122-467: Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia . The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,100 km (12,400 sq mi) in total area, while 31,285 km (12,079 sq mi) are of land. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along
244-562: A homestead in Sooke . Following the brief governorship of Richard Blanshard , James Douglas , Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay post, assumed the role in 1851. The island's first legislative assembly was formed in 1856. Government buildings were built and were occupied in 1859; the replacement, today's Parliament Buildings , were opened in 1898. Fort Victoria had become an important base when prospectors, miners and merchants began arriving for
366-514: A hospital, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police station, a drug store, a post office, four restaurants and retail gift shops, a BC liquor store, a Royal Canadian Legion , a pub, doctors' offices, a drug and alcohol treatment centre, and three automated teller machines (one in the bank, one outside the drug store and one outside Bayside Pub). The town has two airports ( Alert Bay Airport , and the Alert Bay Water Aerodrome ). There
488-457: A major area for recreation. The northern, western, and most of the central portions of the island are home to the coniferous "big trees" associated with British Columbia's coast – western hemlock , western red cedar , Pacific silver fir , yellow cedar , Douglas fir , grand fir , Sitka spruce , and western white pine . It is also characterised by bigleaf maple , red alder , sword fern , and red huckleberry . The fauna of Vancouver Island
610-412: A population density of 265.7/km (688.1/sq mi) in 2021. Up to half of the village's residents are First Nations people. The village is in traditional Kwakwakaʼwakw territory. Two Indian Reserves take up the rest of Cormorant Island, Alert Bay 1 on the east side of the island, Alert Bay 1A on the west. Alert Bay has a credit union , grocery store, museums, a traditional " big house ",
732-499: A school in nearby Port McNeill on Vancouver Island , along with students from Sointula on nearby Malcolm Island and others on North Island. Alert Bay has a campground, located on Alder Rd. Alert Bay Ecological Park, formerly known as Gator Gardens, consists of boardwalks over a marsh and some forest trails. Cedar, pine, and hemlock trees populate the marsh. Many of the trees in the park are covered in Witch's Hair lichen . The water in
854-717: A strong drying tendency in summer. Alert Bay is heavily moderated by the proximity to the Pacific Ocean and being located in the pathway of low-pressure systems from said ocean, heavy annual rainfall ensues. Winter is the wettest season, but snowfall is rare due to the average lows above freezing. Volcanic features in the geography around Alert Bay are part of the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt . It appears to have been active in Miocene and Pliocene times. No Holocene eruptions are known, and volcanic activity in
976-403: Is Nanaimo , which has a population of 115,459 as of 2021. There are also five census agglomeration areas ( Alberni Valley , Campbell River , Comox Valley , Cowichan Valley , and Oceanside ) as defined by Statistics Canada . [REDACTED] Nanaimo [REDACTED] Duncan Within the island's largest city, Victoria , there is a significant IT and technology industry. According to
1098-542: Is 4,280 m (14,040 ft; 2,340 fathoms), putting the total water volume at roughly 710,000,000 km (170,000,000 cu mi). Due to the effects of plate tectonics , the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2.5 cm (1 in) per year on three sides, roughly averaging 0.52 km (0.20 sq mi) a year. By contrast, the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size. Along
1220-454: Is a boat harbour and a BC Ferries terminal with service to Sointula and Port McNeill . There is Alert Bay Elementary School, part of School District 85 Vancouver Island North , for children in kindergarten and grades 1 to 7 and the T'lisalagi'lakw School (independent) owned and operated by the ʼNamgis First Nation for children in nursery, kindergarten and grades 1 to 7. Students in grades 8 to 12 travel by foot or ferry / water taxi to
1342-510: Is a village on Cormorant Island , near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island , in the Regional District of Mount Waddington , British Columbia , Canada. In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada , Alert Bay had a population of 449 living in 219 of its 266 total private dwellings, a change of -6.3% from its 2016 population of 479. With a land area of 1.69 km (0.65 sq mi), it had
SECTION 10
#17327768537491464-590: Is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area, larger than its entire land area (148,000,000 km (57,000,000 sq mi)). The centers of both
1586-538: Is considered invasive for its voracious appetite and scaring away of the Douglas squirrels. The island has the most concentrated population of cougars in North America. The Vancouver Island wolf , a subspecies of grey wolf , is found only on the north part of the island. Harbour seals and river otters are common. Resident orcas live in two major groups, one in the waters of the south island and one in
1708-491: Is not known with any certainty what level of maritime technology was used by these groups – the presumption is that they used large bamboo rafts which may have been equipped with some sort of sail. The reduction in favourable winds for a crossing to Sahul after 58,000 B.P. fits with the dating of the settlement of Australia, with no later migrations in the prehistoric period. The seafaring abilities of pre-Austronesian residents of Island South-east Asia are confirmed by
1830-474: Is now spoken by less than 5% of the population—about 250 people. Today, 17 separate tribes make up the Kwakwakaʼwakw. Some Kwakwakaʼwakw groups are now extinct. Kwakʼwala is a Northern Wakashan language , a grouping shared with Haisla, Heiltsuk and Wuikyala. Kwakwakaʼwakw centres of population on Vancouver Island include communities such as Fort Rupert , Alert Bay and Quatsino , the Kwakwakaʼwakw tradition of
