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29-641: Burke Channel is a channel in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia , separating the south and east coasts of King Island from the mainland. It was first charted in 1792 by James Johnstone , one of George Vancouver 's officers during his 1791-1795 expedition . Vancouver named it "Burke's Channel" after Edmund Burke . 52°09′14″N 127°27′48″W  /  52.15389°N 127.46333°W  / 52.15389; -127.46333  ( Burke Channel ) This article about

58-681: A location on the Central Coast of British Columbia , Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . British Columbia Coast While the exact boundaries are variously defined, the region is generally defined to include the 15 regional districts that have coastline along the Pacific Ocean or Salish Sea , or are part of the Lower Mainland , a subregion of the British Columbia Coast. Other boundaries may exclude parts of or even entire regional districts, such as those of

87-473: A new light on Ice Age populations in North America as well as on the strong likelihood of this area having been the major migration route from (and perhaps to) Asia . The heavy indentation and mild climate of the British Columbia Coast have led to inevitable comparisons with the geography's predisposition to encouraging increased human settlement and movement as well as cultural foment and population growth in

116-494: A predominantly oceanic climate in the north along the coast and further inland into the foothills of the Pacific Ranges . Higher elevations feature a subpolar oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfc) with cool summers, cold winters, and constant rainfall that peaks during the winter months. The highest elevations feature a subarctic climate ( Köppen : Dfc). The British Columbia Coast is dominated by temperate rainforest . According to

145-719: A result of the Klondike Gold Rush and ended by arbitration in 1903. Together with Pearse Canal and Tongass Passage , the Portland Canal is defined by the Alaska Boundary Settlement (the Hay-Herbert Treaty ) as part of Portland Channel (Canal), a term used as forming the marine boundary in the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825 but which was undefined at the time. This article about a location in

174-450: A total cargo volume of 76.5 million metric tons. By the same metric, the Port of Vancouver is also the fifth largest commercial shipping port in North America. The Port of Prince Rupert possesses the deepest ice-free natural harbour in North America, and the 3rd deepest natural harbour in the world. Situated at 54° North, the harbour is the northwesternmost port in North America linked to

203-486: Is connected to the rest of B.C by various roads depending on the region. The populous Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland is linked to the rest of the province by Highway 1 (Fraser Canyon Highway), Highway 5 (Coquihalla Freeway), Highway 3 (Crowsnest Highway) and Highway 99 (Sea to Sky Highway). The Lower Mainland is also connected to the U.S. by four highway border crossings with the Peace Arch on Interstate 5 being

232-504: Is dominated by a moderate oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb) with warm summers, cool winters, and constant rainfall that peaks during the winter months. These areas enjoy the mildest winter weather in all of Canada, as temperatures rarely fall below freezing. The southernmost region of the coast (surrounding the Salish Sea ) features a warm-summer Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. This gradually transitions to

261-400: Is no north–south highway linking the coastal communities of the province between Port Hardy and Kitimat . Instead, travellers utilize one of the coastal ferry lines operated by BC Ferries . The exceptions are Bella Coola is accessible by a long largely gravel Highway 20 from the B.C interior over a high pass; and the towns of Terrace , Prince Rupert and Kitimat which is assessed from

290-589: The Nisgaʼa , who holds the inlet's title in native law. Despite its naming as a canal , the inlet is a fjord , a completely natural and not man-made geographic feature, and extends 114.6 km (71.2 mi) northward from the Portland Inlet at Pearse Island , British Columbia, to Stewart, British Columbia , and Hyder, Alaska . Observatory Inlet joins the Portland Canal at Ramsden Point, where both merge with Portland Inlet. Pearse Canal joins Portland Canal at

319-570: The Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area, Alaska is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a location in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a fjord is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a location on the North Coast of British Columbia , Canada

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348-509: The ecoregion system used by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the BC Coast is part of five distinct ecoregions: Puget lowland forests , Central Pacific coastal forests , British Columbia mainland coastal forests , Haida Gwaii coastal forests , and Pacific Coastal Mountain icefields and tundra . According to the ecozone system used by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC),

377-709: The 15 regional districts of British Columbia defined as being in the Coast region: The fishery of the Pacific Northwest Coast is legendary, especially for its many salmon runs and the cultures that built on top of them throughout the region. Salmon runs have greatly diminished since pre-Contact years and the advent of commercial canning and, ultimately, depletion of stocks by high-seas fishing. Other commercial fisheries include halibut , herring and herring roe, sea urchin and other specialty sushis , hake , haddock , cod , crab and shellfish. The Coast Region of B.C

406-615: The Aegean, the Irish Sea/Hebrides and in the Danish Archipelago and adjoining Scandinavian coasts. The natural fecundity of the environment – rich in seafood , wild game , and greenery – combined with the ease of travel (by water) is seen in all cases (British Columbia, Denmark , Greece ) to have generated a dynamic and gifted civilization. And there are comparisons to be made between the artistic and political and social level of

435-667: The B.C. interior on Highway 16 . Haida Gwaii has an extension of Highway 16 on it, one of Haida Gwaii's few paved roads. The sheltered waterways of the British Columbia Coast form part of the Inside Passage , a coastal maritime route along which vessels navigate to avoid the rough waters and bad weather of the open North Pacific . As such, the maritime route is heavily trafficked by cruise ships , cargo ships , ferries , and other marine vessels. BC Ferries , an independently managed publicly-owned company , operates scheduled daily crossings between major population centres throughout

