This 200 km long strait separates mainland southern
British Columbia from
Vancouver Island. From its start in the
Gulf Islands in the south to its northernmost point, Cape Mudge on Quadra Island, the Strait of
Georgia contains several clusters of smaller islands.
In 1791, Spanish naval officers called it the Gran Canal de Nuestra Señor del Rosario
la Marinera, but in 1792, British
Captain George Vancouver named it the Gulph of Georgia in honour of
King George III, which was particularly jingoistic given strained relations between the Spanish and
British, which would play out further in a meeting between Captains
Quadra and
Vancouver in
Friendly Cove the same year.