If you're looking for the best city on Earth, ask where Vancouver is. Canada's third-largest city, located in the province of British Columbia off the Pacific coast, has been honored three times in the past decade.
It's a city that offers everything a tourist would dream of seeing. Its central part lies between two mountains: Hollyburn and Mount Seymour. Not far from the city is the popular Whistler ski resort. Vancouver dissects a lot of rivers, over which there are no less than 20 beautiful bridges, huge parks. Although there aren't many historical sights, tourists will always find something to see.
Archaeologists say that the first settlements appeared in the territory 8000-10000 years ago. But the first time Europeans set foot here was in 1791, when the Spanish expedition of Jose Maria Narvaez arrived. The city was named in honor of another navigator, George Vancouver, who arrived a year after the Spaniard.
The first European settlement in the area was called New Westminster. It was formed in 1858 from 25,000 prospectors who had come to the Fraser River during the gold rush. And the future Vancouver was called Gastown. In fact, Vancouver was founded in 1867 on the site of a sawmill. Three years later, the sprawling town was called Granville.
Because it overlooked the harbor, the town became the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1884. Two years later it was named Vancouver, and another year later the railroad was completed. This expanded Vancouver's economic opportunities, spurred development and grew its population.
If it had a thousand people when it was named today, it had 100,000 by 1911, and as of 2011, Vancouver had a population of 604,000. And more than half of them don't consider English their first language.
Anglo-Canadians make up the small native population, and the rest are immigrants. For the most part from Southeast Asia. You'll find modest Chinese neighborhoods as well as fashionable suburban developments inhabited by Hong Kongers.
The Canadian dollar (CAD) is Canada's national currency.
