Gabriola Island

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Gabriola Island
Taylor Bay
Taylor Bay
Waters Strait of Georgia , (Pacific Ocean)
Archipelago Gulf Islands
Geographical location 49 ° 9 ′  N , 123 ° 47 ′  W Coordinates: 49 ° 9 ′  N , 123 ° 47 ′  W
Gabriola Island (British Columbia)
Gabriola Island
length 14 km
width 4.2 km
surface 57.6 km²
Residents 4050 (2006)
70 inhabitants / km²
Gulf Islands
Gulf Islands

Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.
 
 
147
 
7th
1
 
 
96
 
8th
1
 
 
92
 
10
2
 
 
63
 
13
4th
 
 
48
 
17th
7th
 
 
43
 
20th
10
 
 
25th
 
22nd
11
 
 
27
 
22nd
11
 
 
34
 
19th
9
 
 
86
 
13
5
 
 
157
 
9
2
 
 
141
 
6th
1
Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm
Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1971-2000. In: Environment and Climate Change Canada . Retrieved October 19, 2012 .
Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 6.7 7.8 10, 13.1 16.7 19.5 22.4 22.4 19.1 13.4 8.8 6.3 O 13.9
Min. Temperature (° C) 1, , 7 2.2 3.9 6.6 9.6 11.4 11.2 8.5 5.2 2.3 , 7 O 5.3
Precipitation ( mm ) 147.3 95.6 92.1 62.8 47.9 43.2 24.5 26.6 33.9 86.3 156.9 140.5 Σ 957.6
T
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m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
6.7
1,
7.8
, 7
10,
2.2
13.1
3.9
16.7
6.6
19.5
9.6
22.4
11.4
22.4
11.2
19.1
8.5
13.4
5.2
8.8
2.3
6.3
, 7
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		147.3
95.6
92.1
62.8
47.9
43.2
24.5
26.6
33.9
86.3
156.9
140.5
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Gabriola Island is a Canadian island that belongs to the District of Nanaimo ( Regional District of Nanaimo ). It is located on the west coast of British Columbia , between the mainland and Vancouver Island (the Strait of Georgia ) and belongs to the Gulf Islands . It is 14 km long, 4.2 km wide and has a total area of ​​57.6 km². Administratively, the island belongs to the Regional District of Nanaimo and there, together with Mudge Island and De Courcy Island , to District B.

According to the prevailing opinion today, the name of the island goes back to a transmission error. In 1791 the expedition led by José María Narváez reached the island. Under this the southern point of the island was named Punta de Gaviola . The word Gaviola means seagull on the one hand and was the family name of an important sponsor of the Spanish Navy on the other. The name Gaviola can be found in the first records of the British explorers , but from the middle of the 18th century it became Gabiola and finally Gabriola .

history

Malaspina Galleries

Numerous petroglyphs on Gabriola indicate the presence of First Nations , ancestors of today's coastal Salish . Apparently, they all emerged within a few decades in the Marpole phase, which began around 600 BC. Until 1000 AD. In two places, Degnen Bay and Indian Point (t'hit'hw'utquson), villages can be found that go back at least 2000 years.

The names of several bizarre sandstone formations such as the Malaspina Galleries , which are named after Alessandro Malaspina di Mulazzo , refer to Spanish roots. They first sighted the island in 1791 and landed in Descanso Bay the next year. The local Indians traded with the Spaniards and showed them sources of drinking water.

The first non-Indian settlers were the Irish Robert Gray and Thomas Degnen from Nanaimo in the early 1860s. They married Salish women, as did the settlers who followed them. In the late 1870s, all but one of the children were descendants of such marriages. Degnen bought 600 acres of land and raised cattle. He sold his lambs to Nanaimo. Robert Gray, however, became the first lighthouse keeper on Entrance Island. According to the census of 1901, 20 married men lived on the island with their children and women, plus 5 widows and widowers and 6 unmarried farmers. There were 105 men for every 57 women. The median age was 19 for the former and 22 years for the latter. Most of the immigrants came from Great Britain, only John Silva, the namesake of Silva Bay , was Portuguese.

At first only agriculture, hunting and fishing were carried out, soon there was logging and the extraction of sandstone (Descanso Bay). Their products were mainly destined for Victoria , as was brick production on Brickyard Hill, where many Chinese moved. The latter closed its doors in 1945. From the 1920s, tourism was added as an economic branch, especially from Vancouver . Numerous building plots were sold to them. Agriculture began to specialize increasingly, so that apples, cherries, peaches, strawberries, tomatoes, raspberries, onions and rhubarb were planted, but wheat and corn continued to be grown.

In 2001 Gabriola had 3,522 inhabitants, her median age was 49.3 years. By 2006 it rose to 52.9 years with a population of 4,050. During this time, population growth accelerated rapidly with the influx of older people. 44% of the population were between 50 and 70 years old.

traffic

A BC Ferries ferry connects the island with Nanaimo, the usual travel time is 20 minutes. The jetty was built at the western end of the island towards Nanaimo. Most Gabriola's residents commute to Nanaimo for work, and high school students also have to take the ferry to get to school.

There is also a direct route by seaplane from Vancouver International Airport to Silva Bay, which is at the eastern end of the island ( IATA code SYF ).

Sports

Gabriola has a nine-hole golf course .

literature

  • Amanda Shea Adams: Visions cast on stone: a stylistic analysis of the petroglyphs of Gabriola Island, BC , University of British Columbia Press 2003 ( online )
  • Lewis-Harrison: The People of Gabriola - A History of Our Pioneers , Cloverdale: DW Friesen & Son 1982.
  • Gabriola Island. Community Profile , November 2009.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andrew Scott: The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia. Harbor Publishing, Madeira Park (BC) 2009, ISBN 978-1550174847 , p. 212