Themes for Research Papers

1. British Columbia is a landscape of both physical contrasts and marked human diversity.

2. Physical contrasts can be seen in BC’s massive and jagged mountain ranges, broad plateaus, deeply incised valleys, narrow fjords, broad river deltas and rugged coastal islands.

3. The peoples of BC are no less diverse. The bulk of the population is concentrated on the coastal southwest plain; the rest of the province, where primary resource production provides our economic life-blood, remains relatively sparsely populated.

4. BC encompasses a variety of climate/vegetation types, ranging from temperate rain forest to desert, and from grassland prairie to tundra and ice caps. All of this is the result of its latitudinal extent, and its great elevational range from sea level to lofty ice-capped mountains.

5. BC’s far western location and the north-south orientation of its major valleys and mountain ranges have presented challenges to a cohesive cultural and economic relationship with the rest of Canada. Our special geography creates a significant obstacle to easy transportation and communication.

6. The natural environment of BC shapes the way people perceive and use it, and in turn, people shape the natural environment itself.

7. The BC economy has traditionally relied upon harvesting of primary resources, which it trades in international markets.

8. British Columbians live in communities that depend on local natural resources and efficient transportation systems to deliver those resources to local, national and international markets.

9. BC’s varied physical geography and its unique site and situation are reflected in our history, in our lifestyle and in our various social and political institutions.

10. British Columbians’ high standard of living depends heavily upon our ability to extract, process and trade in basic natural resources.

11. British Columbia is well positioned on the Pacific Rim for access to markets in Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the west coasts of the Americas.

12. British Columbia has organized and developed means for meeting our various needs and wants, such as trade, transportation, communication and a variety of social and political systems.

13. BC is a multicultural mix of aboriginal and immigrant cultures, including European and Asian.

14. BC’s First Nations people have developed some of the most rich and complex cultures in the world. Fully one-half of Canada’s First Nations languages are indigenous to BC.

15. Knowledge of plant husbandry and harvesting and preserving technology, developed by First Nations people, enabled them to harvest and use natural resources on a sustainable basis.

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