Surrounded by the blue waters of the Strait of Georgia and backed by the mile-high peaks of the Coast Range, Vancouver enjoys a natural setting surpassed by few other cities on this continent. The waters that wash the city's shores protect it from heat and cold, making it a pleasant place to visit year-round.

Captain George Vancouver, searching these waters for the Northwest Passage, sailed into Burrard Inlet and landed here in 1792. Fur traders, gold prospectors, and other settlers soon followed. In 1886, Vancouver was incorporated as a city, only to be destroyed by fire several months later. The city was rebuilt by the end of that same year. In the next four years, rail transportation from the east, along with the traffic of sailing vessels of the Canadian Pacific fleet, assured its future growth. Today Vancouver is one of Canada's largest cities—a major seaport, cultural center, tourist spot, and gateway to Asia.

Vancouver's population is primarily English, but its large number of ethnic groups—including Germans, French, Scandinavians, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese—give the city an international flavor. Tourism, logging, mineral extraction equipment, marine supplies, chemical and petroleum products, and machine tools are among the city's major industries.

Vancouver is on the Canadian mainland, not on Vancouver Island as some people think. The downtown area, which includes many of the points of interest which follow, is a "peninsula on a peninsula": it juts out from the rest of Vancouver into Burrard Inlet, making it an especially attractive spot with beaches and marinas within easy walking distance of the city's busy heart. To the north across Burrard Inlet is North Vancouver; to the south is the mouth of the Fraser River and the island municipality of Richmond; to the east is Burnaby, and beyond that, the Canadian mainland.

For border crossing regulations, see MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP.