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The Lower Mainland is the name that residents of British Columbia apply to the region surrounding the City of Vancouver. According to the 2001 census, over 2.5 million people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there ^[1]

While the term Lower Mainland has been recorded from the earliest period of non-native settlement in British Columbia, it has never been officially defined in legal terms. However, the term has historically been in popular usage for over a century to describe a region that extends from Horseshoe Bay south to the U.S. boundary and east to Hope at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley.^[2]

Contents 1 Lower Mainland Ecoregion 2 Regional Districts and First Nations territories 3 Population 4 Communities in the Lower Mainland 5 References

Main article: Lower Mainland Ecoregion

"Lower Mainland" is also the name of an ecoregion — a biogeoclimatic region — that comprises the eastern part of the Georgia Depression and extends from Powell River, British Columbia on the Sunshine Coast to Hope at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley. The Lower Mainland Ecoregion is a part of the Pacific Maritime Ecozone ^[3] The provincial Ministry of Environment bases its Lower Mainland Region on this ecoregion, rather than on the traditional Lower Mainland alone.

Today, the Lower Mainland includes two Regional Districts: The Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), and the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD).

The Greater Vancouver Regional District is made up of 21 municipalities: Anmore, Belcarra, Bowen Island, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Delta, Langley City, Langley Township, Lions Bay, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver City, North Vancouver District, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and White Rock. The Greater Vancouver Regional District is bordered on the west by the Strait of Georgia, to the north by the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, on the east by the Fraser Valley Regional District, and to the south by Whatcom County, Washington in the United States. The traditional territories of the Musqueam and Tsleil'waututh lie completely within the GVRD; the southern portion of Squamish First Nation traditional territory is also in the GRVD — its claims overlap those of the Tsleil-waututh and Musqueam (and also, therefore, the Sto:lo).

The Fraser Valley Regional District, which lies east of the GVRD, comprises the cities of Abbotsford and Chilliwack, the districts of Mission, Kent, and Hope, and the village of Harrison Hot Springs. It also includes a series of electoral areas throughout the Fraser Valley and along the west side of the Fraser Canyon. The traditional territory of the Sto:lo First Nation is partly within this regional district, as is the entirety of the Chehalis First Nation. Sto:lo traditional territory more or less exactly coincides with the traditional conception of the Lower Mainland, except for their inclusion Port Douglas, at the head of Harrison Lake which is in In-SHUCK-ch territory.

According to the most recent census ^[1] there were 2,209,080 people living in the communities of the Lower Mainland, of whom:

• 222,115 lived in the Fraser Valley Regional District
• 1,986,965 lived in the Greater Vancouver Regional District

The population in the Greater Vancouver Regional District is up 8.5% from the 1996 Census figures. For the population of the cities within the GVRD, see Municipalities in the Greater Vancouver Regional District

Fraser Valley Regional District

• Abbotsford
• Chilliwack
• Kent/Agassiz
• Mission

Greater Vancouver Regional District

• Anmore
• Belcarra
• Bowen Island
• Burnaby
• Coquitlam
• Delta
• Langley City
• Langley District
• Lions Bay
• Maple Ridge
• New Westminster
• North Vancouver City
• North Vancouver District
• Pitt Meadows
• Port Coquitlam
• Port Moody
• Richmond
• Surrey
• Vancouver
• West Vancouver
• White Rock