British Columbia (abbreviated as BC; French: Colombie-Britannique) is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated between the Pacific Ocean and the continental divide of the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, replete with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. It borders the Canadian province of Alberta to the east and the Canadian territory of Yukon to the north. With an estimated population of 5.2 million as of 2021, it is Canada's third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria and its largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver is the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada; the 2021 census recorded 2,642,825 people in Metro Vancouver. The majority of the population resides in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, and Okanagan regions.First Nations, the first inhabitants of the land, have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area. Such groups include the Coast Salish, Tsilhqotʼin, and Haida peoples, among many others. One of the earliest British settlements in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, which gave rise to the city of Victoria, the first capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island. The Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) was subsequently founded on the mainland by Richard Clement Moody and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Although Governor James Douglas selected Fort Langley as the provisional capital of the fledgling colony, Moody established a new capital north of the Fraser River the following year, named New Westminster by Queen Victoria. In 1866, the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia unified, inheriting the mainland colony's name and Victoria as the united colony's capital. In 1871, British Columbia entered Confederation as the sixth province of Canada via the British Columbia Terms of Union.

British Columbia is a diverse and cosmopolitan province, drawing on a plethora of cultural influences from its British, European, and Asian diasporas, as well as the local Indigenous population. Though the province's ethnic majority originates from the British Isles, many British Columbians also trace their roots back to continental Europe, China, and South Asia. Indigenous Canadians make up about 5 percent of the province's total population. Christianity is the most subscribed religion, although the amount of British Columbians who claim no religious affiliation whatsoever is high by Canadian standards. English is the common language of the province, although Punjabi, Mandarin Chinese, and Cantonese also have a large presence in the Metro Vancouver region. The Franco-Columbian community is an officially recognized linguistic minority, and around 72,000 British Columbians claim French as their mother tongue. British Columbia is home to at least 34 distinct Indigenous languages.British Columbia's economy is primarily based on forestry, mining, cinematography and filmmaking, tourism, real estate, construction, wholesale and retail. Its main exports include lumber and timber, pulp and paper products, copper, coal, and natural gas. British Columbia also benefits from high property values and being a centre for maritime trade: the Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the most diversified port in North America. Although less than 5 percent of the province's territory is arable land, significant agriculture exists in the Fraser Valley and Okanagan thanks to the warmer climate. British Columbia is the fourth-largest province or territory by GDP.