1952-485: Is part of a group of peaks that include the only glaciers on the island, the largest of which is the Comox Glacier . The west coast shoreline is rugged and in many places mountainous, characterized by its many fjords , bays, and inlets. The interior of the island has many lakes ( Kennedy Lake , north of Ucluelet , is the largest) and rivers. The 49th parallel north crosses the island just north of Ladysmith on
2074-559: Is separated from the mainland of British Columbia by Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait on the north and northeast, and by the Strait of Georgia on the southeast, which along with the Strait of Juan de Fuca along its southwest separate it from the United States. West of the island is the open Pacific Ocean, while to its north is Queen Charlotte Sound . The Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca are now officially part of
2196-447: Is similar to that found on the mainland coast, with some notable exceptions and additions. For example, mountain goats , moose , coyotes , porcupines , skunks , chipmunks , and numerous species of small mammals, while plentiful on the mainland, are absent from Vancouver Island. Grizzly bears are absent from the island, where black bears are prevalent, but in 2016, a pair of grizzlies were sighted swimming between smaller islands off
2318-474: Is the extension of summer dryness to latitudes as high as 50 °N . Only in the extreme north of the island near Port Hardy is the rainfall of the driest summer month as much as one fifth that of the wettest months from November to March. West coasts of other continents at similar latitudes have a practically even distribution of rainfall throughout the year. Vancouver Island is mostly made up of volcanic and sedimentary rock which were formed offshore on
2440-642: The Americas , although evidence for this remains inconclusive. The first contact of European navigators with the western edge of the Pacific Ocean was made by the Portuguese expeditions of António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão , via the Lesser Sunda Islands , to the Maluku Islands , in 1512, and with Jorge Álvares 's expedition to southern China in 1513, both ordered by Afonso de Albuquerque from Malacca . The eastern side of
2562-575: The Bering Sea in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60°S (older definitions extend it to Antarctica 's Ross Sea ), the Pacific reaches its greatest east–west width at about 5°N latitude , where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia – halfway around the world, and more than five times
SECTION 20
#17327768537492684-691: The Farallon Plate , the Juan de Fuca Plate , are now subducting below the island. This process has led to Vancouver Island being one of the most seismically active regions in Canada. The subduction zone off the coast of the island forms a section of the Ring of Fire . The area has been known to host megathrust earthquakes in the past, the last being the Cascadia earthquake of 1700 . The Forbidden Plateau , in
2806-484: The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858. The Hudson's Bay lease expired in 1859 and the island reverted to Great Britain. The burgeoning town was incorporated as Victoria in 1862. Victoria became the capital of the colony of Vancouver Island, retaining this status when the island was amalgamated with the mainland in 1866. A British naval base, including Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard and a naval hospital,
2928-574: The Indian Act , confiscated many items including wooden masks, copper shields, and dance regalia. During the 1970s and 80s, the Kwakwakaʼwakw regained their possessions after long negotiations. The returned artifacts are housed in a museum at the U'mista Cultural Centre. The settlement was named c.1860 after the Royal Navy ship HMS Alert , which conducted survey operations in the area. Alert Bay has an oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb ) with
3050-829: The International Date Line into the East Pacific and the West Pacific , which allows it to be further divided into four quadrants, namely the Northeast Pacific off the coasts of North America , the Southeast Pacific off South America , Northwest Pacific off Far Eastern / Pacific Asia , and the Southwest Pacific around Oceania . The Pacific Ocean's mean depth is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). Challenger Deep in
3172-680: The Kwakwakaʼwakw (also known as the Kwakiutl ), Nuu-chah-nulth , and various Coast Salish peoples . While there is some overlap, Kwakwakaʼwakw territory includes northern and northwestern Vancouver Island and adjoining areas of the mainland, the Nuu-chah-nulth span most of the west coast, while the Coast Salish cover the southeastern Island and southernmost extremities along the Strait of Juan de Fuca . Their cultures are connected to
3294-750: The Lower Mainland . The capital was moved to Victoria in 1868. By 1867, Canada was established by the first of the British North America Acts , the Constitution Act, 1867 and the United Colonies joined Canada on 20 July 1871 through the British Columbia Terms of Union , following negotiations that secured the interests of the colonial elite in relation to a rail connection that would unite
3416-632: The Makah of the Olympic Peninsula , Washington state and the Ditidaht . The Coast Salish are the largest of the southern groups. They are a loose grouping of many tribes with numerous distinct cultures and historically speak one of the Coast Salish languages . On Vancouver Island, Coast Salish peoples' territory traditionally spans from the northern limit of the Strait of Georgia on
3538-830: The Mariana Trench , located in the northwestern Pacific, is the deepest known point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,928 meters (35,853 feet). The Pacific also contains the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere , the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench , at 10,823 meters (35,509 feet). The third deepest point on Earth, the Sirena Deep , is also located in the Mariana Trench. The western Pacific has many major marginal seas , including
3660-538: The Pacific War ; however, by the end of that war, Japan was defeated and the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. The Japanese-ruled Northern Mariana Islands came under the control of the United States. Since the end of World War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states . The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. It may be further subdivided by
