Vancouver (pronounced /væn.ˈkuːvər/) 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.^[2]

The largest metropolitan area in Western Canada, Vancouver ranks third largest in the country and the city proper ranks eighth.^[3][4] According to the 2006 census Vancouver had a population of 578,041^[1] and its Census Metropolitan Area exceeded 2.1 million people.^[1] Its residents are ethnically and linguistically diverse; 52% do not speak English as their first language.^[5][6]