Greater Vancouver is the metropolitan area

Metropolitan area

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

 centred on the city of Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia, Canada, roughly coterminous with the Greater Vancouver Regional District

Greater Vancouver Regional District

Metro Vancouver is the brand name of the board of the inter-municipal administrative body known as the Greater Vancouver Regional District , a regional district in British Columbia, Canada...

, which is governed by a body known as Metro Vancouver. Greater Vancouver as a term predates the existence of the regional district (created in 1966) and is often used to include areas beyond the boundaries of the regional district, and also does not generally include wilderness and agricultural areas within that regional district. As a geographic region, it is part of the Lower Mainland

Lower Mainland

The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...

, one of British Columbia's three main geospatial/cultural divisions and overlaps with the Lower Fraser Valley, with the Central and Upper Fraser Valley areas to the east being in the Fraser Valley Regional District

Fraser Valley Regional District

The Fraser Valley Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km²...

, which was created from two others upon the expansion of the Greater Vancouver Regional District to include Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Other modes of regional governance and administration which Greater Vancouver is covered by are the North Vancouver and Coquitlam Forests Districts, the Ministry of Environment's Lower Mainland Region (which includes the Sunshine Coast, the Fraser Health Authority and the New Westminster Land District

New Westminster Land District

New Westminster Land District is one of 59 Land Districts of British Columbia, Canada, which are the underlying cadastral divisions of that province....

, among others. Private corporate and non-profit organizations often include adjoining towns and cities such as Mission

Mission, British Columbia

Mission, the core of which was formerly known as Mission City, is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is situated on the north bank of the Fraser River overlooking the City of Abbotsford and with that city is part of the Central Fraser Valley. Mission is the...

, Chilliwack

Chilliwack, British Columbia

Chilliwack is a Canadian city in the Province of British Columbia. It is a predominantly agricultural community with an estimated population of 80,000 people. Chilliwack is the second largest city in the Fraser Valley Regional District after Abbotsford. The city is surrounded by mountains and...

, Abbotsford

Abbotsford, British Columbia

Abbotsford is a Canadian city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, adjacent to Greater Vancouver. It is the fifth largest municipality in British Columbia, home to 123,864 people . Its Census Metropolitan Area, which includes the District of Mission, is the 23rd largest in Canada,...

 and Squamish

Squamish, British Columbia

Squamish is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway...

 within their use of the term "Greater Vancouver", though since the creation of the term "Metro Vancouver", that has come to be used in the media interchangeably with the name of the region and/or regional district, even though it technically only refers to the governing body of the regional district. As a term, "Greater Vancouver" tends to refer in local use to urban and suburban areas only, and does not include parts of the regional district such as Bowen Island

Bowen Island

Bowen Island, British Columbia, is an island municipality in Howe Sound, is part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and is an island included within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust . Approximately 6 km wide by 12 km long, the island at its closest point is about 2 km...

, although industries such as the film industry even include Squamish, Whistler and Hope as being in "the Vancouver area" or "in Greater Vancouver".

Geography

Greater Vancouver occupies the southwest corner of mainland British Columbia. It comprises roughly the western half of the Lower Mainland

Lower Mainland

The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...

 and sits astride the lower reaches of the Fraser River

Fraser River

The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...

 and both banks of Burrard Inlet

Burrard Inlet

Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...

.

Thirteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located in Greater Vancouver. The official land area of the district is 2877.36 square kilometres (1,111 sq mi). It is the most densely populated region in British Columbia.

See Metro Vancouver#Municipalities for a list of municipalities in the region.

There are also seventeen Indian reserve

Indian reserve

In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...

s within the geographical area that are not subject to governance by the municipalities or the Regional District; they have a combined population of 7,550 (2006) and are governed by the Squamish Nation, Musqueam Nation, Tsleil-waututh First Nation

Tsleil-Waututh First Nation

The Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, also known as the Burrard Indian Band or Burrard Band, is a First Nations government in the Canadian Province of British Columbia...