3782-631: The Philippine Sea , South China Sea , East China Sea , Sea of Japan , Sea of Okhotsk , Bering Sea , Gulf of Alaska , Gulf of California , Mar de Grau , Tasman Sea , and the Coral Sea . In the early 16th century , Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and sighted the great "Southern Sea" which he named Mar del Sur (in Spanish). Afterwards,
Vancouver Island - Misplaced Pages Continue
3904-547: The Salish Sea , which also includes Puget Sound . The Vancouver Island Ranges run most of the length of the island, dividing it into a wet and rugged west coast and a drier, more rolling east coast. The highest point in these ranges and on the island is the Golden Hinde , at 2,195 m (7,201 ft). Located near the centre of Vancouver Island in 2,500 km (970 sq mi) Strathcona Provincial Park , it
4026-715: The Southern Hemisphere . The North Equatorial Current , driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds , turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current . Turning eastward at about 45°N , the Kuroshio forks and some water moves northward as the Aleutian Current , while the rest turns southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms
4148-633: The Strait of Magellan to the Philippines , the explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful; however, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many tropical storms batter the islands of the Pacific. The lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes . Tsunamis , caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed entire towns. The Martin Waldseemüller map of 1507
4270-786: The United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia by the Act for the Union of the colonies, passed by the Imperial Parliament . Arthur Kennedy was appointed governor of the united entity. (He would leave office in 1866 and later became Governor of the West African Settlements, British West Africa .) Victoria became the capital but the legislative assembly was located in New Westminster on
4392-800: The Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere , as well as the oceanic pole of inaccessibility , are in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean circulation (caused by the Coriolis effect ) subdivides it into two largely independent volumes of water that meet at the equator , the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean (or more loosely the South Seas ). The Pacific Ocean can also be informally divided by
4514-700: The Western Hemisphere . The Southern Pacific Ocean harbors the Southeast Indian Ridge crossing from south of Australia turning into the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (north of the South Pole ) and merges with another ridge (south of South America) to form the East Pacific Rise which also connects with another ridge (south of North America) which overlooks the Juan de Fuca Ridge . For most of Magellan's voyage from
4636-583: The crab claw sail ) – it is likely that the progressive development of these technologies were related to the later steps of settlement into Near and Remote Oceania. Starting at around 2200 BCE, Austronesians sailed southwards to settle the Philippines . From, probably, the Bismarck Archipelago they crossed the western Pacific to reach the Marianas Islands by 1500 BCE, as well as Palau and Yap by 1000 BCE. They were
4758-434: The potlatch was banned by the federal government of Canada in 1885, but has been revived in recent decades. The Nuu-chah-nulth (pronounced [nuːʧanˀuɬ]), are indigenous peoples in Canada. Their traditional home is on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In pre-contact and early post-contact times, the number of nations was much greater, but as in the rest of the region, smallpox and other consequences of contact resulted in
4880-414: The 18th and 19th centuries, sea otters ( Enhydra lutris ) were protected by an international treaty in 1911. Despite protection, the remnant population off Vancouver Island died out with the last sea otter taken near Kyuquot in 1929. From 1969 to 1972, 89 sea otters were flown or shipped from Alaska to the west coast of Vancouver Island. This population expanded to over 3,000 as of 2005, and their range on
5002-908: The Atlantic, the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent the entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western side of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines . The 18th century marked the beginning of major exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands , such as the First Kamchatka expedition and the Great Northern Expedition , led by
Vancouver Island - Misplaced Pages Continue
5124-533: The Atlantic. The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. A petrologic boundary, it separates the deeper, mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins. The andesite line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc , along
5246-533: The British Admiralty, Captain Vancouver reveals that his decision here was rather meant to honour a request by Bodega y Quadra that Vancouver: would name some port or island after us both in commemoration of our meeting and friendly intercourse that on that occasion had taken place (Vancouver had previously feted Bodega y Quadra on his ship); ...and conceiving no place more eligible than the place of our meeting, I have therefore named this land ... The Island of Quadra and Vancouver. Bodega y Quadra wrote, however, that it
5368-433: The Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current . The climate patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres generally mirror each other. The trade winds in the southern and eastern Pacific are remarkably steady while conditions in the North Pacific are far more varied with, for example, cold winter temperatures on
5490-499: The Danish-born Russian navy officer Vitus Bering . Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest , reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and colonized Polynesia , and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii , and the North American Pacific Northwest . In 1768, Pierre-Antoine Véron , a young astronomer accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of exploration, established
