About Victoria
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Victoria is a Canadian city, and it is the capital of the province of British Columbia. It is also the seat of the Capital Regional District. Victoria is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and is a global tourist destination. Its other main industries are government, the technology sector and the Canadian Navy.
Location and population
Located on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the City of Victoria has a population of approximately 74,100, and is the thirteenth most populous municipality in the province. The metropolitan area comprising thirteen municipalities informally referred to as Greater Victoria has a population of more than 335,000 and is the largest urban area on Vancouver Island. It also currently ranks as the 14th largest metropolitan area (by population) in Canada.
Victoria is well-known for its disproportionately large retiree population. Retirees throughout Canada are drawn to Victoria's mild climate, beautiful scenery, year-round golf season, and general easy-going pace of life. A popular saying among locals is that Victoria is for "the newly wed and nearly dead!"
The city's chief industries are tourism, provincial government administration, and the technology sector. Other major employers include the Canadian Forces (the Township of Esquimalt is the home of the Pacific headquarters of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command), and the University of Victoria (located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich).
The city of Greater Victoria is the southernmost urban area in Western Canada, located below the northern 49th parallel, which bisects Vancouver Island at the community of Ladysmith, British Columbia.
History
Wawadit'la, also known as Mungo Martin House, a Kwakwaka'wakw "big house", with heraldic pole. Built by Chief Mungo Martin in 1953. Located at Thunderbird Park in Victoria, British Columbia.
Prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the late 1700s, the Victoria area was home to several communities of Coast Salish peoples, including the Songish (Songhees). The Spanish and British took up the exploration of the northwest coast of North America beginning with the voyage of Captain James Cook in 1776, although the Victoria area of the Strait of Juan de Fuca was not penetrated until 1791. Spanish sailors visited Esquimalt harbour (within the modern Capital Regional District) in 1790 and again in 1792. Founded by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1843 as Fort Camosun (after the "camosack", a type of wild lily native to southern Vancouver Island) as a fur trading post, the settlement was later called Fort Victoria, in honour of Queen Victoria [3]. The Songhees established a village across the harbour from the fort. The Songhees' village was later moved north of Esquimalt. When the crown Colony of Vancouver Island was established in 1849, a town was laid out on the site and made the capital of the colony. The Chief Factor of the fort, James Douglas was made governor of the colony, and would be the leading figure in the early development of the city until his retirement in 1864.
With the discovery of gold on the British Columbia mainland in 1858, Victoria became the port, supply base, and outfitting centre for miners on their way to the Fraser Canyon gold fields, mushrooming from a population of 300 to over 5000 literally within a few days. In 1866 when the island was politically united with the mainland, Victoria remained the capital of the new united colony and became the provincial capital when British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871. Victoria was incorporated as a city in 1862. In 1865 Esquimalt was made the North Pacific home of the Royal Navy, and remains Canada's west coast naval base.
In 1886, with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus on Burrard Inlet, Victoria's position as the commercial centre of British Columbia was irrevocably lost to the City of Vancouver. The city subsequently began cultivating an image of genteel civility within its natural setting, an image aided by the impressions of visitors such as Rudyard Kipling, the opening of the popular Butchart Gardens in 1904 and the construction of the Empress Hotel by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1908. Sir Robert Dunsmuir, a leading industrialist whose interests included coal mines and a railway on Vancouver Island, constructed Craigdarroch Castle in the Rockland area, near the official residence of the province's lieutenant-governor. His son James Dunsmuir became premier and subsequently lieutenant-governor of the province and built his own grand residence at Hatley Park (used for several decades as a military college, now Royal Roads University) in the present City of Colwood.
A real estate and development boom ended just before World War I, leaving Victoria with a large stock of Edwardian public, commercial and residential structures that have greatly contributed to the City's character. A number of municipalities surrounding Victoria were incorporated during this period, including the Township of Esquimalt, the District of Oak Bay, and several municipalities on the Saanich peninsula. Since World War II the Victoria area has seen relatively steady growth, becoming home to two major universities. Since the 1980s the western suburbs have been incorporated as new municipalities, such as Colwood and Langford. The thirteen municipal governments within the Capital Regional District afford the residents a great deal of local autonomy, although there are periodic calls for amalgamation.
Climate
Victoria's Inner Harbour with The Empress hotel in the background.
Victoria has a sub-Mediterranean climate, with mild, damp winters and cool to warm, dry summers. Daily temperatures rise above 30°C (86°F) on an average of one or two days per year and fall below -5°C (23°F) on an average of only 2 nights per year. During the winter, the average daily high and low temperatures are 8.2°C (47°F) and 3.6°C (38°F), respectively. The summer months are equally mild, with an average high temperature of 19.6°C (67°F) and low of 11.3°C (52°F). Victoria does occasionally experience more extreme temperatures. The highest temperature ever recorded in Victoria was 35.3°C (96°F) on July 23, 2004, while the coldest temperature on record was -15.6°C (4°F) on December 29, 1968. Victoria has not recorded a temperature below -10°C (14°F) since 1990.
