British Columbia

==Demographics==
{{Main|Demographics of British Columbia}}
{{See also|List of cities in Canada#British Columbia|List of communities in British Columbia|List of municipalities in British Columbia}}

===Population===
[[File:BC Population Density 2021.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Population density map of British Columbia]]
Statistics Canada's [[2021 Canadian census]] recorded a population of 5,000,879 — making British Columbia Canada's third-most populous province after [[Ontario]] and [[Quebec]].<ref name="census2021"/><ref name="census2021ByProvincesAndTerritories">{{cite web |date=February 9, 2022 |title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000101 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209134802/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000101 |archive-date=February 9, 2022 |access-date=February 13, 2021 |publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]}}</ref>
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 | y           = 55000, 51524, 36247, 49459, 98173, 178657, 392480, 524582, 694263, 817861, 1165210, 1398464, 1629082, 1873674, 2184620, 2466610, 2744467, 2883370, 3282061, 3724500, 3907738, 4113487, 4400057, 4648055, 5000879
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<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistics Canada&nbsp;– Population |url=http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo62k.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519055145/http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo62k.htm |archive-date=May 19, 2006 |publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Canada's population |url=http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060927/d060927a.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081104230200/http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060927/d060927a.htm |archive-date=November 4, 2008 |access-date=September 28, 2006 |publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]}}</ref>

====Cities====
{{See also|List of cities in British Columbia|List of metropolitan areas in British Columbia|List of municipalities in British Columbia|List of regional districts of British Columbia}}
[[File:Concord Pacific Master Plan Area.jpg|thumb|The Vancouver skyline]]
Half of all British Columbians live in the [[Metro Vancouver Regional District]], which includes Vancouver, [[Surrey, British Columbia|Surrey]], [[Burnaby]], [[Richmond, British Columbia|Richmond]], [[Coquitlam]], [[Langley, British Columbia (district municipality)|Langley (district municipality)]], [[Delta, British Columbia|Delta]], [[North Vancouver (district municipality)]], [[Maple Ridge, British Columbia|Maple Ridge]], [[New Westminster]], [[Port Coquitlam]], [[North Vancouver (city)]], [[West Vancouver]], [[Port Moody]], [[Langley, British Columbia (city)|Langley (city)]], [[White Rock, British Columbia|White Rock]], [[Pitt Meadows]], [[Bowen Island]], [[Anmore]], [[Lions Bay, British Columbia|Lions Bay]], and [[Belcarra]], with adjacent unincorporated areas (including the [[University Endowment Lands]]) represented in the regional district as the [[List of regional district electoral areas in British Columbia|electoral area]] known as [[Greater Vancouver Electoral Area A, British Columbia|Greater Vancouver Electoral Area A]]. The metropolitan area has [[List of First Nations governments in British Columbia|seventeen Indian reserves]], but they are outside of the regional district's jurisdiction and are not represented in its government.