5612-406: The Kula plate, leading to the formation of the distorted Insular Mountains . Much of the central mountainous region around Strathcona Park is part of the Karmutsen Formation , which is a sequence of tholeiitic pillow basalts and breccias . Since Vancouver Island has become an accretionary wedge on the North American continent, the Kula Plate has fully subducted beneath it and the remnants of
5734-498: The Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions encountered the Caroline Islands , the Aru Islands , and Papua New Guinea . In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan. In 1564, five Spanish ships carrying 379 soldiers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi , and colonized the Philippines and Mariana Islands . For the remainder of the 16th century, Spain maintained military and mercantile control, with ships sailing from Mexico and Peru across
5856-436: The Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism . The Ring of Fire is named after the several hundred active volcanoes that sit above the various subduction zones. The Pacific Ocean is the only ocean which is mostly bounded by subduction zones. Only the central part of the North American coast and the Antarctic and Australian coasts have no nearby subduction zones. Alert Bay Alert Bay
5978-429: The Pacific Ocean to the Philippines via Guam , and establishing the Spanish East Indies . The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries, linking Manila and Acapulco , in one of the longest trade routes in history. Spanish expeditions also arrived at Tuvalu , the Marquesas , the Cook Islands , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , the Marshalls and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. Later, in
6100-399: The Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea , Coral Sea , East China Sea (East Sea), Philippine Sea , Sea of Japan , South China Sea (South Sea), Sulu Sea , Tasman Sea , and Yellow Sea (West Sea of Korea). The Indonesian Seaway (including the Strait of Malacca and Torres Strait ) joins the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to
6222-413: The Pacific in prehistoric times. Modern humans first reached the western Pacific in the Paleolithic , at around 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. Originating from a southern coastal human migration out of Africa, they reached East Asia , Mainland Southeast Asia , the Philippines, New Guinea , and then Australia by making the sea crossing of at least 80 kilometres (50 mi) between Sundaland and Sahul . It
SECTION 50
#17327768537496344-402: The Pacific in recorded history. They were part of a Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands that would eventually result in the first world circumnavigation . Magellan called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful") because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn , the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until
6466-540: The Philippines already in 7000 BCE. Additional earlier migrations into Insular Southeast Asia, associated with Austroasiatic-speakers from Mainland Southeast Asia, are estimated to have taken place already in 15000 BCE. At around 1300 to 1200 BCE, a branch of the Austronesian migrations known as the Lapita culture reached the Bismarck Archipelago , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , Fiji , and New Caledonia . From there, they settled Tonga and Samoa by 900 to 800 BCE. Some also back-migrated northwards in 200 BCE to settle
6588-528: The United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard; HMS Challenger during the 1870s; the USS Tuscarora (1873–76); and the German Gazelle (1874–76). In Oceania, France obtained a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853, respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro negotiated
6710-505: The Victoria Advanced Technology Council website, over 800 technology companies operate in the Victoria area, with combined annual revenues of $ 1.95 billion. High-speed internet is delivered to the island by Shaw Communications , Telus , and various local providers with their own networks. Wireless Internet connections can be found all over the island, many free for public use. While the island does generate much of its own power at several hydroelectric stations, increased demand required
6832-416: The andesite line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville , Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under
6954-408: The andesite line. Within the closed loop of the andesite line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Pacific basin. Here basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the andesite line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and
7076-409: The arctic, icing from October to May can present a hazard for shipping while persistent fog occurs from June to December. A climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months. The Westerlies and associated jet stream within the Mid-Latitudes can be particularly strong, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the temperature difference between
7198-423: The arrival of Spanish and British naval expeditions in the late 18th century. The Spanish and British conjointly named it Quadra's and Vancouver's Island in commemoration of the friendly negotiations held in 1792 between the Spanish commander of Fort San Miguel in Nootka Sound , Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra , and British naval captain George Vancouver , during the Nootka Crisis . (Bodega y Quadra's name
7320-421: The base of a counter-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea . Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current . The South Equatorial Current , flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea , turns east at about 50°S , and joins the main westerly circulation of the South Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current . As it approaches
7442-406: The coast near Port McNeill . Vancouver Island does support most of Canada's Roosevelt elk , however, and several mammal species and subspecies, such as the Vancouver Island marmot are unique to the island. Columbian black-tailed deer are plentiful, even in suburban areas such as in Greater Victoria , as well as the native Douglas squirrels . The Eastern grey squirrel is found in the south and