Thanks to the rain shadow effect of the nearby Olympic Mountains in Washington State, Victoria is the driest location on British Columbia's coasts, experiencing much lower rainfall than other nearby areas. Total annual precipitation is just 608 mm (24in) at the Gonzales weather station in Victoria, contrasted to nearby Seattle, (137 km/85 miles away to the southeast), with 970mm (38in) of rainfall, or Vancouver, 100 km away, with 1,219 mm (48in) of rainfall. Perhaps even more dramatic is the difference in rainfalls on Vancouver Island. Port Renfrew, just 80 km from Victoria on the wet southwest coast of Vancouver Island receives 3,671 mm (145 in). Even the Victoria Airport, 25 km north of the city, receives about 45% more precipitation than the city proper. One of the most striking features of Victoria's climate is the distinct dry and rainy seasons. Nearly two thirds of the annual precipitation falls during the four wettest months, November to February. Precipitation in December, the wettest month (109 mm/4 in) is nearly eight times as high as in July, the driest month (14 mm/.5  in). During the summer months, Victoria is the driest major city in Canada.
Victoria averages just 26 cm (10 in) of snow annually. Every few decades, Victoria receives very large snowfalls, including the more than 100 cm (39 in) of snow that fell in December 1996. On the other hand, roughly one third of winters will see virtually no snow, with less than 5 cm (2 in) falling during the entire season. When snow does fall, it rarely lasts long on the ground. Victoria averages just 2-3 days per year with at least 5 cm (2 in) of snow on the ground.
The rainshadow effect also means that Victoria gets more sunshine than surrounding areas. With 2,223 hours of sun annually, Victoria is one of the sunniest places in British Columbia, and gets more sunshine than most other cities in Canada except those in the southern Prairies. The benefits of Victoria's climate are evident through the city's gardens, which are more likely to display drought-tolerant oak trees, eucalyptus, arbutus, and even bananas, than they are likely to feature evergreen conifers, which are often associated with the coastal Pacific Northwest environment.
Colourful flowers bedeck the genteel "Garden City" downtown
|
|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
Average daily maximum |
°C |
7.0 |
8.6 |
10.6 |
13.1 |
15.9 |
17.9 |
19.8 |
20.1 |
18.5 |
13.8 |
9.4 |
7.1 |
13.5 |
Average daily minimum |
°C |
3.0 |
3.7 |
4.5 |
6.0 |
8.2 |
10.0 |
11.3 |
11.7 |
10.7 |
7.9 |
5.0 |
3.2 |
7.1 |
|
|
Average precipitation |
mm |
94.3 |
71.7 |
46.5 |
28.5 |
25.8 |
20.7 |
14.0 |
19.7 |
27.4 |
51.2 |
98.9 |
108.9 |
607.6 |
Average total snow |
cm |
9.7 |
3.5 |
1.1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4.1 |
7.8 |
26.3 |
Average Sunshine |
h |
78 |
102 |
150 |
205 |
267 |
271 |
331 |
303 |
222 |
148 |
81 |
65 |
2223 |
Data |
|
Victoria's Harbour with Songhees condominiums in the background
Victoria's equable climate has also added to its reputation as the "City of Gardens" . With its mild temperatures and plentiful sunshine, Victoria boasts gardens that are home to many plant species rarely found elsewhere in Canada. Several species of palms, eucalyptus, and even certain varieties of bananas can be seen growing throughout the area's gardens. The city takes pride in the many flowers that bloom during the winter and early spring, including crocuses, daffodils, early-blooming rhododendrons, cherry and plum trees. Every Februrary there is an annual "flower count" in what for the rest of the country and most of the province is still the dead of winter.
Due to its Mediterranean-type climate, southeastern Vancouver Island is also home to many rare native plants found nowhere else in Canada, including Quercus garryana (Garry oak), Arctostaphylos columbiana (Hairy manzanita), and Canada's only broadleaf evergreen tree, Arbutus menziesii (Pacific madrone). Many of these endangered species exist here at the northern end of their range, and are found as far south as Central and Southern California, and even parts of Mexico.
Physiography and Soils
The landscape of Victoria was molded by water in various forms. Pleistocene glaciation put the area under a thick ice cover, the weight of which depressed the land below present sea level. These glaciers also deposited stony sandy loam till. As they retreated, their meltwater left thick deposits of sand and gravel. Marine clay settled on what would later become dry land. Post-glacial rebound exposed the present-day terrain to air, raising beach and mud deposits well above sea level. The resulting soils are highly variable in texture, and abrupt textural changes are common. In general, clays are most likely to be encountered in the northern part of town and in depressions. The southern part has coarse-textured subsoils and loamy topsoils. Sandy loams and loamy sands are common in the eastern part adjoining Oak Bay. Victoria's soils are relatively unleached and less acidic than soils elsewhere on the British Columbia coast. Their thick dark topsoils denoted a high level of fertility which made them valuable for farming until urbanization took over.