The second largest concentration of British Columbia population is at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which is made up of the 13 municipalities of Greater Victoria, [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], [[Saanich, British Columbia|Saanich]], [[Esquimalt, British Columbia|Esquimalt]], [[Oak Bay, British Columbia|Oak Bay]], [[View Royal, British Columbia|View Royal]], [[Highlands, British Columbia|Highlands]], [[Colwood, British Columbia|Colwood]], [[Langford, British Columbia|Langford]], [[Central Saanich, British Columbia|Central Saanich]]/[[Saanichton, British Columbia|Saanichton]], [[North Saanich, British Columbia|North Saanich]], [[Sidney, British Columbia|Sidney]], [[Metchosin, British Columbia|Metchosin]], [[Sooke, British Columbia|Sooke]], which are part of the [[Capital Regional District]]. The metropolitan area also includes several [[Indian reserve]]s (the governments of which are not part of the regional district). Almost half of the Vancouver Island population is in Greater Victoria.
{{clear}}
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{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin-left:20px;"
|+ Ten largest metropolitan areas by population<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/popdwell/Table-CMA-P.cfm?T=1&SR=1&PR=59&S=3&O=D |title=Population and Dwelling Counts, for Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations |year=2002 |publisher=Statistics Canada |access-date=April 26, 2007 |archive-date=February 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220141922/http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/popdwell/Table-CMA-P.cfm?T=1&SR=1&PR=59&S=3&O=D |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{efn|Indian reserve populations are not included in these figures}}
!#
!Metropolitan area
!2021<ref name="census2021BySubdivisions">{{cite web|date=February 9, 2022|title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities)|url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000202|access-date=February 9, 2022|website=Statistics Canada|archive-date=February 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209152451/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000202|url-status=live}}</ref>
!2016
!2011
|-
| 1
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Greater Vancouver|Vancouver]]
| style="text-align: right;" |2,642,825
| style="text-align: right;" |2,463,431
| style="text-align: right;" |2,313,328
|-
| 2
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Greater Victoria|Victoria]]
| style="text-align: right;" |397,237
| style="text-align: right;" |367,770
| style="text-align: right;" |344,615
|-
| 3
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Kelowna]]
| style="text-align: right;" |222,162
| style="text-align: right;" |194,882
| style="text-align: right;" |179,839
|-
| 4
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Abbotsford, British Columbia|Abbotsford]]
| style="text-align: right;" |195,726
| style="text-align: right;" |180,518
| style="text-align: right;" |170,191
|-
| 5
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Nanaimo]]
| style="text-align: right;" |115,459
| style="text-align: right;" |104,936
| style="text-align: right;" |98,021
|-
| 6
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Kamloops]]
| style="text-align: right;" |114,142
| style="text-align: right;" |103,811
| style="text-align: right;" |98,754
|-
| 7
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Chilliwack]]
| style="text-align: right;" |113,767
| style="text-align: right;" |101,512
| style="text-align: right;" |92,308
|-
| 8
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Prince George, British Columbia|Prince George]]
| style="text-align: right;" |89,490
| style="text-align: right;" |86,622
| style="text-align: right;" |84,232
|-
| 9
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Greater Vernon|Vernon]]
| style="text-align: right;" |67,086
| style="text-align: right;" |61,334
| style="text-align: right;" |58,584
|-
| 10
| style="text-align: left;" |[[Courtenay, British Columbia|Courtenay]]
| style="text-align: right;" |63,282
| style="text-align: right;" |54,157
| style="text-align: right;" |55,213
|}

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{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin-left:20px;"
|+ Ten largest municipalities by population
!#
!Municipality
!2021<ref name="census2021BySubdivisions"/>
!2016
!2011
|-
| 1
| [[Vancouver]]
| 662,248
| 631,486
| 603,502
|-
| 2
| [[Surrey, British Columbia|Surrey]]
| 568,322
| 517,887
| 468,251
|-
| 3
| [[Burnaby]]
| 249,125
| 232,755
| 223,218
|-
| 4
| [[Richmond, British Columbia|Richmond]]
| 209,937
| 198,309
| 190,473
|-
| 5
| [[Abbotsford, British Columbia|Abbotsford]]
| 153,524
| 141,397
| 133,497
|-
| 6
| [[Coquitlam]]
| 148,625
| 139,284
| 126,456
|-
| 7
| [[Kelowna]]
| 144,576
| 127,380
| 117,312
|-
| 8
| [[Langley, British Columbia (district municipality)|Langley]]
| 132,603
| 117,285
| 104,177
|-
| 9
| [[Saanich, British Columbia|Saanich]]
| 117,735
| 114,148
| 109,752
|-
| 10
| [[Delta, British Columbia|Delta]]
| 108,455
| 102,238
| 99,863
|}