SECTION 60
#17327768537497564-415: The colonies with the rest of Canada, establish Indian lands policy that would effectively perpetuate BC's pre-Confederation practices, and enshrine colonial officials' security of position. Victoria was named the capital of the province of British Columbia . Three delegates were appointed to the federal government. Vancouver Island is located in the southwestern corner of the province of British Columbia. It
7686-410: The construction of several high-voltage power cables, both HVDC and AC, connecting to the Canadian Mainland . Pacific Ocean Main five oceans division: Further subdivision: 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
7808-408: The diameter of the Moon. Its geographic center is in eastern Kiribati south of Kiritimati , just west from Starbuck Island at 4°58′S 158°45′W / 4.97°S 158.75°W / -4.97; -158.75 . The lowest known point on Earth – the Mariana Trench – lies 10,911 m (35,797 ft ; 5,966 fathoms ) below sea level. Its average depth
7930-402: The difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest; however, each particular basin has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while September is the most active month. November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active. The Pacific hosts the two most active tropical cyclone basins , which are
8052-449: The disappearance of some groups and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. They were among the first Pacific peoples north of California to come into contact with Europeans, as the Spanish, Americans and British attempted to secure control of the Pacific Northwest and the trade in otter pelts, with Nootka Sound becoming a focus of these rivalries. The Nuu-chah-nulth speak a Southern Wakashan language and are closely related to
8174-424: The east and Ucluelet on the west. Southern Vancouver Island is typically considered to refer to the area south of Courtenay, while Northern Vancouver Island generally refers to the area north of Campbell River. Those cities and the area between them are sometimes described as "Mid-Island" or "Central Island". There are a number of rivers draining the island, some of which though short are large in volume. Among
8296-434: The east and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast. Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea , the world's second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago , the Solomon Islands , Santa Cruz , Vanuatu , Fiji and New Caledonia . The largest area, Polynesia , stretching from Hawaii in
8418-423: The east coast of Russia contrasting with the milder weather off British Columbia during the winter months due to the preferred flow of ocean currents . In the tropical and subtropical Pacific, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather conditions. To determine the phase of ENSO, the most recent three-month sea surface temperature average for the area approximately 3,000 km (1,900 mi) to
8540-422: The east of the Vancouver Island Ranges , was the epicentre of the 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake that registered 7.3 on the moment magnitude scale , the strongest ever recorded on land in Canada. Vancouver Island was the location of the observation of the episodic tremor and slip (ETS) seismic phenomenon. Vancouver Island lies in the temperate rainforest biome . On the southern and eastern portions of
8662-419: The east side of Vancouver Island and covers most of southern Vancouver Island. Distinct nations within the Coast Salish peoples on Vancouver Island include the Stz'uminus , the Kʼómoks of the Comox Valley area, the Cowichan of the Cowichan Valley , the Esquimalt , the Saanich of the Saanich Peninsula , the Songhees of the Victoria area and Snuneymuxw in the Nanaimo area. Europeans began to explore
8784-729: The eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula , the Kuril Islands , Japan, the Mariana Islands , the Solomon Islands , and New Zealand's North Island . The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand lie outside
8906-572: The eighteenth century. Magellan stopped at one uninhabited Pacific island before stopping at Guam in March 1521. Although Magellan himself died in the Philippines in 1521, Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano led the remains of the expedition back to Spain across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope , completing the first world circumnavigation in 1522. Sailing around and east of
9028-501: The entire matter back to their respective governments. The friendly meeting between Bodega y Quadra and Vancouver led the former to propose that the island be named after both: "Quadra and Vancouver Island", which became the original name. While we know this island today as "Vancouver Island", the British explorer had not intentionally meant to name such a large body of land solely after himself. In his September 1792 dispatch log report for
9150-647: The equator into northern (North Pacific) and southern (South Pacific) portions. It extends from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north. The Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately one-third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 165,200,000 km (63,800,000 sq mi) – larger than Earth's entire landmass combined, 150,000,000 km (58,000,000 sq mi). Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 mi) from
9272-601: The equator, which can have a salinity as low as 34 parts per thousand, is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. The lowest counts of less than 32 parts per thousand are found in the far north as less evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific gyre ) and counter-clockwise in
9394-606: The first completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in Cape York Peninsula , and Abel Janszoon Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and arrived at Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a mare clausum – a sea closed to other naval powers. As the only known entrance from
