Cemeteries in British Columbia (Province)

British Columbia was initially inhabited by various First Nations peoples for thousands of years before European contact. Following James Cook's voyage in 1778 and George Vancouver's mapping expedition in the 1790s, British settlement began in earnest. The colony of Vancouver Island was established in 1849, housing about 50,000 Indigenous people and a few hundred British settlers.

The mainland region was originally known as New Caledonia, named by explorer Simon Fraser in 1806. The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 brought 30,000 gold-seekers, prompting Britain to create a separate mainland colony called British Columbia. Queen Victoria chose the name "British Columbia" to avoid confusion with Colombia in South America and New Caledonia in the Pacific.

The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia merged in 1866, with Victoria as capital. British Columbia joined Canadian Confederation as the sixth province on July 20, 1871, influenced by fears of American annexation and promises of a transcontinental railway.