Kamloops, British Columbia
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- This article is about the city of Kamloops, British Columbia. For federal and provincial electoral districts with the name Kamloops, see Kamloops (electoral districts).
| Kamloops | |
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| Area | 297.57 km² |
| Population | 89,900 |
| Pop'n density | 5.2 /km² |
| Location | |
| Altitude | ~345 metres |
| Incorporation | 1818 (fur trading post) 1893 (incorporation) |
| Province | British Columbia |
| Regional District | Thompson-Nicola |
| Members of the Legislative Assembly | Claude Richmond Kevin Krueger |
| MP | Betty Hinton |
| Mayor | Terry Lake |
| Governing Body | Kamloops City Counci |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| Postal code | V2B to V2E |
| Area Code | +1-250 |
| Kamloops.BC.ca | |
Kamloops is a city in south central British Columbia, Canada at the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson River and near Kamloops Lake. It is the seat of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. Kamloops is also the Tournament Capital of Canada. It is ranked 37th on the list of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in Canada.
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[edit] Geography and Location
Kamloops is situated at 50°43'N 120°25'W, in the Thompson Valley (UTC-8), and the Mountain Cordillera Ecozone. The central core of the city is located in the valley near the confluence of the North and South branches of the Thompson River. Suburbs stretch for more than a dozen kilometres along both North and South branches, as well as to the steep hillsides along the south portion of the city. Kamloops Indian Band areas begin just to the northeast of the downtown core but are not located within the city limits. Kamloops is surrounded by the smaller communities of Rayleigh, Heffley Creek, Knutsford, Cherry Creek, Pritchard, Campbell Creek, Savona, Scotch Creek, Adams Lake, Chase, and various others; many of which are included in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD).
[edit] History
The Kamloops area was exclusively inhabited by the Secwepemc (Shuswap) nation (part of the Interior Salish language group) prior to the arrival of European settlers. The first European explorers arrived in 1811, and a fur trading post was established by David Stuart in 1812 for the Pacific Fur Company. This was bought out by the North West Company shortly after, and by 1821, the Hudson's Bay Company had control of the fur trade in Kamloops.
The gold rush of the 1860's and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s brought further growth, resulting in the City of Kamloops being incorporated in 1893 with a population of about 500.
"Kamloops" is the anglicized version of the Shuswap word "Tk'emlups", meaning 'meeting of the waters'. Shuswap is still actively spoken in the area by members of the Kamloops Indian Band.
[edit] Industry
Major Kamloops-area industries include primary resource processing such as Weyerhauser Pulp and Sawmill, Tolko-Heffley Creek Plywood and Veneer, LaFarge Cement, Highland-Valley Copper Mine (in Logan Lake) and various other industries. As well there are tertiary services such as the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and Pollard Banknote (which makes the lottery tickets), NRI distribution among many others. Kamloops is also a transportation hub for the region being on the Trans-Canada Highway. It is the first major city after Vancouver on that highway. Kamloops is home to a smaller airport which is currently under pressure from constituents to be upgraded to a larger international type airport. There is however no known plans for upgrading the airport. There has also been speculation of an Inland water port (also uncertain).
[edit] Climate
Hot in Summer, Cold in Winter
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extreme Daily Maximum | °C | 15.9 | 15.0 | 22.8 | 33.0 | 37.2 | 38.9 | 40.6 | 39.6 | 34.6 | 31.3 | 22.8 | 16.1 | |
| Average Daily Maximum | °C | -0.8 | 3.6 | 10.5 | 16.5 | 21.3 | 24.8 | 28.3 | 27.8 | 22.0 | 13.7 | 5.2 | 0.1 | 14.4 |
| Average Daily Minimum | °C | -7.6 | -4.4 | -0.9 | 2.9 | 7.5 | 11.3 | 13.7 | 13.2 | 8.5 | 3.2 | -1.7 | -6.1 | 3.3 |
| Extreme Daily Minimum | °C | -37.2 | -28.3 | -26.1 | -8.8 | -5.6 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 0.6 | -3.9 | -17.1 | -28.3 | -36.1 | |
| Average Precipitation | mm | 22.9 | 14.4 | 11.7 | 14.6 | 24.4 | 35.2 | 29.5 | 29.1 | 28.0 | 16.2 | 24.1 | 28.9 | 270.0 |
| Average Total Snow | cm | 21.8 | 11.3 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 12.2 | 26.1 | 75.5 |
| Average Sunshine | h | 58.3 | 91.3 | 156.8 | 201.5 | 250.6 | 255.0 | 310.0 | 286.6 | 212.0 | 140.0 | 65.2 | 47.4 | 2074.6 |
| Data[1] is for Kamloops Airport (YKA), in the city of Kamloops, 12km from city centre. | ||||||||||||||
Current weather conditions and forecasts can be found at Environment Canada's Weatheroffice website[2].