, Tsawwassen First Nation

Tsawwassen First Nation

The Tsawwassen First Nation is a First Nations government whose only Indian reserve is located in the Greater Vancouver area of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, adjacent to the South Arm of the Fraser River and the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal and just north of the international...

, Semiahmoo Indian Band, Qayqayt First Nation

Qayqayt First Nation

The Qayqayt First Nation , also known as the New Westminster Indian Band, is a band government located at New Westminster, British Columbia. The Qayqayt First Nation historically spoke the Hun'qumi'num dialect of Halkomelem, a Coast Salish language. The Qayqayt reserve used to exist on the...

, Kwikwetlem First Nation

Kwikwetlem First Nation

The Kwikwetlem First Nation, also known as the Coquitlam Indian Band, is the band government of the Kwikwetlem people, a Sto:lo people living in the Coquitlam area of British Columbia, Canada. They traditionally speak the Downriver dialect of Halkomelem, one of the Salishan family of languages...

, Katzie First Nation

Katzie First Nation

The Katzie are an Indigenous people of the Lower Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada. The Katzie historically spoke Halqemeylem, the Upriver Dialect of Halkomelem, one of the Coast Salish family of languages. They are part of the Sto:lo group of peoples, historically referred to as the...

 and Kwantlen First Nation

Kwantlen First Nation

The Kwantlen First Nation is the band government of the Kwantlen subgroup of the Stó:lō people in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada, located primarily at Fort Langley. They traditionally speak the Downriver dialect of Halkomelem, one of the Salishan family of languages...

.

The cities of Abbotsford

Abbotsford, British Columbia

Abbotsford is a Canadian city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, adjacent to Greater Vancouver. It is the fifth largest municipality in British Columbia, home to 123,864 people . Its Census Metropolitan Area, which includes the District of Mission, is the 23rd largest in Canada,...

 and Chilliwack

Chilliwack, British Columbia

Chilliwack is a Canadian city in the Province of British Columbia. It is a predominantly agricultural community with an estimated population of 80,000 people. Chilliwack is the second largest city in the Fraser Valley Regional District after Abbotsford. The city is surrounded by mountains and...

 and the district of Mission

Mission, British Columbia

Mission, the core of which was formerly known as Mission City, is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is situated on the north bank of the Fraser River overlooking the City of Abbotsford and with that city is part of the Central Fraser Valley. Mission is the...

, located to the east, are often linked to Vancouver in promotions and tourism and in various non-official usages, as are Squamish

Squamish, British Columbia

Squamish is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway...

 and Whistler

Whistler, British Columbia

Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...

 to the region's north.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, 1,986,965 people lived in the metropolitan area, about half of the population of British Columbia. The 2006 Census has placed the population at 2,116,581, representing 6.5% growth since the last census.

In 2006, the Greater Vancouver CMA had a population of 2,116,581 living in 870,992 dwellings

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

. The Greater Vancouver Regional District has a land area of 2877.36 km² (1,111 sq mi) and a population density of 735.6 /km2.

The population of Greater Vancouver is diverse in many ways. There is a high percentage of visible minorities in the region, though European ("white") minorities such as Germans, Dutch and Slavic and Mediterranean peoples are equally numerous, both historically and in terms of new immigration. Census 2006 showed that nearly 41.7% of the population were of visible minority origin, the largest group being the Chinese followed by South Asians. Other prominent groups include Filipinos

Filipino Canadian

Filipino Canadians are Canadians of Filipino ancestry. Filipino-Canadians are the fourth-largest subgroup of the Overseas Filipinos.Canada only had a small population of Filipinos until the late 20th century. To date, there are currently around 400,000 Filipino Canadians in Canada, most of them...

, Koreans, Japanese, Southeast Asian, West Asian, and Latin Americans

Latin Americans

Latin Americans are the citizens of the Latin American countries and dependencies. Latin American countries are multi-ethnic, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. As a result, some Latin Americans don't take their nationality as an ethnicity, but identify themselves with...

