British+Columbia+Economics


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**﻿British Columbia Economics ** ﻿ **GDP**: $159.006 billion USD (2006) ﻿ **GDP per capita:** $36,300 USD (2006)  ﻿ **Unemployment Rate:** 4.2% (2007)  **﻿ Average income: **$23,682 per year (2005)  *This information retrieved from: State of British Columbia

**﻿Currency:**



﻿The currency used is the Canadian Dollar (CAD), which is divided into 100 cents. One-dollar coins are also known as loonies (due to the picture of a loon, a type of bird, on the coin), and two-dollar coins as toonies. US Dollars are largely accepted, though due to fraud, larger notes might not be and change is usually given in Canadian dollars. //Currency Exchange Rates//

 //<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**1 Canadian dollar = 1.0366 US dollars** //
 * This information retrieved from: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; url(http: //www.wikispaces.com/i/a.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">British Columbia Currency Exchange rates **

**<span style="background-color: #008080; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">﻿Gross National Product: **



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: -1px; padding: 0px;"> The economy is based on the province's great natural resources, primarily its vast forests, which cover 56 percent of its total area. Conifers from these forests are converted into lumber, newsprint, pulp and paper products, shingles and shakes - about half the total softwood inventory of Canada.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: -1px; padding: 0px;"> Tourism is the next most important economic sector. Each year, about 15 million people visit British Columbia. With over five million hectares of parkland, the Rocky Mountains remain the biggest attraction. Coastal B.C., with its beaches, hiking trails, artists' colonies, wildlife reserves, whale-sighting locales and other attractions, is not far behind. Of increasing attraction to visitors are the Queen Charlotte Islands, large parts of which have recently been set aside as parkland. The area contains untouched wilderness and unique species of flora. The abandoned Haida village of Ninstints is of such historical and cultural importance that it has been designated a world heritage site by UNESCO.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: -1px; padding: 0px;"> Mining is the province's third most important economic sector. Copper, gold and zinc are the leading metals extracted from B.C.; sulphur and asbestos are the leading industrial minerals. The most valuable resources, however, are coal, petroleum and natural gas.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: -1px; padding: 0px;"> Agriculture and fishing, especially salmon fishing, are two other key sectors of the economy of British Columbia, whose dairy cattle are among Canada's most productive. The valleys of the southern interior, principally the Okanagan Valley, are famous for cultivation of tree fruits and grapes and for their wine industry. The cooler, wetter climate of the lower Fraser Valley produces rich crops of berries and vegetables. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">This information retrieved from: ****<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; url(http: //www.wikispaces.com/i/a.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">British Columbia. **.

<span style="background-color: #008080; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">**Exports/Imports**



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14pt; margin-top: -1px;">Manufacturing in B.C. is still largely resource-based, but is being gradually diversified by high-tech and computer-based industries related to telecommunications and the aerospace and sub-sea industries. British Columbia has the most balanced export market of all Canada's provinces, with the United States, Japan, the European Union and the Pacific Rim countries as its clientele.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">This information retrieved from: ****<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; url(http: //www.wikispaces.com/i/a.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">British Columbia. **

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