West Coast Geography and Topography

Vancouver Island is the largest island off the west coast of North America. Tucked against the mainland coast of British Columbia and the north shore of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula, Vancouver Island occupies an area about the size of Holland. It stretches 500 kilometres (320 miles) southeast to northwest with an area of 3,175,000 hectares (9,493,171 acres) and 3,460.0896 kilometres (2,150 miles) of coastline. It is separated from Vancouver, BC by the Strait of Georgia to the east and from Washington State, by the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the south and southeast. Vancouver Island is actually closer to the United States than to mainland west coast Canada.

A mountainous spine runs the length of Vancouver Island, breaking into long mountain fjords on its west coast that cut deeply into the island. Alberni Inlet cuts more than halfway through the island, ending at the community of Port Alberni. Saanich Inlet, in the Victoria area, is one of the few fjord inlets on Vancouver Island's east coast. Along its southern half, the relief is so rugged that the Malahat Mountain section of the Island Highway climbs to an elevation of more than 335 metres (1,099 feet) above the inlet's waters.

The west coast of the island is mostly uninhabited, except for a sprinkling of small communities, notably Ucluelet and Tofino, located on either side of the world renowned Pacific Rim National Park. The open Pacific Ocean washes up against its shores. Pockets of sandy beach add to its rugged beauty and attract visitors from around the world. While Vancouver Island’s west coast is mostly uninhabited, the Island’s major settlements and roads are mainly clustered on its east coast, where the ocean is protected. Lush forests of large Douglas Fir and cedar thrive in the moderate, wet ocean climate across the Island.

Victoria is situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, on the Saanich Peninsula. It lies at 123° 22' west longitude, and 48° 25' north latitude. Its latitude is about the same as Dijon, France; Zurich, Switzerland; Budapest, Hungary and Rostov, Russia in the northern hemisphere and the southern end of New Zealand in the southern hemisphere. Greater Victoria covers an area of 540.4 square kilometres (335 square miles).

Victoria consists of rolling lowlands, out of which granite rocks rise to heights of up to 300 metres (985 feet). There are 48 regional, provincial and federal parks in Greater Victoria, totaling more than 7,600 hectares (22,724 acres). Old deltas and marine shorelines in the Langford, Metchosin and Saanich area of Greater Victoria show signs of past glacial activity;  land has actually risen about 90 metres (295 feet) above the present sea level. In parts of Victoria's north and west shorelines, waves cut deeply into layers of glacial till and delta material to produce cliffs, spits and lagoons.