Skip to content | Skip to institutional links

Common menu bar links

Institutional links

Geography of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Region

Abstract

The map shows the geography of the Vancouver Winter Games region in British Columbia. Various thematic layers from the Atlas of Canada online have been used to show several aspects of the geography of this region — population, climate, economy, physical geography, and culture.

The Olympic Spirit

The Geography of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Region

The region delimited on the map is same as that of the area shown on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Region (MCR 2010) topographic map, published by Natural Resources Canada. Some aspects of the geography of the region are briefly described below, however, most of the information on the region is found on the map for users to explore.

Photograph of an Inukshuk [D]
Click for more information, 20 KB
The Vancouver Olympics took the Inukshuk as a symbol — this one is located at the top of Whistler Mountain

Area

The Vancouver Winter Games region covers an area of approximately 54 426.19 square kilometres in British Columbia, the third largest province in Canada, with an area of 944 735 square kilometres.

Photograph of Vancouver Skyline [D]
Click for more information, 20 KB
Vancouver skyline from the east side of Canada Place

Population

According to the 2006 Census of Population the population of British Columbia was 4 113 487, whereas the population of the Vancouver Winter Games region was just over 3 000 000. The city of Vancouver had a population of 578 041, whereas the metropolitan area called ‘Greater Vancouver’ had a population of 2 098 00. In the 2006 Census 40 310 people identified themselves as Aboriginal in Greater Vancouver.

Photograph of Bill Reid’s "The Raven and the First Men" [D]
Click for more information, 20 KB
Bill Reid’s "The Raven and the First Men", on display at Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. This museum specializes in the culture of the First Nations of the West Coast.

British Columbia’s capital, Victoria, had a population of 78 057, whereas its metropolitan area had a population of 330 088, of which 10 905 identified as Aboriginal. Whistler and district, site of the downhill, alpine, and Nordic events had a population of 9248 in 2006.

Photograph of the Steam Clock in Gastown (Vancouver) [D]
Click for more information, 28 KB
The steam clock in Gastown (Vancouver) announces each quarter hour with blasts of steam and the ring of chimes

Physical Environment

The Greater Vancouver region is situated in the mountains and valleys of the southwestern edge of the Coast Mountains. A major feature of the area is the Fraser River, which flows 1370 kilometres from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains, through the Fraser Valley into Vancouver, and drains into the Pacific Ocean. The Victoria region is situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, separated from the mainland by the Juan de Fuca Strait.

Photograph of the North Vancouver Skyline [D]
Click for more information, 21 KB
The North Vancouver skyline as viewed across the Burrard Inlet from Spanish Banks

Whistler is situated below the Whistler (elevation 2182 metres above sea level) and Blackcomb (elevation 2284 metres above sea level) mountains in the Whistler Valley, north of Vancouver.

Photograph of Blackcomb Mountain [D]
Click for more information, 28 KB
Blackcomb Mountain summit and alpine skiing trails

Climate

The Greater Vancouver region has a mild climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The average annual seasonal temperatures in the region range from 5°C in winter to 23°C in summer. Snow generally only accumulates in the higher elevations, in the mountains north of Vancouver. The Victoria region has a mild climate and typically receives less precipitation than the Vancouver region.

Photograph of Totem Poles [D]
Click for more information, 29 KB
Totem poles in Stanley Park, Vancouver

Economy and Transportation

The economy of the Victoria area centres on tourism and federal and provincial government administration and services, whereas the economy of the Greater Vancouver region is driven by international trade and commerce. Also, contributing to the area’s economy is tourism, banking, finance, and high technology.

Photograph of Vancouver Skyline [D]
Click for more information, 17 KB
A portion of the Vancouver skyline showing Canada Place and the Vancouver Convention Centre

The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada, and is a major railway transportation hub for both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways.

Photograph of the Vancouver Port [D]
Click for more information, 23 KB
Vancouver, Canada’s gateway to Asia is major port and transportation hub in the Pacific Rim

Whistler is a resort town that attracts over 2 000 000 visitors annually. There are two major international airports in the region, Vancouver International Airport and Victoria International Airport.

Photograph of Whistler [D]
Click for more information, 33 KB
Whistler, British Columbia from inside the gondola while climbing Whistler Mountain

Socioeconomic Information from the 2006 Census of the Population

Table 1. Selected Cities in the Vancouver Winter Games Region
City	Population	Population Density	Aboriginal Population	Foreign-born Population	Visible Minority Population	Average Value of Dwelling	Employment Growth, 2001-2006
		(persons / sq. km)	(%)	(%)	(%)	($)	(%)
Burnaby	202 799	2275.6	1.5	50.8	55.4	481 545	10.8
Coquitlam	114 565	941.5	1.4	39.4	38.6	456 944	10.8
Langley	23 606	2309.1	3.6	17.9	11.0	294 293	4.5
New Westminster	58 549	3799.7	3.2	31.7	29.6	374 303	13.4
North Vancouver	45 165	3812.2	2.1	36.5	26.2	499 476	4.9
Port Coquitlam	52 687	1826.4	1.7	28.2	25.7	382 620	7.6
Port Moody	27 512	1073.7	1.7	29.3	25.3	469 380	20.4
Richmond	174 461	1354.9	0.7	57.4	65.1	457 419	9.6
Surrey	394 976	1245.3	1.9	38.3	46.1	446 307	18.6
Vancouver	578 041	5039.0	1.9	45.6	51.0	628 682	11.4
Victoria	78 057	3965.5	3.8	20.4	12.1	407 131	12.4
Whistler (district municipality)	9 248	57.2	1.4	15.7	6.6	906 528	0.3
White Rock	18 755	1245.3	1.6	38.3	10.2	446 307	18.6

Source: Statistics Canada. 2006 Census of Population.

Photograph of Hoary Marmot [D]
Click for more information, 33 KB
The Whistler area derives its name from the whistling sound that the hoary marmot makes. The photograph of this marmot was taken July 2009 at the top of Blackcomb Mountain.

Other 2010 Olympic Maps

2010 Olympic Sites

This new large-format, 2010 Olympics Sites, wall map (42 inches by 45 inches) features a 1:250 000 scale topographic map extending from the southern tip of Vancouver Island north to Pemberton and east to Abbotsford, British Columbia. It contains inset maps, at 1:50 000 scale of Vancouver and Whistler, from the new CanTopo map series to show these areas in greater detail. Additional thematic information has been added to these insets to highlight the location of the Olympics and Paralympics sites (for example ski runs, athletes’ village, hockey arena).

Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Region (MCR 2010)

The special edition 1:250 000 scale topographic map, Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Region, was produced to support the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. This large-format wall map provides broad, up-to-date coverage of the Winter Games region in British Columbia.

Photograph of Olympic Countdown Clock [D]
Click for more information, 20 KB
Olympic countdown clock; photograph taken on December 13, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The clock is located in the plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

References

Statistics Canada. 2006 Census of Population.