BC, AD, CE, and BCE: Meanings and Differences Explained

Coast Salish peoples had complex land management practices linked to ecosystem health and resilience. Around 5,000 years ago individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally. The arrival of Paleoindians from Beringia took place between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago. First Nations peoples of British Columbia used plants for food, and to produce material goods like fuel and building products.

Maps of British Columbia

All that was changed with the westward extension of American exploration and the concomitant overlapping claims of territorial sovereignty, especially in the southern Columbia Basin (within present day Washington and Oregon). Among the places in British Columbia that began as fur trading posts are Fort St. John (established 1794); Hudson’s Hope (1805); Fort Nelson (1805); Fort St. James (1806); Prince George (1807); Kamloops (1812); Fort Langley (1827); Fort Victoria (1843); Yale (1848); and Nanaimo (1853). This opened the way for formal claims and colonization by other powers, including Britain, but because of the Napoleonic Wars, there was little British action on its claims in the region until later.

Roads and highways

About 55,570 of the province’s 400,000 residents, the highest per-capita rate in Canada, responded to the military’s need. In World War I, the province responded strongly to the call to assist the British Empire against its German foes in French and Belgian battlefields. Establishing a labour force to develop the province was problematic, and British Columbia was a destination of immigration from Europe, China, Japan and India.

• British Columbia, a province in western Canada, stretches over approximately 364,764 square miles.
• As of 2017update, Vancouver International Airport is the 2nd busiest airport in the country and the second biggest International Gateway on the west coast (after Los Angeles) with an estimated 26.4 million travellers passing through in 2019.
• Public institutions receive approximately half of their funding from grants from the provincial government, with the remaining revenue stemming from tuition charges and philanthropic donations.
• In its second term especially, the NDP government faced political scandals, such as the fast ferry scandal, that ultimately contributed to its downfall.

By 1862, the Cariboo Gold Rush, attracting an additional 5000 miners, was underway, and Douglas hastened construction of the Great North Road (commonly known now as the Cariboo Wagon Road) up the Fraser Canyon to the prospecting region around Barkerville. The Pre-emption Act did not specify conditions for distributing the land, so large parcels were snapped up by speculators, including 1,518 hectares (3,750 acres) by Moody himself. As part of the surveying effort, several tracts were designated “government reserves”, which included Stanley Park as a military reserve (a strategic location in case of an American invasion). The water of the deep clear Frazer was of a glassy stillness, not a ripple before us, except when a fish rose to the surface or broods of wild ducks fluttered away.

New Caledonia, as the whole of the mainland rather than just its north-central Interior came to be called, continued to be an unorganized territory of British North America, “administered” by individual HBC trading post managers. Until 1849, these districts were a wholly unorganized area of British North America under the de facto jurisdiction of HBC administrators; however, unlike Rupert’s Land to the north and east, the territory was not a concession to the company. The Columbia District was broadly defined as being south of 54°40′ north latitude, (the southern limit of Russian America), north of Mexican-controlled California, and west of the Rocky Mountains. The establishment of trading posts by the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), effectively established a permanent British presence in the region. His expedition theoretically established British sovereignty inland, and a succession of other fur company explorers charted the maze of rivers and mountain ranges between the Canadian Prairies and the Pacific. The explorations of James Cook in 1778 and George Vancouver in 1792 and 1793 established British jurisdiction over the coastal area north and west of the Columbia River.

British Columbia also produces several distinct local cheeses, such as kabritt, Castle Blue, and Comox Brie. Seafoods of British Columbia include sushi (BC roll, dynamite roll, California roll), dungeness crab (boiled, bc game tacos), spot prawns, wild pacific salmon (smoked, candied, teriyaki, chowder, sandwich), and halibut (baked, lemon ginger), as well as delicacies like white sturgeon caviar and geoduck. This school is generally considered to include artists Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, Ken Lum, Roy Arden, Stan Douglas, and Rodney Graham. The Vancouver School of conceptual photography encompasses a cohort of Vancouver-based artists who gained notoriety in the 1980s.

Many areas of the province are often covered by a blanket of heavy cloud and low fog during the winter months, in contrast to abundant summer sunshine. While winters are very wet, coastal areas are generally milder and dry during summer under the influence of stable anti-cyclonic high pressure. For example, the average daily low in Prince George (roughly in the middle of the province) in January is −12 °C (10 °F). The annual mean temperature in the most populated areas of the province is up to 12 °C (54 °F), the mildest anywhere in Canada. Coastal southern British Columbia has a mild and rainy climate influenced by the North Pacific Current.

Located on the southeastern edge of Vancouver Island is Victoria – the provincial capital city of British Columbia. In addition to these regional districts, there are a total of 51 cities, 50 district municipalities, 1 Indian government district, 1 Island municipality, 2 Mountain resort municipalities, 1 resort municipality, 14 towns, and 42 villages. The Canadian Province of British Columbia is administratively divided into 26 regional districts. Additionally, British Columbia benefits from its abundant water resources, utilizing hydroelectric power to meet its energy needs.Notable parks include Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, which protects coastal rainforests and beaches, and Yoho National Park. Some other significant rivers of the province include Columbia, Peace, Skeena, Stikine, Iskut, Nass, and Kootenay. The river plays a vital role in the province’s economy and ecology, supporting agriculture, hydroelectric power, and salmon spawning.

Subsequent years after this event & we use either AD or CE while preceding years count down from it & BC or BCE is used. The more extensive but much shallower podzol soils cover the wet areas, especially along the coast, where they sustain a dense forest cover. Most of the thousands of lakes are small, but they are important for the water they store in an age when hydroelectric power has become a prized resource. The Peace also becomes a formidable stream within the Rocky Mountain Trench, but it cuts eastward through the Rockies and into the plains area of Alberta.