. British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 is Canada's most ethnically diverse province.

Federal

Federally, the electorate in the Greater Vancouver region elect Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

, New Democratic

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

, and Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 Members of Parliaments. Liberal support is strongest and concentrated around downtown areas of Vancouver, while Conservative support is stronger in the more suburban areas of the Lower Mainland. The NDP has a strong base both in Vancouver and the suburbs. In the 2009 election, residents of the region elected ten Conservative MPs (mainly from suburbs such as Richmond), five NDP MPs (such as Vancouver East

Vancouver East (electoral district)

Vancouver East was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It first appeared on the hustings in the general election of 1933. It and the other new Vancouver ridings in this year, Vancouver-Burrard, Vancouver-Point Grey and Vancouver Centre, were...

), and four Liberal MPs (such as Vancouver Quadra

Vancouver Quadra

Vancouver Quadra is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1949....

).

Provincial

Provincial representation, Greater Vancouver like the rest of British Columbia is divided between the BC Liberals and the BC NDP. The BC Liberals are ideologically centre-right and are not associated with the federal Liberal Party of Canada, as they include many otherwise Conservative members, while the BC NDP provide a centre-left alternative. The BC Liberals dominate in West Vancouver and certain suburbs, while BC NDP support is strong in East Vancouver and suburban areas such as New Westminster.

Visible minority representatives

Due to the region's ethnically diverse population, there is also diverse government representation. Federally, there are five MPs of visible minority origin: three of South Asian descent, one of Chinese descent, and one of Trinidadian descent. Provincially, there are six South Asian, three Chinese, one Japanese, and one Filipino MLAs.

The Greater Vancouver region has many "electoral firsts". Former Indo-Canadian Premier Ujjal Dosanjh

Ujjal Dosanjh

Ujjal Dev Singh Dosanjh, PC, QC, is a Sikh Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as 33rd Premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011 including a stint as Minister of Health from 2004 until 2006 when the party lost...

 was the first non-white premier of the province, while Douglas Jung

Douglas Jung

Douglas Jung, CM, OBC, CD was the first Chinese Canadian Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons.-Early life:...

 was the first Chinese-Canadian to become a Member of Parliament. Yonah Martin

Yonah Martin

Yonah Kim-Martin is a Conservative Senator from British Columbia. She was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and is the first Canadian of Korean descent to hold federal public office....

 is the first Korean-Canadian to hold federal public office. Jenny Kwan

Jenny Kwan

Jenny Wai Ching Kwan is a Hong Kong-born Canadian politician. She is currently a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and a senior member of the provincial caucus of the New Democratic Party.-Personal life:...

 is the first Chinese-Canadian provincial cabinet minister in Canada. Naomi Yamamoto

Naomi Yamamoto

Naomi Yamamoto is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election, representing the riding of North Vancouver-Lonsdale....

 and Mable Elmore

Mable Elmore

Mable Elmore is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election. A member of the BC New Democratic Party, she was elected to represent the riding of Vancouver-Kensington...

 are respectively the first Japanese and Filipino MLAs in the province. Furthermore, Stephanie Cadieux

Stephanie Cadieux

Stephanie Cadieux is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election, representing the riding of Surrey-Panorama...

 is the first quadriplegic MLA, while Svend Robinson

Svend Robinson

Svend Robinson is a former Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 2004, representing the suburban Vancouver-area constituency of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party...

 was the first openly gay Canadian MP.

"Invisible minorities" (those from "white" ethnic and cultural groups) also feature strongly in the region's electoral history, most notably former Premier William Vander Zalm, of Dutch origin, while Vancouver's second mayor was David Oppenheimer

David Oppenheimer

David Oppenheimer was a successful entrepreneur, the second mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, and a National Historic Person of Canada.-Early life:...

, an East European Jew. Similarly, former Premier Dave Barrett

Dave Barrett

David Barrett, OC , commonly known as Dave Barrett, is a retired politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada...

was the MLA for East Vancouver and is of Jewish origin.