North America
Canada

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost province of , between the Pacific Ocean, and the . BC has great scenery along the coast and inland, and is a rewarding destination for outdoor life, especially downhill snowsports and wilderness backpacking.
Tap on a place
to explore it
gov.bc.ca
www2.gov.bc.ca
Wikivoyage
Wikipedia
Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Vancouver and Victoria.

Photo: Mfield, CC BY-SA 3.0.
occupies an enviable spot in the world. Blessed with miles of coastline, lush vegetation and crowned by the Mountains, it's hard to be there and not stop at some point and be amazed by what you see.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the capital of 's westernmost province; British Columbia, near the southern tip of . contains a perfect combination of the old and new Canada.

Photo: Shaundd, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a mostly suburban area across the Burrard Inlet from downtown . Surrounded by mountains and water on three sides, it's the ideal playground for the outdoor-minded.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

Photo: Shaundd, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The is in British Columbia, . The official tourist information site calls the area "Vancouver, Coast and Mountains". The term "lower mainland" has different meanings; for some people it is equivalent to "Greater Vancouver", while others include everything out to or in the east, and or in the north.

Photo: Adam63, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a large island off the coast of British Columbia. As a region, it includes the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia. It is often referred to by the locals as simply 'The Island'.

Photo: Accuruss, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The is a region in the central interior of British Columbia, . It encompasses wineries and fun-in-the-sun Okanagan Valley, summer boating adventures on Shuswap Lake in the east and the pretty Thompson River valley to the north.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a large region in British Columbia. This area begins at the Alberta border and extends west to the Monashee range of the Columbia Mountains. The area is famed for its laid-back lifestyle and endless outdoor adventure opportunities.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
is a vast region covering most of the northern half of the province of British Columbia.

Photo: Shaundd, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The is a sparsely populated region in the central interior and coast of British Columbia, with beautiful scenery, endless outdoor opportunities, and a fascinating gold rush history.
Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Public domain.

