Richmond, British Columbia

The City of Richmond is in the province of British Columbia, located on the pacific coast of Canada at 49^º 11' N and 123^º 8' W. It is composed of 15 small islands, Lulu Island being the largest, and the entire city occupies a total of 129.666 km².

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1 History

2 Law/Government

3 Geography

4 Economy

5 Companies

6 Demographics

7 Sites of Interest

8 Colleges/Universities in city

9 Sporting teams in city

History

November 10, 1879 - Richmond was incorporated as a municipality.
December 3, 1990 - Richmond was designated as a City.
March 25, 1910 - The first flight in B.C. was made from Minoru Racetrack[?].

Law/Government

The current mayor is Malcolm Brodie, who began a three-year term on December 2, 2002. There are eight Councillors, which together make up the City Council.

Geography

Richmond is a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Vancouver International Airport is located in Richmond on Sea Island. Richmond is connected by a system of bridges and tunnels to Vancouver and the other surrounding communities of New Westminster[?], Surrey, and Ladner[?]. The south-west corner of Richmond is the old fishing village of Steveston[?], which is now home to several museums and heritage sites.

Richmond enjoys a temperate climate, and actually experiences 30% less rain than neighboring Vancouver because it is not as close to the mountains. It rarely snows in Winter and the summer temperatures are mild to warm.

Richmond has a dyke system that was created early in Richmond's history, much like the famous dykes of the Netherlands. Trails were created along the dyke, and Richmond also supports over 1200 acres (485 ha) of park land.

Economy

Richmond supports about 100,000 jobs in various areas including services, retailing, tourism, light manufacturing, airport services and aviation, agriculture, fishing and government. Richmond also is a leading centre in the region for high-technology companies.

Companies

Demographics

Richmond has an estimated population of 166,219 people in 2002, with a strong multicultural influence. It is the third-largest suburb of Vancouver, after Surrey (347,825) and Burnaby[?] (193,954). One-third of its population is of Asian decent, most of which immigrated in the early 1990s. According to Statistics Canada, residents of Richmond have the greatest life expectancy in Canada at 81.2 years, and the lowest obesity and smoking rates as well.