9516-474: The first humans to reach Remote Oceania , and the first to cross vast distances of open water. They also continued spreading southwards and settling the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia , reaching Indonesia and Malaysia by 1500 BCE, and further west to Madagascar and the Comoros in the Indian Ocean by around 500 CE. More recently, it is suggested that Austronesians expanded already earlier, arriving in
9638-439: The incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations. By 1900 nearly all Pacific islands were in control of Britain, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Chile. Although the United States gained control of Guam and the Philippines from Spain in 1898, Japan controlled most of the western Pacific by 1914 and occupied many other islands during
9760-700: The island in 1774 when rumours of Russian fur traders caused Spain to send a number of expeditions to assert its long-held claims to the Pacific Northwest . The first expedition was that of the Santiago , under the command of Juan José Pérez Hernández . In 1775, a second Spanish expedition under the Spanish Peruvian captain Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was sent. By 1776, Spanish exploration had reached Bucareli Bay including
9882-578: The island remained in dispute between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Spanish Empire in the early 1790s. The two countries nearly began a war over the issue; the confrontation became known as the Nootka Crisis . That was averted when both agreed to recognize the other's rights to the area in the first Nootka Convention in 1790, a first step to peace. Finally, the two countries signed
10004-529: The island's west coast expanded from Cape Scott in the north to Barkley Sound to the south. The majority of Vancouver Island's population lives in the Capital Regional District , more specifically in the primate city and the provincial capital of Victoria . With a population of 397,237 (2021), Greater Victoria is the island's largest population centre and one of its two census metropolitan areas . The island's other metropolitan area
10126-451: The island, this is characterized by Douglas fir , western red cedar , arbutus (or madrone), Garry oak , salal , Oregon grape , and manzanita ; moreover, Vancouver Island is the location where the Douglas fir was first recorded by Archibald Menzies . Vancouver Island is also the location where some of the tallest Douglas fir were recorded. This southeastern portion of the island is the most heavily populated region of Vancouver Island and
10248-549: The islands in the world. There are about 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be divided into three main groups known as Micronesia , Melanesia and Polynesia . Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the International Date Line , includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the center, the Marshall Islands to
10370-752: The islands of eastern Micronesia (including the Carolines , the Marshall Islands , and Kiribati ), mixing with earlier Austronesian migrations in the region. This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion into Polynesia until around 700 CE when there was another surge of island exploration. They reached the Cook Islands , Tahiti , and the Marquesas by 700 CE; Hawaiʻi by 900 CE; Rapa Nui by 1000 CE; and finally New Zealand by 1200 CE. Austronesians may have also reached as far as
10492-530: The marsh comes from an underground fresh water spring. A dam was built in 1886 to collect fresh water for a fish cannery, and the resulting flooding of fresh water killed the trees in this area. The resulting cedar snags are a distinctive feature of this marshy area. Alert Bay is home to the world's tallest totem pole . In 1921, the Government of Canada , in an effort to stop the potlatch custom of dance, song, and wealth distribution under Section 116 of
10614-1003: The more notable rivers are the Somass River in the Alberni Valley , the Nimpkish River in the North Island region, the Englishman River up island from Nanaimo near Parksville , and the Cowichan River whose basin forms the Cowichan Valley region in the South Island region. The climate of Vancouver Island is the mildest in Canada, with temperatures on the coast even in January being usually above 0 °C (32 °F). In summer,
10736-527: The mouth of the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington , and Sitka Sound . Vancouver Island came to the attention of Britain after the third voyage of Captain James Cook , who spent a month during 1778 at Nootka Sound , on the island's western coast. Cook claimed it for Great Britain. Maritime fur trader , John Meares arrived in 1786 and set up a single-building trading post near
10858-538: The naming of the city of Vancouver in 1885. By March 1843, James Douglas of the Hudson's Bay Company and a missionary had arrived and selected an area for settlement. Construction of the fort began in June of that year. This settlement was a fur trading post originally named Fort Albert (afterward Fort Victoria ). The fort was located at the Songhees settlement of Camosack (Camosun), 200 m (660 ft) northwest of
10980-425: The native village of Yuquot (Friendly Cove), at the entrance to Nootka Sound in 1788. The fur trade began expanding into the island, eventually leading to permanent settlement. The island was further explored by Spain in 1789 with Esteban José Martínez , who established the settlement of Yuquot and the artillery battery of Fort San Miguel at Friendly Cove , which Spain called Puerto de San Lorenzo de Nuca. This
11102-604: The natural resources abundant in the area. The Kwakwakaʼwakw today number about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the mainland. They are also known as Kwakiutl in English, from one of their tribes, but they prefer their autonym Kwakwakaʼwakw . Their indigenous language, part of the Wakashan family, is Kwakʼwala . The name Kwakwakaʼwakw means "speakers of Kwakʼwala". The language
11224-581: The north , while a third group of transient orcas roam much farther and avoid the resident orcas. Residents are watched from a distance and are numbered, with many being named as well. Humpback whales and gray whales are often seen on their migration between Alaskan waters where they feed in the summer and southern waters such as around California and Mexico where they give birth in the winter. The island's rivers, lakes, and coastal regions are renowned for their fisheries of trout , salmon , and steelhead . After near-total extirpation by fur traders in