British Columbia

Latitude of center
55.0013° or 55° 0′ 5″ north
Longitude of center
-125.0024° or 125° 0′ 9″ west
Population
4,400,000
Elevation
714 metres (2,343 feet)
Abbreviation
“BC”
Open­Street­Map ID
node 305700699
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­state
Geo­Names ID
5909050
Wiki­data ID
Q1973
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover British Columbia from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Afrikaans to Yue Chinese—“British Columbia” goes by many names.
  • Afrikaans: “Brits-Columbië”
  • Afrikaans: “Brits-Kolumbië”
  • Albanian: “Kolumbia Britanike”
  • Amharic: “ብሪቲሽ ኮለምቢያ”
  • Amharic: “ብሪቲሽ ኮሎምቢያ”
  • Arabic: “كولومبيا البريطانية”
  • Armenian: “Բրիտանական Կոլումբիա”
  • Assamese: “ব্ৰিটিছ কলম্বিয়া”
  • Asturian: “Columbia Británica”
  • Awadhi: “ब्रिटिश कोलम्बिया”
  • Azerbaijani: “Britaniya Kolumbiyası”
  • Balinese: “British Columbia”
  • Bashkir: “Британ Колумбияһы”
  • Basque: “Brita Kolumbio”
  • Basque: “Britainiar Kolunbia”
  • Basque: “Columbia Britainiarra”
  • Bavarian: “Britisch-Kolumbien”
  • Belarusian: “Брытанская Калумбія”
  • Belarusian: “Правінцыя Брытанская Калумбія”
  • Bengali: “ব্রিটিশ কলাম্বিয়া”
  • Betawi: “Kolumbia Brit”
  • Bhojpuri: “बीसी”
  • Bhojpuri: “ब्रिटिश कोलंबिया”
  • Bosnian: “Britanska Kolumbija”
  • Breton: “British Columbia”
  • Breton: “Kolombia Vreizhveuriat”
  • Bulgarian: “Британска Колумбия”
  • Burmese: “ဗြိတိသျှ ကိုလံဘီယာ ပြည်နယ်”
  • Catalan: “Colúmbia Britànica”
  • Cebuano: “British Columbia”
  • Central Kurdish: “بریتش کۆلۆمبیا”
  • Cherokee: “ᏈᏗᏏ ᎪᎸᎻᏈᎢᎠ”
  • Chinese: “British Columbia”
  • Chinese: “不列顛哥倫比亞省”
  • Chinese: “不列颠哥伦比亚”
  • Chinese: “不列颠哥伦比亚省”
  • Chinese: “卑詩省”
  • Chinese: “英屬哥倫比亞殖民地”
  • Chinese: “英屬哥倫比亞省”
  • Cornish: “Kolombi Bredennek”
  • Corsican: “BC”
  • Corsican: “Columbia Britannica”
  • Corsican: “Culumbia Britannica”
  • Croatian: “Britanska Kolumbija”
  • Czech: “Britská Kolumbie”
  • Dagbani: “British Columbia”
  • Danish: “British Columbia”
  • Danish: “Britisk Columbia”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Kolombiyay Britanya”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Kolombiyaya Britanya”
  • Dutch: “BC”
  • Dutch: “British Columbia”
  • Dutch: “Brits-Columbia”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “بريتيش كولومبيا”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “كولومبيا البريطانيه”
  • Esperanto: “BC”
  • Esperanto: “BK”
  • Esperanto: “Brita Kolumbio”
  • Estonian: “Briti Columbia”
  • Faroese: “British Columbia”
  • Finnish: “BC”
  • Finnish: “British Columbia”
  • Finnish: “Brittiläinen Kolumbia”
  • French: “BC”
  • French: “CA-BC”
  • French: “Colombie-Britannique”
  • French: “province de Colombie-Britannique”
  • Galician: “British Columbia”
  • Galician: “Columbia Británica”
  • Georgian: “ბრიტანეთის კოლუმბია”
  • German: “BC”
  • German: “Britisch-Kolumbien”
  • German: “British Columbia”
  • German: “CA-BC”
  • Greek: “Βρετανική Κολομβία”
  • Guarani: “Kolumbia Vyretañagua”
  • Gujarati: “બ્રિટિશ કોલમ્બિયા”
  • Hakka Chinese: “British Columbia”
  • Hausa: “British Columbia”
  • Hawaiian: “Kolumepia Pelekania”
  • Hebrew: “בריטיש קולומביה”
  • Hebrew: “קולומביה הבריטית”
  • Hindi: “ब्रिटिश कोलंबिया”
  • Hindi: “ब्रिटिश कोलम्बिया”
  • Hungarian: “Brit Columbia”
  • Hungarian: “Brit Kolumbia”
  • Icelandic: “Breska Kólumbía”
  • Icelandic: “Breska-Kólumbía”
  • Ido: “British Columbia”
  • Inari Sami: “Brittilâš Kolumbia”
  • Indonesian: “British Columbia”
  • Interlingua: “Columbia Britannic”
  • Interlingue: “British Colombia”
  • Inuktitut: “ᐳᕆᑎᔅ ᑲᓚᒻᐱᐊ”
  • Irish: “an Cholóim Bhriotanach”
  • Irish: “An Cholóim Bhriotanach”
  • Irish: “British Columbia”
  • Irish: “Colóim Bhriotanach”
  • Italian: “BC”
  • Italian: “Columbia Britannica”
  • Japanese: “ブリティッシュコロンビア州”
  • Japanese: “英領コロンビア州”
  • Javanese: “British Columbia”
  • Kalaallisut: “Britisk Columbia”
  • Kannada: “ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷ್‌‌ ಕೊಲಂಬಿಯಾ”
  • Kannada: “ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷ್ ಕೊಲಂಬಿಯಾ”
  • Karachay-Balkar: “Британ Колумбия”
  • Kazakh: “Британдық Колумбия”
  • Korean: “브리티시컬럼비아 주”
  • Korean: “브리티시컬럼비아주”
  • Korean: “영국컬럼비아”
  • Kurdish: “Kolumbiya Brîtanî”
  • Ladino: “British Kolombiya”
  • Ladino: “Kolombia Britanika”
  • Latin: “Columbia Britannica”
  • Latvian: “Britu Kolumbija”
  • Ligurian: “Combia Britannega”
  • Ligurian: “Cómbia Britannega”
