Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Canada. It is part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 460km in length, 100km in width at its widest point, and 32134km2 in area. It is the largest island on the West Coast of North America.The southern part of Vancouver Island is the only part of British Columbia or Western Canada to lie south of the 49th Parallel, along with most of the southern Gulf Islands and minor offshore islands. This area has one of the warmest climates in Canada, and since the mid-1990s has been mild enough in a few areas to grow subtropical Mediterranean crops such as olives and lemons.Vancouver Island has a population of 759,366 according to the Canada 2011 Census. Nearly half of that figure (344,630) live in the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria. Other notable cities and towns on Vancouver Island include Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Parksville, Courtenay, and Campbell River. Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia, is located on the island, but the larger city of Vancouver is not – it is on the North American mainland, across the Strait of Georgia from Nanaimo.