11346-601: The north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu , Tokelau , Samoa , Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Islands , Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center, and the Marquesas Islands , Tuamotu , Mangareva Islands , and Easter Island to the east. Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside
11468-619: The northern Philippines , but also earlier groups associated with Austroasiatic-speakers , resulting in the modern peoples of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania. A later seaborne migration is the Neolithic Austronesian expansion of the Austronesian peoples . Austronesians originated from the island of Taiwan c. 3000 –1500 BCE. They are associated with distinctive maritime sailing technologies (notably outrigger boats , catamarans , lashed-lug boats, and
11590-575: The northwestern Pacific and the eastern Pacific. Pacific hurricanes form south of Mexico, sometimes striking the western Mexican coast and occasionally the Southwestern United States between June and October, while typhoons forming in the northwestern Pacific moving into southeast and east Asia from May to December. Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin , where they occasionally impact island nations. In
11712-607: The now disappeared Kula oceanic plate . Around 55 million years ago during the Paleogene Period , a microplate of the Kula Plate subducted below the North American continental margin with great strain. A volcanic arc on the surface of the Kula Plate was thus accreted and fused onto the western edge of North America. These terranes were subjected to extreme warping from continued subduction of
11834-399: The ocean was encountered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached a new ocean. He named it Mar del Sur ("Sea of the South" or "South Sea" ) because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. In 1520, navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first to cross
11956-465: The ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favorable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico , which in Portuguese means 'peaceful sea'. Top large seas: Across the continents of Asia, Australia and the Americas , more than 25,000 islands, large and small, rise above
12078-562: The ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia . The volume of the Pacific Ocean, representing about 50.1 percent of
12200-586: The period. But as Spanish interests in the region dwindled, so did the use of Bodega y Quadra's name. The Hudson's Bay Company played a major part in the transition; by 1824 'Vancouver's Island' had become the usual designation in its correspondence for the island. A quarter of a century later, Vancouver Island had become such a well-known geographical feature that the founding of the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1849 gave this name full official status. Period references to "Vancouver" referred to Vancouver Island until
12322-525: The present-day Empress Hotel on Victoria's Inner Harbour . In 1846, the Oregon Treaty , which ended the Oregon boundary dispute , was signed by the British and the United States to settle the question of the U.S. Oregon Country borders. The Treaty made the 49th parallel latitude north the official border between the two countries. In order to ensure that Britain retained all of Vancouver Island and
12444-581: The quest for Terra Australis ("the [great] Southern Land"), Spanish explorations in the 17th century, such as the expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós , arrived at the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos, and sailed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres . Dutch explorers, sailing around southern Africa, also engaged in exploration and trade; Willem Janszoon , made
12566-489: The second Nootka Convention in 1793 and the third Convention in 1794. As per that final agreement, the Spanish dismantled their fort at Nootka and left the area, giving the British sovereignty over Vancouver Island and the adjoining islands (including the Gulf Islands ). For decades, Quadra's and Vancouver's Island was the most prominent name on maps of the coast, and appeared on most British, French and Spanish maps of
12688-505: The settlement of Buka by 32,000 B.P. and Manus by 25,000 B.P. Journeys of 180 kilometres (110 mi) and 230 kilometres (140 mi) are involved, respectively. The descendants of these migrations today are the Negritos , Melanesians , and Indigenous Australians . Their populations in maritime Southeast Asia , coastal New Guinea , and Island Melanesia later intermarried with the incoming Austronesian settlers from Taiwan and
12810-504: The southeast of Hawaii is computed, and if the region is more than 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) above or below normal for that period, then an El Niño or La Niña is considered in progress. In the tropical western Pacific, the monsoon and the related wet season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian landmass. Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer, when
12932-492: The southern Gulf Islands, however, it was agreed that the border would swing south around that area. In 1849, the Colony of Vancouver Island was established. The Colony was leased to the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) for an annual fee of seven shillings; the company's responsibility in return was to increase the population by promoting colonization. The first independent settler arrived that year: Captain Walter Grant started
13054-496: The southernmost harbours frequented by American fur traders at 51 degrees north and 128 degrees west . He relates that since Captain Robert Gray of Tiverton, Rhode Island , had sailed the Columbia River in 1792, the trade of the northwest coast had been almost entirely in the hands of Boston merchants, so much so that the natives called all traders "Boston Men". A settlement was not successfully negotiated and ownership of