  • Limburgan: “Brits-Columbia”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “British Columbia”
  • Literary Chinese: “不列顛哥倫比亞”
  • Lithuanian: “Britų Kolumbija”
  • Lombard: “Columbia Britanega”
  • Luxembourgish: “BC”
  • Luxembourgish: “Brittesch-Kolumbien”
  • Luxembourgish: “CA-BC”
  • Macedonian: “Британска Колумбија”
  • Malay: “British Columbia”
  • Malayalam: “ബ്രിട്ടീഷ് കൊളംബിയ”
  • Malayalam: “ബ്രിട്ടീഷ് കൊളമ്പിയ”
  • Maltese: “Kolumbja Brittanika”
  • Manx: “Yn Cholombey Ghoaldagh”
  • Marathi: “ब्रिटिश कोलंबिया”
  • Mazanderani: “بریتانیائیج کلمبیا”
  • Mazanderani: “بریتیش کلمبیا”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “British Columbia”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “British Columbia”
  • Mingrelian: “ბრიტანეთიშ კოლუმბია”
  • Mongolian: “Британийн Колумби”
  • Mongolian: “Бритиш Коламбиа”
  • Moroccan Arabic: “كولومبيا لبريطانية”
  • Northern Frisian: “British Columbia”
  • Northern Sami: “Brihttalaš Kolumbia”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Britisk Columbia”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Britisk Columbia”
  • Norwegian: “Britisk Columbia”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Colómbia Britanica”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Colúmbia Britanica”
  • Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE): “ܩܘܠܘܡܒܝܐ ܒܪܝܛܝܬܐ”
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): “Bryttisc Columbia”
  • Ossetian: “Британийы Колумби”
  • Pampanga: “British Columbia”
  • Panjabi: “ਬਰੀਟੀਸ਼ ਕੋਲੰਬਿਆ”
  • Panjabi: “ਬ੍ਰਿਟਿਸ਼ ਕੋਲੰਬੀਆ”
  • Papiamento: “British Columbia”
  • Persian: “بریتیش کلمبیا”
  • Piemontese: “Columbia Britànica”
  • Pitcairn-Norfolk: “British Kolumbya”
  • Polish: “Kolumbia Brytyjska”
  • Portuguese: “B.C.”
  • Portuguese: “BC”
  • Portuguese: “British Columbia”
  • Portuguese: “Colúmbia Britânica”
  • Portuguese: “Província da Colúmbia Britânica”
  • Pushto: “برېتانوي کولمبيا”
  • Quechua: “British Columbia pruwinsya”
  • Romanian: “Columbia Britanică”
  • Russia Buriat: “Британиин Колумби”
  • Russian: “Британская Колумбия”
  • Samogitian: “Brėtu Kolumbėjė”
  • Santali: “ᱵᱨᱤᱴᱤᱥ ᱠᱚᱞᱚᱢᱵᱤᱭᱟ”
  • Sardinian: “Colùmbia Britànnica”
  • Scots: “Breetish Columbie”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Columbia Bhreatannach”
  • Serbian: “Британска Колумбија”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Britanska Kolumbija”
  • Shan: “ပရိတ်ႉတိသ်ျၵူဝ်ႇလမ်ႇပီႇယႃႇ”
  • Silesian: “Brytyjsko Kolůmbijo”
  • Sindhi: “برٽش ڪولمبيا”
  • Sinhala: “බ්‍රිටිෂ් කොලොම්බියා, කැනඩාව”
  • Sinhala: “බ්‍රිටිෂ් කොලොම්බියා”
  • Slovak: “Britská Kolumbia”
  • Slovenian: “Britanska Kolumbija”
  • South Azerbaijani: “بریتیش کولومبیا”
  • Spanish: “B.C.”
  • Spanish: “BC”
  • Spanish: “Columbia Británica (Canadá)”
  • Spanish: “Columbia Británica”
  • Spanish: “Provincia de Columbia Britanica”
  • Swahili: “British Kolumbia”
  • Swedish: “BC”
  • Swedish: “British Columbia”
  • Swedish: “Brittiska Columbia”
  • Swedish: “Brittiska Kolumbien”
  • Tagalog: “British Columbia”
  • Tamil: “பிரிட்டிசு கொலம்பியா”
  • Tamil: “பிரிட்டிஷ் கொலம்பியா”
  • Tamil: “பிரித்தானிய கொலம்பியா”
  • Tatar: “Британия Колумбиясе”
  • Telugu: “బ్రిటిష్ కొలంబియా”
  • Telugu: “బ్రిటీష్ కొలంబియా”
  • Thai: “รัฐบริติชโคลัมเบีย”
  • Tosk Albanian: “British Columbia”
  • Tumbuka: “British Columbia”
  • Turkish: “Britanya Kolumbiyası”
  • Uighur: “Britani Kolumbiye”
  • Ukrainian: “Британська Колумбія”
  • Urdu: “برٹش کولمبیا”
  • Uzbek: “Britaniya Kolumbiyasi”
  • Venetian: “Cołonbia Britànica”
  • Vietnamese: “B.C.”
  • Vietnamese: “BC”
  • Vietnamese: “British Columbia”
  • Vietnamese: “Columbia thuộc Anh”
  • Vlaams: “Brits-Columbia”
  • Volapük: “British Columbia”
  • Võro: “Briti Columbia”
  • Waray (Philippines): “British Columbia”
  • Welsh: “British Columbia”
  • Welsh: “Columbia Brydeinig”
  • Western Frisian: “Britsk-Kolumbia”
  • Western Panjabi: “برٹش کولمبیا”
  • Western Panjabi: “برطانوی کولمبیا”
  • Wu Chinese: “不列颠哥伦比亚省”
  • Yiddish: “בריטישע קאלומביע”
  • Yue Chinese: “卑詩省”
  • “Brėtu Kolumbėjė”
  • “Briti Columbia”
  • “British Columbia”
  • “Culùmbia Britànica”
  • “ma Pisi pi ma Kanata”
  • “ब्रिटिश कोलंबिया”

Canada: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Ottawa.

Explore These Curated Destinations

Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “British Columbia”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.