* Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company
* Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England
* Chase Co ...
to Ashcroft.
** Bonaparte Country
Bonaparte Provincial Park is an 11,811 hectare provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is located within the Bonaparte Plateau.
History
The park was established April 30, 1996 under the Kamloops Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP ...
(usually considered part of the Cariboo but shares more links geographically to the Thompson)
* Nicola Country The Nicola Country, also known as the Nicola Valley and often referred to simply as The Nicola, and originally Nicolas' Country or Nicholas' Country, adapted to Nicola's Country and simplified since, is a region in the Southern Interior of British ...
– sometimes considered part of the Thompson, and comprising much of the Thompson Plateau, where it is drained by the Nicola River
The Nicola River , originally French Rivière de Nicholas or Rivière de Nicolas, adapted to Nicolas River, Nicola's River in English, is one of the major tributaries of the Thompson River in the Canadian province of British Columbia, entering th ...
.
* The Okanagan
** South Okanagan
** Central Okanagan – the area around Kelowna.
** North Okanagan (also Northern Okanagan)
** Okanagan-Thompson Plateau
* Shuswap Country
The Shuswap Country, or simply the Shuswap (pronounced /ˈʃuːʃwɑːp/) and called Secwepemcúl̓ecw in Secwepemctsín, is a term used in the Canadian province of British Columbia to refer to the environs of Shuswap Lake. The upper reaches of ...
– the area around Shuswap Lake
Shuswap Lake (pronounced /ˈʃuːʃwɑːp/) is a lake located in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little Shuswap River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, ...
, but not including the upper Shuswap River The basin of the Shuswap River (pronounced /ˈʃuːʃwɑːp/) lies northeast of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, originating in the central Monashee Mountains. It is the upper part of the drainage better known to British Columbians as belo ...
drainage east of the Okanagan, which is usually considered part of the North Okanagan or the Monashees.
* Boundary Country The Boundary Country is a historical designation for a district in southern British Columbia lying, as its name suggests, along the boundary between Canada and the United States. It lies to the east of the southern Okanagan Valley and to the west o ...
– often included with the West Kootenay, or with the Okanagan.
* The Monashees – sometimes considered a separate area, often included in others; the Southern Monashees are tied to or part of the Boundary Country.
* Similkameen Country
The Similkameen Country, also referred to as the Similkameen Valley or Similkameen District, but generally referred to simply as The Similkameen or more archaically, Similkameen, is a region roughly coinciding with the basin of the river of the sam ...
– frequently included with the southern Okanagan.
** The Tulameen
* The Kootenays a.k.a. "the Kootenay"
** West Kootenay
The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people.
Boundaries
The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Koot ...
*** Slocan
*** Arrow Lakes
The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Bea ...
** East Kootenay
The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. In the 2016 census, the population was 60,439. Its area is . The regional district offices are in Cranbrook, the larges ...
*** Elk Valley
* The Columbia – the valley of the Upper Columbia south of Golden
Golden means made of, or relating to gold.
Golden may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall
* Golden Cap, Dorset
*Golden Square, Soho, London
*Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...
is often included in the East Kootenay, while the Arrow Lakes
The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Bea ...
region south of Revelstoke is usually considered part the West Kootenay.
** Big Bend Country
In the Canadian province of British Columbia, Big Bend Country is the region around the northernmost section of the Columbia River, which changes from a northwestward course along the Rocky Mountain Trench to curve around the northern end of the S ...
* Robson Valley
The Robson Valley is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, comprising the section of the Rocky Mountain Trench that lies southeast of the city of Prince George following the Fraser River to the Yellowhead Pass. The nam ...
BC Names entry "Robson Valley"
/ref>
* Omineca Country
The Omineca Country, also called the Omineca District or the Omineca, is a historical geographic region of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, roughly defined by the basin of the Omineca River but including areas to the south which allowed ...
* Cassiar District
The Cassiar Country, also referred to simply as the Cassiar, is a historical geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Cassiar is located in the northwest portion of British Columbia, just to the northeast of the Stikine ...
* Peace River Country
The Peace River Country (or Peace Country; french: Région de la Rivière-de-la-paix) is an aspen parkland region centring on the Peace River in Canada. It extends from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia ...
– extends into northern Alberta
Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.
An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the cen ...
.
** Peace River Block
The Peace River Block is an area of land located in northeastern British Columbia, in the Peace River Country. In exchange for building a rail line across Canada to British Columbia, the Canadian Pacific Railway was given the Railway Belt, of l ...
* The Bulkley – often combined with the sub-coastal Skeena Country The Skeena Country is a historic geographic region comprising areas of both the British Columbia Coast and the British Columbia Interior in northwestern British Columbia, Canada.
See also
* Skeena Crossing
* Skeena Mountains
* Skeena River
* Ske ...
as Skeena-Bulkley, along the route of the Yellowhead Highway
The Yellowhead Highway (french: Route Yellowhead) is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western ...
.
* The Nechako
* Stikine Country (not the same as Stikine Region, which is part of the regional district system, though not a regional district itself, and includes the Atlin District The Atlin District, also known as the Atlin Country, is a historical region located in the far northwestern corner of the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on Atlin Lake and the gold-rush capital of the region, the town of Atlin. The ...
(also known as the Atlin Country) and the Cassiar Country
The Cassiar Country, also referred to simply as the Cassiar, is a historical geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Cassiar is located in the northwest portion of British Columbia, just to the northeast of the Stikine ...
, and only a part of the Stikine Country, most of which is in the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine
The Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine is a local government administration in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. As of the 2016 Canadian census, it had a population of 37,367 living on a land area of . Its administrative offices are in ...
and includes some of the Liard Country The Liard Country, sometimes known simply as "the Liard", is the usual name for a region of far northern British Columbia, Canada, generally describing the immediate environs of the Liard River along the Alaska Highway, and west of the line of the ...
, which refers to areas immediately adjoining the Liard River.
* the northern Rocky Mountain Trench and adjoining areas of the Northern Rockies, north of Lake Williston, do not belong to any of the appellations adjoining them. In usual usage, they are referred to directly or in reference to rivers within them e.g. the Finlay Country.
History
Demographics
As of 2016 the population is 961,155.[Population Estimates - Province of British Columbia]
/ref>
Economy
Society and culture
The British Columbia Interior's society and culture is affected by the populations of First Nations Canadians and French-Canadians people and residents living close to the US - Canada border.
Transportation
The Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway (French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...
(TCH) is the major roadway through the region. The TCH enters the region from the south after through the Fraser Canyon
The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser ...
in the Lower Mainland toward Cache Creek. As a mostly high mobility highway with only occasional mandatory stops, it heads east for through to Kamloops where it becomes a short freeway. Then it continues east through Salmon Arm
Salmon Arm is a city in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District of the Southern Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia that has a population of 17,706 (2016). Salmon Arm was incorporated as a municipal district on May 15, 1905. The ...
, Revelstoke, Rogers Pass, Golden
Golden means made of, or relating to gold.
Golden may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall
* Golden Cap, Dorset
*Golden Square, Soho, London
*Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...
, and Kicking Horse Pass
Kicking Horse Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta–British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff national parks. Divide Creek forks onto both s ...
(the highest point on the highway, at 1,627 metres), to Banff, Alberta.
See also
* British Columbia Coast
* Interior Health
Interior Health is a regional health authority in British Columbia. It is one of the five publicly-funded regional health authorities, serving the southern Interior region of British Columbia.
Facilities
As of 2020 Interior Health operates ...
References
{{Subdivisions of British Columbia, regions=yes
Interior of British Columbia