Burrard Peninsula

Map of the Burrard Peninsula (right centre). The map is oriented with north-northwest facing up. The peninsula is flanked by Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River delta to the south.

Satellite photo of Vancouver region, with the western and cenral sections (Vancouver, Burnaby, and New Westminster) of the Burrard Peninsula visible.

File:BurrardPeninsulaFraser.jpg

A long shot of the middle section of the Burrard Peninsula, looking northeast from near the Vancouver International Airport, with the North Arm of the Fraser River in the foreground.

File:BurrardPeninsulaDowntown.jpg

Downtown Vancouver and Vancouver's southern neighbourhoods, comprising the west-central part of the peninsula. Burrard Inlet and the mountains and communities on its North Shore are visible in the background.

The Burrard Peninsula is a peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of southwestern British Columbia, Canada, lying between Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River to the south. The City of Vancouver occupies most of the westernmost section of the peninsula.

The peninsula is attached to land at its northeastern end, where an isthmus between Port Moody and the Pitt River separates the peninsula from another long, narrow neck of mountainous land to the north that lies between Indian Arm on the west and Pitt Lake on the east. From its isthmus, the Burrard Peninsula runs due west for approximately 40 kilmotres (25 miles) to Point Grey, a prominence protruding into Georgia Strait. The peninsula is approximately 6 to 8 kilometres (4 to 5 miles) wide for much of its length.

Municipalities on the peninsula include—in roughly west-to-east order—the Cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Port Moody, Coquitlam, and Port Coquitlam. The University of British Columbia and University Endowment Lands occupy unincorporated territory at the far west end of the peninsula, at Point Grey. North of the isthmus separating the peninsula from the mainland are the Villages of Belcarra and Anmore which are not on the peninsula proper, but are only accessible by road via the Burrard Peninsula.

Neither mountainous nor completely flat, the Burrard Peninsula has been extensively urbanized, and includes the largest and densest populations in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and in British Columbia more generally.

While originally extensively forested, since the mid 1800s the Burrard Peninsula has gradually become essentially one large cityscape. Its largest remaining green spaces include Pacific Spirit Regional Park in Point Grey, Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver, the areas around Burnaby Mountain, Burnaby Lake, and Deer Lake in Burnaby, and Mundy Park and the Coquitlam River in Coquitlam.

The Squamish name for the Burrard Peninsula as a whole - or rather, for the long rise of land from Point Grey to Central Park, was Ulksen or Ulxen. The name Burrard Peninsula is rarely used in casual reference to the area among locals, in favour of Lower Mainland, or a specific community or city therein.