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TOEFL Directory > TOEFL writing > 31 British Columbia
31 British Columbia
British Columbia is the third largest Canadian provinces, both in area
and population. It is nearly 1.5 times as large as Texas, and extends
800 miles(1,280km) north from the United States border. It includes
Canada's entire west coast and the islands just off the coast.
Most of British Columbia is mountainous, with long rugged ranges running
north and south. Even the coastal islands are the remains of a mountain
range that existed thousands of years ago. During the last Ice Age, this
range was scoured by glaciers until most of it was beneath the sea. Its
peaks now show as islands scattered along the coast.
The southwestern coastal region has a humid mild marine climate. Sea
winds that blow inland from the west are warmed by a current of warm
water that flows through the Pacific Ocean. As a result, winter
temperatures average above freezing and summers are mild. These warm
western winds also carry moisture from the ocean.
Inland from the coast, the winds from the Pacific meet the mountain
barriers of the coastal ranges and the Rocky Mountains. As they rise to
cross the mountains, the winds are cooled, and their moisture begins to
fall as rain. On some of the western slopes almost 200 inches (500cm) of
rain fall each year.
More than half of British Columbia is heavily forested. On mountain
slopes that receive plentiful rainfall, huge Douglas firs rise in
towering columns. These forest giants often grow to be as much as 300
feet(90m) tall, with diameters up to 10 feet(3m). More lumber is
produced from these trees than from any other kind of tree in North
America. Hemlock, red cedar, and balsam fir are among the other trees
found in British Columbia.
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