Portal:Vancouver
The Vancouver Portal.svg) Vancouver /vænˈkuːvər/ is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790s. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from Coevorden, a city in the Netherlands.  The largest metropolitan area in Western Canada, Vancouver ranks third largest in the country and the city proper ranks eighth. According to the 2006 census Vancouver had a population of 578,041 and its Census Metropolitan Area exceeded 2.1 million people. Its residents are ethnically and linguistically diverse; 52% do not speak English as their first language. Logging sawmills established in 1867 in the area known as Gastown became the nucleus around which the townsite grew, and Vancouver was incorporated as a city in 1886. By 1887, the transcontinental railway was extended to the city to take advantage of its large natural seaport, which soon became a vital link in a trade route between the Orient, Eastern Canada, and London. The Port Metro Vancouver is now the busiest and largest in Canada, as well as the fourth largest port (by tonnage) in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second largest industry. It also is the third largest film production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York City, earning it the nickname Hollywood North. Vancouver has ranked highly in worldwide "livable city" rankings for more than a decade according to business magazine assessments. It has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 1976 United Nations Conference on Human Settlements and the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication. The 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics were held in Vancouver and nearby Whistler, a resort community 125 km (78 miles) north of the city.Showcase Article Showcase Picture
CategoriesVancouver: People • Politics • History • Buildings and structures • TransLink • Article stubs Culture: Music • Media • Organizations • Museums • Restaurants Economy: Companies • Transportation • Tourism • Restaurants • Radio stations • TV series filmed in Vancouver Geography: Parks • Beaches • Streets • University Endowment Lands • Greater Vancouver Regional District Education: Elementary Schools • High Schools • Simon Fraser University • University of British Columbia • Trinity Western University • Universities and colleges Sports: Vancouver Canucks • BC Lions • Vancouver Whitecaps • 2010 Winter Paralympics • 2010 Winter Olympics • Sports venues Showcase Biography Did you know ...
Selected anniversariesRelated portalsSelected list According to CEO John Furlong, VANOC "started our venue construction as early as possible".Construction on Cypress Mountain, the first new competition venue to be completed, began in March 2006 and was completed only eight months later, three years ahead of the start of the Games. By December 2007, all three competition venues at Whistler were completed and open for training and testing. Final construction was completed in February 2009, and sporting events were scheduled at the venues to ensure that they would be adequately tested before hosting the Olympic events. In total, six new competition venues were constructed: Cypress Mountain, Richmond Olympic Oval, UBC Thunderbird Arena, Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre, Whistler Olympic Park, and The Whistler Sliding Centre. The Whistler Sliding Centre was promoted as being one of the fastest sliding tracks in the world, which caused a number of concerns about safety. On February 12, 2010, hours before the opening ceremony, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili suffered a fatal crash during a training run when he was thrown off his sled and collided with a steel pole. He was travelling 143.3 km/h (89.0 mph) at the time. His accident came after a series of incidents in the week and reignited concerns about the track's safety. Investigations were conducted the same day, concluding that the accident was not caused by deficiencies in the track. As a preventative measure, an extra 100 ft (30 m) of wall was added after the end of Turn 16, and the ice profile was changed. Showcase Panorama
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- ^ "Forsberg får Flyers att lyfta" (in Swedish). 2005-12-28. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
