1. A city of southwest British Columbia, Canada, on the Strait of Georgia opposite Vancouver Island. The largest city in the province, it developed as a port and commercial center beginning with the arrival of the railroad in 1887 and the Klondike gold rush of 1897-1898.

2. A city of southwest Washington on the Columbia River opposite Portland, Oregon. Founded as Fort Vancouver by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1820s, it is a deep-water port.