Victoria

Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The city of Victoria is the seventh most densely populated city in Canada with 4,406 inhabitants per square kilometre.Victoria is the southernmost major city in Western Canada and is about 100 km southwest from British Columbia's largest city of Vancouver on the mainland. The city is about 100 km from Seattle by airplane, seaplane, ferry, or the Victoria Clipper passenger-only ferry, and 40 km from Port Angeles, Washington, by ferry Coho across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Named for Queen Victoria, the city is one of the oldest in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1843. The city has retained a large number of its historic buildings, in particular its two most famous landmarks, the Parliament Buildings and the Empress hotel.