User:Rhonda/Regional Districts in BC

From Geohashing

Since Robyn's map of BC graticules is absurdly large for a regional geohash achievement, I thought I would define the graticules of the various Regional Districts. The more populated Regional Districts are disappointingly small in area; the GVRD (Greater Vancouver Regional District) for example spans only two graticules: Vancouver and Surrey.

I have sorted them more or less in "reading order" - top left to bottom right on a map of BC. That means the smallest and most populated regional districts are at the bottom of the page.

The table of graticules format was shamelessly stolen from Robyn's page.

I built these up by cross-referencing the minimal features on the linked Regional District maps from the BC Stats website with google maps and reading the "ll" parameter after centering the map on the point I wanted co-ordinates for. I contacted the nice people at BC Stats (the source of all the linked maps) and they kindly provided a PDF that had Regional District boundaries and co-ordinate information for where you hover your mouse. I will be double-checking the co-ordinates that I got from google maps where they fall very close to a graticule boundary. If you would like a copy of the file, email me: it's a 4MB, one-page PDF.

In all descriptions, "...and the rest of it is mountains" can safely be appended, except for the Regional District of Mount Waddington, which is all mountains, where it isn't water.

Stikine Region

The Stikine Region is the least densely populated part of BC, with one person per 100 square kilometers and no municipalities. It isn't actually a Regional District, and is administered directly by the province. (Map)

59,-139 59,-138 59,-137 59,-136 59,-135 59,-134 59,-133 59,-132 59,-131 59,-130 59, -129 59, -128 59. -127
58,-137 58, -134 58,-133 58,-132 58,-131 58,-130 58,-129 58,-128 58, -127 58, -126 58, -125 58, -124
57,-129 57,-128 57, -127 57, -126
56,-128 56, -127 56, -126 56,-125 56, -124

Northern Rockies Regional District

The Northern Rockies Regional District is far more densely populated than Stikine, with an average of 14 people per square kilometer and one municipality. (Map)

59. -127 59, -126 59, -125 59, -124 59, -123 59, -122 59, -121 59, -120
58, -124 58, -123 58, -122 58, -121 58, -120

Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine

Kitimat-Stikine is located just south of Stikine and stretches down the coast to the southern end of the Queen Charlotte Islands, inland of Skeena-Queen Charlotte. (Map)

57,-133 57,-132 57,-131 57,-130 57,-129
56,-132 56,-131 56,-130 56, -129 56,-128
55, -130 55, -129 55, -128 55, -127 55, -126
54, -129 54, -128 54, -127
53, -129 53, -128 53, -127
52, -129 52, -128 52, -127

Peace River Regional District

Peace River Regional District is south of the Northern Rockies Regional District. Dawson Creek is here. (Map)

57, -127 57, -126 57, -125 57, -124 57, -123 57, -122 57, -121 57, -120
56, -127 56, -126 56,-125 56, -124 56, -123 56, -122 56, -121 56, -120
55, -124 55, -123 55, -122 55, -121 55, -120
54, -122 54, -121 54, -120

Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako

Bulkley-Nechako used to be called New Caledonia, by the North West Company. The municipality of Vanderhoof is the geographic centre of the province. (Map)

55, -128 55, -127 55, -126 55, -125 55, -124 55, -123
54, -127 54, -126 54, -125 54, -124 54, -123
53, -127 53, -126 53, -125 53, -124 53, -123

Regional District of Fraser-Fort George

Fraser-Fort George has the City of Prince George (formerly Fort George) and three highways crossing it. (Map)

55, -123 55, -122 55, -121 55, -120
54, -123 54, -122 54, -121 54, -120
53, -123 53, -122 53, -121 53, -120 53, -119 53, -118
52, -120 52, -119 52, -118 52, -117

Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District

Skeena-Queen Charlotte covers the Queen Charlotte Islands and part of the mainland. The highway is a ferry. (Map)

54,-133 54, -132 54,-131 54, -130 54, -129
53, -133 53, -132 53, -131 53, -130 53, -129
52, -132 52, -131
51, -131

Central Coast Regional District

The central coast is that bit of the mainland coast north of Vancouver Island and south of the Queen Charlotte Islands. It used to be Ocean Falls Regional District, named for the company town of Ocean Falls - now a ghost town. (Map)

53, -127 53, -126
52, -128 52, -127 52, -126 52, -125
51, -128 51, -127 51, -126 51, -125

Cariboo Regional District

The Cariboo Regional District has four municipalities and Barkerville, one of the most populated ghost towns in BC - during tourist season. (Map)

53, -126 53, -125 53, -124 53, -123 53, -122 53, -121 53, -120
52, -126 52, -125 52, -124 52, -123 52, -122 52, -121 52, -120
51, -125 51, -124 51, -123 51, -122 51, -121 51, -120
50, -124 50, -123

Thompson-Nicola Regional District

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has two cities and numerous municipalities. It also encompasses Wells Gray Provincial Park, which proudly advertises that it is "larger than one in three countries" and which has a ban on motorized vehicles in substantial portions of the park. (Map)

52, -120 52, -119 52, -118
51, -120 51, -119 51, -118
50, -122 50, -121 50, -120 50, -119
49, -121 49, -120 49, -119

Columbia-Shuswap Regional District

The Columbia-Shuswap Regional District is home to the infamous Rogers Pass, the last section to be completed and generally considered the most inherently dangerous stretch of the trans-canada highway's 7,821 km. The slopes around the highway are closed to public access when there is snow, due to the artillery fire used to trigger controlled avalanches to clear the average 10m/year of snowfall. (Map)