464-570: The BC Coast is part of four distinct ecozones: Pacific Coastal Mountains , Coastal Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce Forests , Pacific and Nass Ranges , and Strait of Georgia/Puget Lowland . According to the British Columbia Ministry of Forests , which uses an ecosystem classification system independent of the WWF and ECCC , the BC Coast is part of two distinct biogeoclimatic zones: Coastal Western Hemlock and Coastal Douglas-fir . Below are

493-428: The British Columbia Coast. Dozens of smaller ferries ply lesser routes within and between these regions. The Alaska Marine Highway also operates nonstop ferry service through the British Columbia Coast along its Bellingham-Ketchikan route. The Port of Vancouver is the largest commercial shipping port in all of Canada and along the entire Pacific Ocean / Pacific coast of North America by metric tons , which handles

522-534: The Island. Although the Sunshine Coast is on the mainland it is connected to the highway network only by ferries. It has one route which is Highway 101 , a narrow curvy 2 lane road split in two by a ferry crossing. Texada Island , a large island off the Sunshine Coast and has its own network of highway standard roads although they are unnumbered. Owing to the challenging topography of the British Columbia Coast, there

551-587: The Pacific Northwest Peoples and those of pre-Conversion pagan Scandinavia, Ireland and Archaic-Era Greece. The British Columbia Coast stretches from the southern tip of Vancouver Island along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the community of Stewart at the head of Portland Canal . The aerial distance between these two points is approximately 954 km (593 mi). However, due to its deeply incised coastline and over 40,000 islands of varying sizes,

580-529: The aforementioned Lower Mainland . While the term British Columbia Coast has been recorded from the earliest period of non-native settlement in British Columbia, it has never been officially defined in legal terms. The term has historically been in popular usage for over a century to describe a region of the province that extends west from the Coast Mountains and North Cascades . This definition makes

609-596: The border between southeastern Alaska and British Columbia . The name of the entire inlet in the Nisga'a language is Kʼalii Xkʼalaan , with xkʼalaan meaning "at the back of (someplace)". The upper end of the inlet was home to the Tsetsaut ( Jitsʼaawit in Nisgaʼa), who after being decimated by war and disease were taken under the protection of the Laxsgiik (Eagle) chief of

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638-523: The coast. The proximity of these mountains to the coast produce fjords that rival those of Norway in length and depth. Several large Islands fill the strait between Vancouver Island and the Mainland with Texada Island , Cortes Island and Salt Spring Island being the largest in size. Fjords of note include Burrard Inlet , Burke Channel , Howe Sound , Jervis Inlet , Desolation Sound , Dean Channel , Douglas Channel , and Portland Inlet . The BC Coast

667-539: The continent's railway network. The port is the first inbound and last outbound port of call for some cargo ships travelling between eastern Asia and western North America since it is the closest North American port to key Asian destinations. Portland Canal Portland Canal is an arm of Portland Inlet , one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast . It is approximately 114 km (71 mi) long. The Portland Canal forms part of

696-721: The largest. Several freeways connect lower mainland communities together. The backbone of Vancouver Island's highway network is the Highway 19 which along with a portion of Highway 1 forms the Island Highway . The Island highway is a mix of 4-lane freeway, 4 lane arterial highway and 2 lane highway running roughly along the east shore of Vancouver Island. Access to the west coast of Vancouver Island can be accomplished by crossing mountain passes on Highway 4 to Tofino and Highway 28 to Gold River . Thousands of other roads ranging from small freeways near Victoria to logging roads exist all over

725-577: The north end of Pearse Island. Portland Canal was given its name by George Vancouver in 1793, in honour of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland . The use of the word canal to name inlets on the British Columbia Coast and the Alaska Panhandle is a legacy of the Spanish exploration of the area in the 18th century. For example, Haro Strait between Victoria and the San Juan Islands

754-459: The term British Columbia Coast largely synonymous with the 15 regional districts that have territory in this region. Among locals, the British Columbia Coast can further be divided into seven major subregions: Research from the 1990s has indicated that the Ice Age-era coastline of the British Columbia Coast was lower by about 100 m (330 ft). The effect of the sea level on the coastline

783-461: The total length of the British Columbia Coast is over 25,725 km (15,985 mi), or approximately 10% of the entire Canadian coastline. This coastal geography is shared with the neighbouring U.S. states of Alaska and Washington . The dominant landforms are the Insular Mountains of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii , and the Coast Mountains that stretch along the entire length of

812-448: Was originally Canal de Haro . The English cognate to the Spanish canal is "channel", which is found throughout the coast, cf. Dean Channel . George Vancouver used both terms in his naming of inlets, Hood Canal for example. The placement of the international boundary in the Portland Canal was a major issue during the negotiations over the Alaska boundary dispute , which heated up as

841-464: Was such that Queen Charlotte Sound , which is between Haida Gwaii and the northern end of Vancouver Island, was a coastal plain, as were all the straits inland from it, except for those that were mountain valleys. Underwater archaeology has shown the presence of permanent human habitations and other activity at the 100 m (330 ft) contour, and the Ice Age existence of such a coastal plain has put

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