Vancouver Island (coordinates), is located along the south west coast of British Columbia, Canada. The Island is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, Queen Charlotte Strait on the north, Johnstone Strait on the northwest, Georgia Strait on the west, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the south that separates it from Washington state, USA.

The Vancouver Island Ranges run most of the length of Vancouver Island British Columbia. These mountain ranges make for a wet and rugged west coast and a dry, more rolling east coast. The Golden Hinde, at 2195 m or 7200’ is the highest point and is located near the centre of Vancouver Island in Strathcona Provincial Park. The Golden Hinde is part of a group of peaks that include the only glaciers on Vancouver Island, the largest of which is the Comox Glacier.

The rugged, and in many places mountainous, west coast shoreline of Vancouver Island is characterized by fjords, bays, and inlets. It is also known for beaches such as Long Beach and Wickaninnish Beach in Pacific Rim National Park, between Ucluelet and Tofino BC. Vancouver Island’s interior has many lakes (including Kennedy Lake, Lake Cowichan, Cameron Lake, Horne Lake) and rivers (including the Nanaimo, Englishman, Little Qualicum, Campbell).

Vancouver Island formed when volcanic and sedimentary rock scraped off the ancient Kula Plate and plastered against the continental margin when it was subducting under North America 55 million years ago.

The above text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License - learn more at Wikipedia's Vancouver Island BC page.

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