Vancouver

Vancouver (pronounced {{IPA|}}) is a Canadian city in the province of British Columbia. It is the largest metropolitan centre in western Canada and third largest in the country. The city's population is 545,671 and that of the metropolitan area is 1,986,965 (2001 census). http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/popdwell/Table-CMA-C.cfm?T=1&SR=1&CMA=933&S=3&O=D Vancouver is one of the cities of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and of the larger geographic region commonly known as the Lower Mainland of BC. The current mayor is Larry Campbell, Coalition of Progressive Electors (see List of Mayors of Vancouver). Vancouver will be the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics, 2005 Grey Cup, the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championship, the 2006 United Nations World Urban Forum and the 2007 Memorial Cup.

Ethnic groups

Vancouver is home to people of many ethnic backgrounds and religions. Chinese is by far, the largest visible ethnic minority group in the city. Vancouver contains the second largest Chinatown in North America (after San Francisco's), and many multicultural neighbourhoods such as the Punjabi Market, Little Italy, Greektown, Japantown, Commercial Drive, and Koreatown which is developing synergy around Robson and Denman Streets in the West End. Street signs bilingual in English and Chinese or Punjabi can be seen at these centres of ethnic concentration.

Related Topics:
Chinese - Chinatown - San Francisco's - Punjabi Market - Little Italy - Greektown - Japantown - Commercial Drive - Koreatown - Synergy

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Prior to the hand-over of Hong Kong to China in 1997, many immigrants from Hong Kong made Vancouver their home, giving it the controversial nickname HongCouver. This continued a tradition of immigrants flocking from around the world, to call Vancouver home. Statistics Canada data shows that 17% of the approximately 2 million people living in the metropolitan area are ethnic Chinese. Other significant asian ethnic groups in Vancouver are Vietnamese, Filipino, Cambodian, and Taiwanese.

Related Topics:
Hong Kong - HongCouver - Statistics Canada - Vietnamese - Filipino - Cambodian - Taiwanese

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Much of the European population consists of persons whose origins go back to the U.K. as it was the number one ancestry according to the 2001 Census, and until recently it was a truism that British Columbians with UK ancestry most likely have that directly from the British Isles, rather than via Ontario or the Maritime Provinces. Other European groups consist of German, Dutch, French , Ukrainians, Italians, Yugoslavs, Greeks, and lately numerous Russians and Poles.

Related Topics:
European - German - Dutch - French - Ukrainians - Italians - Yugoslavs - Greeks - Russians - Poles

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There is also a sizeable community of aboriginal people in Vancouver as well as in the surrounding metropolitan region, with the result that Vancouver constitutes the largest native community in the province, albeit an unincorporated one (i.e. not as a band government). There is an equally-large or larger Metis contingent, with these being a mix of traditional "real" Metis from the Prairies and others whose mixed native/non-native ancestry qualifies them legally as Metis.

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Ethnic origin

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• European: 1,200,010 or 63.5%
• Chinese: 332,560 or 17.6%
• Other Asian: 161,145 or 8.5%
• Filipino: 54,280 or 2.8%
• mixed ethnicity: 44,680 or 2.3%
• (based on single responses)

About half the population is of Christian background, the vast majority of them being technically Protestant, although Vancouver, like the rest of British Columbia, has a very low rate of church attendance compared to the rest of the continent and the vast majority of the population does not practice religion seriously. The Sikh, Hindu, and Buddhist populations are also very large, and within the growing Muslim population there is a large contingent of Ismaili Muslims who have settled in the area following their expulsion from Uganda.

Related Topics:
Christian - Protestant - Sikh - Hindu - Buddhist - Muslim - Ismaili

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