52, -118 52, -117
51, -119 51, -118 51, -117 51, -116
50, -119 50, -118 50, -117 50, -116

Regional District of Mount Waddington

Regional District of Mount Waddington covers the northern end of Vancouver Island and a section of mainland adjacent to it. It's named for Mount Waddington, the highest mountain in BC, and also contains Mount Silverthrone, the highest volcano in Canada. The rest of the region consists of more mountains. (Island map, Mainland map)

51, -127 51, -126 51, -125
50, -128 50, -127 50, -126 50, -125
49, -126

Strathcona Regional District

Strathcona Regional District was recently separated from Comox Regional District. It's named for Strathcona Park on the island, possibly because they didn't want to name it for Campbell River. It is partly on Vancouver Island and partly on the mainland. (Island map, Mainland map)

51, -125 51, -124
50, -127 50, -126 50, -125 50, -124 50, -123
49, -127 49, -126 49, -125

Squamish-Lillooet Regional District

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District contains four municipalities, including the Whistler resort town, but really only one road: highway 99 "sea to sky". For those who think the "sky" portion of that highway is at Whistler, you don't know what you're missing. (Switchbacks, extreme grade warning signs, and one-lane wooden bridges - and absolutely amazing views.) (Map)

51, -123 51, -122
50, -124 50, -123 50, -122 50, -121
49, -123 49, -122

Powell River Regional District

Powell River Regional District has a city and a highway, but the highway starts at a ferry terminal coming from a highway that also requires a ferry to access (sunshine coast) and ends at a ferry terminal to an island. (Map)

50, -124 50, -123
49, -124

Regional District of North Okanagan

The Regional District of North Okanagan has three cities and two main highways. Most of the population is in the City of Vernon and of the remainder, it is mostly in cities and smaller municipalities near Vernon. (Map)

50, -119 50, -118
49, -119 49, -118

Regional District of Central Kootenay

The Regional District of Central Kootenay has two cities (Nelson and Castlegar), quite a lot of smaller municipalities, and a lot more highways than most of the other Regional Districts. (Map)

51, -117
50, -118 50, -117 50, -116
49, -118 49, -117 49, -116

Regional District of East Kootenay

The Regional District of East Kootenay has its population mostly arranged around one north-south highway which is located in one north-south river valley. (Map)

51, -116 51, -115
50, -116 50, -115 50, -114
49, -116 49, -115 49, -114

Comox Valley Regional District

The Comox Valley Regional District was created in 2008, splitting the former Comox-Strathcona regional district in two parts, roughly equal in population but vastly different in land area. Comox Valley got the city. (Old Map)

49, -125 49, -124

Sunshine Coast Regional District

The Sunshine Coast Regional District has a few municipalities, all on the one highway which starts at one ferry terminal and ends at another. One of the ferry terminals connects directly to the rest of the province, and the other one connects this Regional District to the highway to Powell River. (Map)

50, -124 50, -123
49, -124 49, -123

Fraser Valley Regional District

The Fraser Valley Regional District consists of two cities and a lot of land in the Agricultural Land Reserve in the valley. It also has the town of Spuzzum, which once had a sign on the highway that said "you are now leaving Spuzzum" on both sides. (Map)

50, -122 50, -121
49, -122 49, -121 49, -120

Regional District of Central Okanagan

The Regional District of Central Okanagan has Kelowna and wine, all around Lake Okanagan, home to Ogopogo. (Map)

50, -119 50, -118
49, -120 49, -119 49, -118

Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District

The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District has one city, one highway, a few popular tourist destinations, and way more wild coastline than seems possible. The city of Port Alberni is also BC's only city that has been severely damaged by a tsunami, despite being apparently more on the sheltered eastern half of Vancouver Island than on the exposed west coast - the Alberni Inlet, some 40km long, channeled the wave straight into the city. (Map)

49, -126 49, -125 49, -124
48, -125 48, -124

Regional District of Nanaimo

The Regional District of Nanaimo was the smallest (in land area) Regional District in BC, until the Comox Valley Regional District was created. (Map)

49, -124 49, -123
48, -124

Greater Vancouver Regional District

The Greater Vancouver Regional District (or Metro Vancouver) is the most populated Regional District in BC, with 12 cities and several municipalities, and the watersheds supplying them. The GVRD has by far the lowest proportion of mountains inside Regional District boundaries, at slightly less than 1/3. (Map)

49, -123 49, -122

Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has one city and a few smaller municipalities along a couple of highways, in the Similkameen river valley and the southern end of the Okanagan valley. (Map)

49, -121 49, -120 49, -119

Regional District of Kootenay Boundary

The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary has three cities, two of which are in the southeastern corner where there is more than one highway. The rest of the Regional District has one north/south highway and one east/west highway. (Map)

49, -119 49, -118 49, -117

Cowichan Valley Regional District

The Cowichan Valley Regional District spans the full width of Vancouver island, from the West Coast Trail to some of the Gulf Islands. It includes Cowichan Lake and a few municipalities. (Map)

49, -124
48, -124 48, -123

Capital Regional District

The Capital Regional District encompasses the City of Victoria, BC's capital city, as well as several other municipalities in the Greater Victoria area, the entire southern tip of Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands. (Map)

49, -123
48, -124 48, -123