PROVINCIAL MOTTO: “Splendor without diminishment.”

CAPITAL: Victoria

LARGEST CITY: Vancouver

POPULATION: 4,510,858 (2010 estimate)

CLIMATE: Mild, rainy oceanic climate

AREA: 364,764 square miles

GEOGRAPHY: British Columbia is the westernmost and the third largest of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories

BORDERS: Washington State, Idaho and Montana border to the south, Alberta to the east, the Northwest and Yukon territories to the north and Alaska to the northwest.

TOURISM: Tourism contributed $13.1 billion to the provincial economy in 2008, up 35 percent since 2002 in categories like outdoor recreation and cultural events.

SOURCE: www.gov.bc.ca.