{{Col-break|width=33%}}

{{Col-end}}

===Cultural origins===
British Columbia is the most diverse province in Canada; as of 2021, the province had the highest proportion of [[visible minority|visible minorities]] in the country. The five largest [[Panethnicity|pan-ethnic]] groups in the province are [[European Canadians|Europeans]] (60 percent), [[East Asian Canadians|East Asians]] (14 percent), [[South Asian Canadians|South Asians]] (10 percent), [[Indigenous Canadians|Indigenous]] (6 percent) and [[Southeast Asia]]ns (5 percent).<ref name="2021A00051209034">{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=2022-10-26 |title= Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&HEADERlist=0&DGUIDlist=2021A00051209034&SearchText=halifax |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Top ethnic origins in BC (2016 census)<ref name="2016CensusBCEthnicOrigin" />{{Efn|Note: Statistics represent both single (for example, "German") and multiple (for example, "Chinese-English") responses to the 2016 Census, and thus do not add up to 100 percent. All items are self-identified.}}
|-
!#
!Ethnic origin
!Population
!Percent
|-
| 1
| [[English people|English]]
| 1,203,540
| 26.39%
|-
| 2
| [[Canadians|Canadian]]
| 866,530
| 19%
|-
| 3
| [[Scottish people|Scottish]]
| 860,775
| 18.88%
|-
| 4
| [[Irish people|Irish]]
| 675,135
| 14.80%
|-
| 5
| [[Ethnic German|German]]
| 603,265
| 13.23%
|-
| 6
| [[Overseas Chinese|Chinese]]
| 540,155
| 11.84%
|-
| 7
| [[French people|French]]
| 388,815
| 8.53%
|-
| 8
| [[Indo-Canadian|Indian]]
| 309,315
| 6.78%
|-
| 9
| [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]]
| 229,205
| 5.03%
|-
| 10
| [[Indigenous Canadian]]
| 220,245
| 4.83%
|}

=== Visible minorities and Indigenous peoples ===
{{Main|Demographics of British Columbia#Visible minorities and Indigenous peoples}}
In 2021, 34.4 percent of the population consisted of [[visible minorities]] and 5.9 percent of the population was [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous]], mostly of [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] and [[Métis in Canada|Métis]] descent.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=4 | Visible minority and Indigenous population (2021 Canadian census)<ref name="2021A00051209034"/>
|-
! colspan="2" | Population group!! Population !! %
|-
| colspan="2" | '''[[European Canadian|European]]'''{{efn|Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an indigenous identity.|name="euro"}} || '''2,936,245''' || '''59.7%'''
|-
| rowspan="12" | [[Visible minority]] group<BR>|| [[South Asian Canadians|South Asian]] || 473,965 || 9.6%
|-
| [[Chinese Canadians|Chinese]] || 550,590 || 11.2%
|-
| [[Black Canadians|Black]] || 61,760 || 1.3%
|-
| [[Filipino Canadian|Filipino]] || 174,280 || 3.5%
|-
| [[Arab Canadians|Arab]] || 28,010 || 0.6%
|-
| [[Latin American Canadians|Latin American]] || 65,970 || 1.3%
|-
| [[Southeast Asian Canadians|Southeast Asian]] || 71,785 || 1.5%
|-
| [[West Asian Canadians|West Asian]] || 69,270 || 1.4%
|-
| [[Korean Canadian|Korean]] || 72,815 || 1.5%
|-
| [[Japanese Canadians|Japanese]] || 44,120 || 0.9%
|-
| Visible minority, {{abbr|n.i.e.|not included elsewhere}} || 18,080 || 0.4%
|-
| [[Multiracial people|Multiple visible minorities]] || 58,840 || 1.2%
|-
| colspan="2" | '''Total visible minority population''' || '''1,689,490''' || '''34.4%'''
|-
| rowspan="5" | [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous]] group<BR>||[[First Nations in Canada|First Nations (North American Indian)]]|| 180,085 || 3.7%
|-
|[[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]]|| 97,860 || 2.0%
|-
|[[Inuit|Inuk (Inuit)]]|| 1,720 || 0.0%
|-
| Multiple Indigenous responses || 5,980 || 0.1%
|-
| Indigenous responses {{abbr|n.i.e.|not included elsewhere}} || 4,560 || 0.1%
|-
| colspan="2" |'''Total Indigenous population'''||'''290,210'''||'''5.9%'''
|-
| colspan="2" |'''''Total population'''''||'''''4,915,945'''''||'''''100.0%'''''
|}