13176-415: The surface of the Pacific Ocean. Multiple islands were the shells of former active volcanoes that have lain dormant for thousands of years. Close to the equator, without vast areas of blue ocean, are a dot of atolls that have over intervals of time been formed by seamounts as a result of tiny coral islands strung in a ring within surroundings of a central lagoon . Important human migrations occurred in
13298-804: The tropics and Antarctica, which records the coldest temperature readings on the planet. In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy and cloudy conditions associated with extratropical cyclones riding the jet stream, it is usual to refer to the Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of latitude. The ocean was first mapped by Abraham Ortelius ; he called it Maris Pacifici following Ferdinand Magellan 's description of it as "a pacific sea" during his circumnavigation from 1519 to 1522. To Magellan, it seemed much more calm (pacific) than
13420-502: The warmest days usually have a maximum of 28–33 °C (82–91 °F). The southeastern part of the island notably has a warm summer (Csb) Mediterranean climate with numerous vineyards . The rain shadow effect of the island's mountains, as well as the mountains of Washington's Olympic Peninsula , creates wide variation in precipitation. The west coast is considerably wetter than the east coast. Average annual precipitation ranges from 6,650 mm (262 in) at Hucuktlis Lake on
13542-538: The west coast (making it the wettest place in North America) to only 608 mm (23.9 in) at Victoria Gonzales, the driest recording station in the provincial capital of Victoria . Precipitation is heaviest in the autumn and winter. Snow is rare at low altitudes, but is common on the island's mountaintops in winter. Skiing is popular at Mount Washington in the mid-island, with an elevation of 1,588 m (5,210 ft). A notable feature of Vancouver Island
13664-442: The west coasts of the Americas . The southern part of Vancouver Island and some of the nearby Gulf Islands are the only parts of British Columbia or Western Canada to lie south of the 49th parallel . The southeast part of the island has one of the warmest climates in Canada, and since the mid-1990s has been mild enough in a few areas to grow Mediterranean crops such as olives and lemons . The population of Vancouver Island
13786-646: The west, and Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean . As the Pacific straddles the 180th meridian , the West Pacific (or western Pacific , near Asia) is in the Eastern Hemisphere , while the East Pacific (or eastern Pacific , near the Americas) is in
13908-597: The width of the Pacific with precision for the first time in history. One of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by European powers, and later Japan and
14030-434: The world's oceanic water, has been estimated at some 714 million cubic kilometers (171 million cubic miles). Surface water temperatures in the Pacific can vary from −1.4 °C (29.5 °F), the freezing point of seawater, in the poleward areas to about 30 °C (86 °F) near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally, reaching a maximum of 37 parts per thousand in the southeastern area. The water near
14152-469: Was 864,864 as of 2021. Nearly half of that population (~400,000) live in the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria on the southern tip of the island, which includes Victoria , the capital of British Columbia. Other notable cities and towns on Vancouver Island include Nanaimo , Campbell River , Courtenay , Port Alberni and Parksville , all on or near the east coast. Indigenous peoples have inhabited Vancouver Island for thousands of years, long before
14274-555: Was Vancouver who made the suggestion of combining their names to designate some geographical feature. In 1792, the Spanish explorer Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and his crew were the first Europeans to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. On April 8, 1806, Captain John D'Wolf of Bristol, Rhode Island , sailed the Juno to Nahwitti (Newettee), a small inlet in the northwestern promontory of Vancouver's Island. The captain described Newettee as one of
14396-419: Was commandant of Santa Cruz de Nuca in 1792. Vancouver had sailed as a midshipman with Cook. The negotiations between Vancouver and Bodega y Quadra ended in a deadlock with nothing resolved. Vancouver insisted the entire Spanish establishment be turned over, but Bodega y Quadra held that there were no buildings seized in 1789, and the only possible land was a tiny and useless cove nearby. The two decided to refer
14518-706: Was established at Esquimalt in 1865 and eventually taken over by the Canadian military . Today, as CFB Esquimalt , it is the home port of the Maritime Forces Pacific and parts are designated as National Historic Sites of Canada . The economic situation of the colony declined following the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1861–1862, and pressure grew for amalgamation of the colony with the mainland colony of British Columbia (which had been established in 1858). The two colonies were merged in 1866 into
14640-571: Was eventually dropped.) It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, who between 1791 and 1794 explored the Pacific Northwest . Vancouver Island is the world's 43rd largest island , Canada's 11th largest island , and Canada's second most populous island after the Island of Montreal . Vancouver Island has been the homeland of many indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The groupings, by language, are
14762-583: Was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. Later, the Diogo Ribeiro map of 1529 was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size. (Inhabited dependent territories are denoted by the asterisk (*), with names of the corresponding sovereign states in round brackets. Associated states in the Realm of New Zealand are denoted by the hash sign (#).) Territories with no permanent civilian population. The Pacific Ocean has most of
14884-550: Was to be the only Spanish settlement in what would later be Canada. Asserting their claim of exclusive sovereignty and navigation rights, the Spanish force seized the Portuguese-flagged British ships. British naval captain George Vancouver was sent to Nootka Sound in 1792 in order to negotiate a settlement. His Spanish counterpart in the negotiations was Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, who
#748251