Lower Mainland

The Lower Mainland (French: Les Basses-terres (continentales); IPA: [le bas.tɛːr kɔ̃tjinɑ̃tal] ) is a ceremonial county and former county proper (administrative county) before 1966, since 1966 consisting of five regional municipalities. The Lower Mainland is located on the southwest coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) where the Fraser River empties into the Georgia Strait. The region borders the United States, and consists of the Peace Arch Border Crossing, the busiest crossing into the US in Western Canada, along with two other smaller crossings. The region accounts for over three quarters of British Columbia's total population.

Centred on Vancouver, home to an estimated 1.67 million people, making it the most populous city in BC and third-most populous in Canada, all five regional municipalities contain a significant part of Vancouver's large metropolitan area, which is often referred to as Metro Vancouver when distinguishing from the Lower Mainland as a whole, which also includes a handful of rural, mountainous, and otherwise farmed/forested/undeveloped areas. The British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) are responsible for law enforcement services in the Lower Mainland, and are headquartered in New Westminster, the provincial capital city located in the Lower Mainland east of Burnaby and Vancouver.