[edit] Sports
Kamloops was home of the 1993 Canada Summer Games. As listed above, the city is known as, and holds a Canadian Trademark as, the Tournament Capital of Canada. Sun Peaks Resort is a well-reviewed ski and snowboard hill located nearby. Nancy Greene, the olympic medalist skier, is director of skiing at Sun Peaks and also the chancellor of Thompson Rivers University. Likewise, the Overlander Ski Club[3] runs the Stake Lake cross country ski area with some 50km of trails. Kamloops is also home to world famous mountain biking and many world famous mountain bikers such as Hunter Parsons, Wade Simmons and Matt Hunter[4]. The Kamloops Bike Ranch just opened near Juniper Ridge. The Kamloops Rotary Skatepark located at McArthur Island is one of the largest skateboard parks in Canada.
Kamloops is also home to a WHL hockey team, the Kamloops Blazers. They play at the Interior Savings Centre.
Kamloops (with Vancouver and Kelowna) hosted the 2006 IIHF World U-20 Hockey Championship from December 26, 2005 to January 5, 2006. Kamloops is also the host of the 2006 B.C. Summer games
Kamloops is also the hometown of world champion curler Jason Manchester.
[edit] Demographics
(according to Statistics Canada 2001 census[5])
Population: 86,491.
Growth Rate (1996-2001): 1.2%
Total Private Dwellings: 36,807
Area: 297.57 km²
Density: 290.7 people per km²
Ethnic Origin
Religious Groups[5]
- 35.0% Protestant
- 19.2% Roman Catholic
- 6.0% other Christian
- 3.2% Islam
- 36.6% Other religion or no religion
[edit] Media
[edit] Radio
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[edit] Television[edit] PrintThe city's main daily newspaper is the Kamloops Daily News[6]. The city is also home to Kamloops This Week[7], a thrice-weekly free newspaper focusing solely on city news, entertainment and sports, and Kamloops This Week Daily, a compilation of international news reports from wire services that is freely distributed to local businesses. |
[edit] Education
[edit] Public Schools
Public schools in the Kamloops area are part of School District 73 Kamloops/Thompson[8].
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[edit] Post-Secondary
Kamloops is home to Thompson Rivers University[9], an undergraduate degree-granting university with satellite campuses in Clearwater, Barriere, Chase, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, Cache Creek, Ashcroft and Lillooet. TRU also has an open distance- learning division. Kamloops is also home to a satellite campus of Simon Fraser University. TRU has began to offer an MBA programs as well as the undergraduate degrees.
[edit] Neighbourhoods
- West End
- Monte Creek/Rivershore
- Dallas
- Barnhartvale
- Valleyview
- Juniper Ridge
- Rose Hill
- South Shore
- Peterson Creek
- Sahali
- South Sahali
- Aberdeen
- Mount Dufferin
- Versatile
- Southgate
- Mission Flats
- Knutsford
- North Shore
- Brocklehurst
- MacArthur Island
- Batchelor Heights
- Westsyde
- Westmount
- Sun Rivers
- Kamloops Junction
- Rayleigh
- Heffley Creek
- Campbell Creek
- Sun Peaks Resort
- Paul Lake
- Pinantan
- White Croft
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Kamloops Weather Summary - from Canada Weather Office
- ^ Current weather - Environment Canada's Weatheroffice
- ^ Overlander Ski Club
- ^ Specialized.com
- ^ a b Kamloops Community Profile - Statistics Canada. 2002. 2001 Community Profiles. Released June 27, 2002. Last modified: 2005-11-30. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE.
- ^ Kamloops Daily News
- ^ Kamloops This Week
- ^ School District 73
- ^ Thompson Rivers University
[edit] External links
- City website
- City business development
- Tourism and things to do in Kamloops
- Kamloops Heritage Railway
- Kamloops Flickr Group
- News, Weather, Sports, Music, and Community
- Kamloops Accommodations
- Kamloops Parks
- Kamloops Portal Directory
- Kamloops Real Estate