Neighbourhoods of Victoria
The Empress hotel in the morning.
The following is a list of neighbourhoods in the City of Victoria, as defined by the city planning department. For a list of neighbourhoods in other area municipalities, see Greater Victoria, or the individual entries for those municipalities.
- Burnside
- Downtown
- Fairfield
- James Bay
- Fernwood
- Gonzales
- Harris Green
- North Jubilee
- North Park
- Oaklands
- Rockland
- South Jubilee
- Victoria West
Other city districts often regarded as neighbourhoods include:
Other facts
The Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia.
British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria.
Victoria's skyline in May 2006.
One of the stone lions that guards the gate of Chinatown in Victoria.
Totem pole on the inner harbour.
According to Statistics Canada, Victoria's crime rate in 1999 was the second highest in the country (11,865 crimes per 100,000 population). By 2002, Victoria was ranked fifth for overall crime (10,146 crimes per 100,000 population). These figures, however, represent the skewing effect of considering crimes committed in "downtown" Victoria in relation only to the "downtown" population. The Greater Victoria area comprises 13 separate municipalities (total pop. 335,000 CMA). The City of Victoria (pop. 74,100) acts as "downtown" for all of the outlying municipalities, hence the counter-intuitive and inflated crime figures.
The oldest (and most intact) Chinatown in Canada is located within Victoria. In the heart of downtown are the Parliament Buildings, the Fairmont Empress Hotel, the gothic Christ Church Cathedral, and the acclaimed Royal British Columbia Museum, with large exhibits on local Aboriginal peoples, Natural History and Modern History. In addition, the heart of downtown also has the Royal London Wax Museum, Victoria Bug Zoo, and the Pacific Undersea Gardens, which showcases the Giant Pacific Octopus, the Wolf Eel and other marine life of British Columbia. North of the city on the Saanich Peninsula are the Butchart Gardens, one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island, as well as the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria Butterfly Gardens and Centre of the Universe planetarium . There are also numerous National Historic Sites, such as the Fisgard Lighthouse, Craigflower Manor and Schoolhouse, Hatley Castle and Hatley Park and Fort Rodd Hill, which is a coastal artillery fort built in the late 1890s, located west of the city in Colwood. Also located west of the city you will find Western Speedway, a 4/10th-mile oval and the largest in Western Canada.
Beacon Hill Park is the city's main urban green space. Its area of 75 hectares lie along Victoria's southern shore, and includes numerous playing fields, manicured gardens, exotic species of plants and animals such as wild peacocks, and a petting zoo. The sport of cricket, the rules of which have mystified tourists and locals alike, has been played in Beacon Hill Park since the mid-nineteenth century. The park also includes a few areas of natural Garry oak meadow habitat, an increasingly scarce ecosystem that once dominated the region. Each summer, Beacon Hill Park plays host to several outdoor concerts, and the popular Luminara Community Lantern Festival.
The Victoria Symphony, led by Tania Miller performs at the Royal Theatre and the Farquhar Auditorium of the University of Victoria from September to May. Every BC Day weekend, the Symphony mounts "Symphony Splash", a popular outdoor event that includs a performance by the orchestra sitting on a barge in Victoria's Inner Harbour. Streets in the local area are closed, as each year approximately 40,000 people attend a variety of concerts and events throughout the day. The event culminates with the Symphony's evening concert, with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture as the grand finale, complete with cannon-fire, a pealing carillon and a fireworks display to honour BC Day.
The only Canadian Forces Primary Reserve brass/reed band on Vancouver Island is located in Victoria. The 5th (British Columbia) Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery Band traces its roots back to 1864, making it the oldest, continually-operational military band west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Its mandate is to support the island's military community by performing at military dinners, parades and ceremonies, and other events. The band performs weekly in August at Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site where the Regiment started manning the guns of the fort in 1896, and also performs every year at the Cameron Bandshell at Beacon Hill Park.
Victoria can be reached by air and by ferry. The Victoria International Airport has non-stop flights to and from Toronto, Honolulu (winter), Salt Lake City, Seattle and many cities throughout Western Canada. Multiple scheduled helicopter and seaplane flights are available daily between Victoria harbour and Vancouver International Airport or Vancouver harbour (35 minute flights). The BC Ferries Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal, located 29 kilometers north of Victoria, is a bustling terminal with bi-hourly sailings to Tsawwassen (a ferry terminal south of Vancouver) and to many of the Gulf Islands. The Washington State Ferry terminal in Sidney, British Columbia provides ferry service to Friday Harbor, Orcas Island, and ultimately Anacortes, Washington. In Victoria's Inner Harbour, an international ferry terminal provides car ferry service to Port Angeles, Washington state, high-speed catamaran service to downtown Seattle, and seasonal passenger ferries to destinations in Washington State including Friday Harbor, Port Angeles, and Bellingham. Victoria also serves as the western terminus (Mile Zero) for Canada's Trans-Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world.
Notable people born in Greater Victoria include:
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