Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest city in both British Columbia and Western Canada.

Vancouver is bounded by the Strait of Georgia, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from (in Dutch: "van") Coevorden, an old city in The Netherlands.

The population of the city of Vancouver is 578,041 and the population of Metro Vancouver is 2,116,581 (2006 Census). Vancouver is also part of the slightly larger Lower Mainland metropolitan area which comprises a total population of 2,547,479, making it the largest metropolitan area in Western Canada and the third largest in the country. Vancouver is ethnically diverse, with 52% of city residents and 43% of residents of Metro Vancouver [9] having a first language other than English.