Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

Prince Rupert, British Columbia

Prince Rupert is a community in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's north coast, and home to some 15,302 people (Statistics Canada, 2001).

Table of contents
1 Location
2 Time Zone
3 Neighbouring Communities
4 History
5 Population
6 Government
7 Industry
8 Seaport
9 Airport
10 Weather
11 External Links

Location

At 54°19'N, 130°19'W, Prince Rupert is situated on Kaien Island (approximately 770 kms north of Vancouver), just north of the mouth of Skeena River, and linked by a short bridge to the mainland.

At the west end of Trans-Canada Highway 16 (the Yellowhead Highway), Prince Rupert is appoximately 150 kms west of Terrace, and 725 kms west of Prince George.

Time Zone

Prince Rupert is in the Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8), and observes Daylight Savings Time from April to October.

Neighbouring Communities

By virtue of location, Prince Rupert is the gateway to many destinations:

The Queen Charlotte Islands are to the west of Prince Rupert, across the Hecate Strait. Alaska is 49 nautical miles (90 kms) north of Prince Rupert.

History

Prince Rupert's history starts with the Tsimshian people.

Prince Rupert was founded by Charles Melville Hays, the general manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, who died on April 14, 1912 on RMS Titanic. Mount Hays, the single mountain on Kaien Island, is named in his honor.

Prince Rupert was incorporated on March 10, 1910, and is named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

Population

Statistics Canada has recorded the following population counts in their censuses. Census agglomerations are listed in parentheses.

Government

The current mayor of Prince Rupert is Herb Pond.

Industry

Prince Rupert relies on the fishing industry, pulp mill, port, and tourism.

Seaport

Prince Rupert's sheltered seaport is the deepest natural ice-free harbor in North America, and third in the world. Situated at 54° North, the Port of Prince Rupert is North America's closest port to Asia, by some 440 miles.

Airport

Prince Rupert's airport (YPR/CYPR) is located on Digby Island. Its position is 54°17'10"N, 130°26'41"W, and its elevation is 35 meters above sea level. The airport comprises 1 runway, 1 passenger terminal, and 2 aircraft stands.

Weather

Prince Rupert is known as "The City of Rainbows", as it is Canada's wettest city, with an annual percipitation of 2,500 millimeters (Statistics Canada, 1999).

External Links

''This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by fixing it.''