===Religion===
According to the [[2021 Canadian census|2021 census]], religious groups in British Columbia included:<ref name="2021censusB">{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=October 26, 2022 |title= Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=British%20Columbia&DGUIDlist=2021A000259&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&HEADERlist=0 |access-date=November 9, 2022 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca}}</ref>
*[[Irreligion in Canada|Irreligion]] (2,559,250 persons or 52.1%)
*[[Christianity in Canada|Christianity]] (1,684,870 persons or 34.3%)
*[[Sikhism in Canada|Sikhism]] (290,870 persons or 5.9%)
*[[Islam in Canada|Islam]] (125,915 persons or 2.6%)
*[[Buddhism in Canada|Buddhism]] (83,860 persons or 1.7%)
*[[Hinduism in Canada|Hinduism]] (81,320 persons or 1.7%)
*[[Judaism in Canada|Judaism]] (26,850 persons or 0.5%)
*[[Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous spirituality]] (11,570 persons or 0.2%)
*Other (51,440 persons or 1.0%)

===Language===
[[File:Vancouver Welcome Sign 0139.jpg|thumb|A Vancouver [[welcome sign]] in both English and French]]
As of the [[2021 Canadian census|2021 Canadian Census]], the ten most spoken languages in the province included English (4,753,280 or 96.69%), French (327,350 or 6.66%), Punjabi (315,000 or 6.41%), Mandarin (312,625 or 6.36%), Cantonese (246,045 or 5.01%), Spanish (143,900 or 2.93%), Hindi (134,950 or 2.75%), Tagalog (133,780 or 2.72%), German (84,325 or 1.72%), and Korean (69,935 or 1.42%).<ref name="language2021">{{Cite web |date=August 17, 2022 |title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population Profile table British Columbia [Province] |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?LANG=E&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&DGUIDlist=2021A000259&HEADERlist=,15,13,18,12,16,14,17&SearchText=British%20Columbia |access-date=August 17, 2022 |publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]}}</ref> The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses.

Of the 4,648,055 population counted by the 2016 census, 4,598,415 people completed the section about language. Of these, 4,494,995 gave singular responses to the question regarding their [[first language]]. The languages most commonly reported were the following:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Most common reported mother tongue in BC (2016)<ref name="2016CensusBCLanguage" />
|-
!#
!Language
!Population
!Percent
|-
| 1
| [[English language|English]]
| 3,170,110
| 70.52%
|-
| 2
| [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
| 198,805
| 4.42%
|-
| 3
| [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]]
| 193,530
| 4.31%
|-
| 4
| [[Mandarin language|Mandarin]]
| 186,325
| 4.15%
|-
| 5
| [[Tagalog language|Tagalog (Filipino)]]
| 78,770
| 1.75%
|-
| 6
| [[German language|German]]
| 66,885
| 1.49%
|-
| 7
| [[French language|French]]
| 55,325
| 1.23%
|-
| 8
| [[Korean language|Korean]]
| 52,160
| 1.17%
|-
| 9
| [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
| 47,010
| 1.05%
|-
| 10
| [[Persian language|Persian]]
| 43,470
| 0.97%
|}

While these languages all reflect the last centuries of colonialism and recent immigration, British Columbia is home to 34 [[Pacific Northwest languages|Indigenous languages]].<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://news.gov.bc.ca/19289 |title=Minister's statement on National Indigenous Languages Day |date=March 28, 2019 |access-date=December 25, 2020 |publisher=Government of British Columbia |archive-date=July 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716200018/https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2019IRR0027-000515 |url-status=live }}</ref> They are spoken by about 6000 people in total,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nelsonstar.com/news/60-per-cent-of-all-canadian-indigenous-languages-are-in-b-c/ |title=60 per cent of all Canadian Indigenous languages are in B.C. |work=Nelson Star |date=April 1, 2019 |access-date=December 25, 2020 |first=Nick |last=Murray |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511160614/https://www.nelsonstar.com/news/60-per-cent-of-all-canadian-indigenous-languages-are-in-b-c/ |url-status=live }}</ref> with 4000 people fluent in their Indigenous languages. They are members of the province's [[#First Nations (Aboriginal) history|First Nations]]. One of the main Indigenous languages in BC is [[Kwakʼwala]], the language of the [[Kwakwakaʼwakw|Kwakwakaʼwakw First Nations]].