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Estimated Population of British Columbia (2005): 4,254,500

Percentage of National Population: 13.2%

Population Growth Rate: 4.9%

See Also: Demographics of Canada

Contents 1 Vital Statistics 1.1 Population of British Columbia since 1851 2 Age Structure 3 Ethnicity 3.1 Ethnic Groups 4 Religions 5 Languages 6 Literacy 7 See also 8 References

Birth rate: 9.7 births p/1,000 ^[1](Canadian Average = ~11)

Death rate: ?

Infant mortality rate: 4.0 deaths p/1,000 live births ^[2]

Life expectancy at Birth: 81.12 years ^[3]

Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born p/woman ^[4] (Canadian Average = 1.61)

Year	Population	Five Year % change	Ten Year % change	Rank Among Provinces
1851	55,000	n/a	n/a	6
1861	51,524	n/a	-6.3	6
1871	36,247	n/a	-29.7	7
1881	49,459	n/a	36.4	8
1891	98,173	n/a	98.5	8
1901	178,657	n/a	82.0	6
1911	392,480	n/a	119.7	6
1921	524,582	n/a	33.7	6
1931	694,263	n/a	32.3	6
1941	817,861	n/a	17.8	6
1951	1,165,210	n/a	42.5	3
1956	1,398,464	20.0	n/a	3
1961	1,629,082	16.5	39.8	3
1966	1,873,674	15.0	34.0	3
1971	2,184,620	16.6	34.1	3
1976	2,466,610	12.9	31.6	3
1981	2,744,467	11.3	25.6	3
1986	2,883,370	5.1	16.9	3
1991	3,282,061	13.8	19.6	3
1996	3,724,500	13.5	29.2	3
2001	3,907,738	4.9	19.1	3

Source: Statistics Canada^[5]

	Males		Females
Age Group	Number	Per cent	Number	Per cent
0-4	105,808	2.4%	100,116	2.2%
5-9	117,909	2.8%	111,383	2.6%
10-14	133,809	3.1%	126,388	3.0%
15-19	143,449	3.4%	136,227	3.2%
20-24	155,369	3.7%	147,770	3.5%
25-29	139,521	3.3%	138,299	3.3%
30-34	144,788	3.4%	145,869	3.4%
35-39	155,429	3.7%	158,364	3.7%
40-44	177,381	4.2%	179,216	4.2%
45-49	172,786	4.1%	177,082	4.2%
50-54	157,596	3.7%	159,965	3.8%
55-59	138,096	3.2%	139,772	3.3%
60-64	101,610	2.4%	103,764	2.4%
65-69	80,051	1.9%	82,363	1.9%
70-74	70,060	1.6%	72,493	1.7%
75-79	54,572	1.3%	64,344	1.5%
80-84	36,304	0.8%	53,047	1.2%
85+	24,544	0.6%	48,978	1.1%
Totals	2,109,082	49.6%	2,145,440	50.4%

Source: BC Stats ^[6]

Note: The following statistics represent both single (e.g., "German") and multiple (e.g., "part Chinese, part English") responses to the 2001 Census, and thus do not add up to 100%. Note that "Canadian" is not considered to be an ethnic origin.

Ethnic Origin	Population	Percent
English	1,144,335	25.58%
Canadian	939,460	24.28%
Scottish	748,905	19.36%
Irish	562,895	14.55%
German	500,675	12.94%
Chinese	373,830	9.66%
French	331,535	8.57%
East Indian	183,650	4.75%
Dutch (Netherlands)	180,635	4.67%
Ukrainian	178,880	4.62%
North American Indian	175,085	4.53%
Italian	126,420	3.27%
Norwegian	112,045	2.90%
Polish	107,340	2.77%
Swedish	89,630	2.32%
Welsh	86,710	2.24%
Russian	86,110	2.23%
Filipino	69,345	1.79%
American (USA)	59,075	1.53%
Danish	49,685	1.28%
Métis	45,455	1.17%
Hungarian (Magyar)	43,515	1.12%

Source: Statistic Canada^[7]

British Columbia has a very diverse ethnic population, with a large number of immigrants having lived in the province for 30 years or less. Asians are by far the largest visible minority demographic, with many of the Lower Mainland's large cities having sizeable Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and Korean communities. The East Indian population is also considerable, especially in Surrey and South Vancouver.

Also present in large numbers relative to other cities in Canada (except Toronto), and ever since the province was first settled (unlike Toronto), are many European ethnicities of the first and second generation, notably Germans, Scandinavians, Yugoslavs and Italians; third-generation Europeans are generally of mixed lineage, and traditionally intermarried with Asian or other non-European ethnicities more than in any other Canadian province. First-generation Britons remain a strong component of local society despite limitations on immigration from Britain since the ending of special status for British subjects in the 1960s.

The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian".) Groups with greater than 40,000 responses are included.

Further information: Statistics Canada. "British Columbia ethno-cultural profile"^[8]

Population by religion, Canada and BC (2001 Census)	Canada		B.C.
	number	%	number	%
Total population	29,639,035		3,868,875
No religious affiliation	4,900,090	17%	1,388,300	36%
Protestant	8,654,850	29%	1,213,295	31%
Catholic	12,936,905	44%	675,320	17%
Christian not included elsewhere	780,450	3%	200,345	5%
Sikh	278,410	1%	135,310	3%
Buddhist	300,345	1%	85,540	2%
Muslim	579,640	2%	56,220	1%
Christian Orthodox	479,620	2%	35,655	1%
Hindu	297,200	1%	31,500	1%
Jewish	329,995	1%	21,230	1%
Eastern religions	37,550	0%	9,970	0%
Other religions	63,975	0%	16,205	0%
Source: Statistics Canada 2001 Census http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo30c.htm

Language(s) first learned and still understood	Total	%	Male	Female
English Only	2,825,780	73.03%	1,403,230	1,422,545
French Only	54,405	1.41%	27,340	27,060
Both English and French	6,784	0.18%	3,360	3,452
Other Languages	981,910	25.38%	470,145	511,765
Source: Statistics Canada 2001 Census

• Demographics of Canada
• List of Canadian provinces and territories by population