Russian Vancouver

In 2008, the Canadian province of British Columbia celebrates its 150th anniversary. 

One of the last areas to be explored and settled in North America, coastal British Columbia was variously contested by the Spanish, British, American and Russian empires. And through at least the early 1840s, Russia claimed sovereignty over the north coast of present-day British Columbia. Today, there is little that points to the Russian colonial heritage of this region. Yet the province’s largest city does have a vibrant expat community.