Popkum, also known as Popkum Village, is an unincorporated community in the

Fraser Valley Regional District The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. Its headquarters are in the city of Chilliwack. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km2 (5,159 sq mi). It was created in 1995 by a ...

, in the

census metropolitan area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. Its namesake is the indigenous

Popkum First Nation The Popkum First Nation or Popkum Band () is a band government of the Sto:lo people located in the Upper Fraser Valley region, at Popkum, northeast of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provi ...

and adjacent

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

. The name is derived from the

Halq'eméylem Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, ranging from southeastern ...

word ''Pópkw'em'' meaning "

puffball Puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruit body that (when mature) bursts on contact or impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores into the surrounding area. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota and encompass sever ...

s."

Demographics

(according to

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

)Statistics Canada. 2023. (table). ''Census Profile''. 2021 Census of Population. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2021001. Ottawa. Released November 15, 2023. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E (accessed February 18, 2024). *Population: 1,710 *Growth Rate (2016-2021): 23.7% *Total Private Dwellings: 570 *Land area: 6.38km². *Population density per km²: 268.2

Industry

Popkum is a tourist destination and stopping point for travellers on the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, 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 A ...

drawn to the Bridal Veil Falls, Cheam Lake wetlands, Bridal Falls water park and Popkum Motor Park, Dinotown theme park, and The Falls Golf Club.

References

Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places in the Fraser Valley Regional District Populated places on the Fraser River Designated places in British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub