Vancouver ( or ) officially the
City of Vancouver, is a coastal seaport city on the
mainland of
British Columbia,
Canada. The
2011 census recorded 603,502 people in the city, making it the
eighth largest Canadian municipality. The
Greater Vancouver area of around 2.4 million inhabitants is the
third most populous metropolitan area in the country, the second largest city on the
United States–Canada border, and the most populous in
Western Canada. Vancouver is one of the most
ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English. Vancouver is classed as a
Beta global city. The City of Vancouver encompasses a land area of about 114 square kilometres, giving it a population density of about 5,249 people per square kilometre (13,590 per square mile). Vancouver is the most densely populated Canadian municipality, and the fourth most densely populated city with over 250,000 residents in North America, behind
New York City,
San Francisco, and
Mexico City.
