Counties of British Columbia

The Canadian province of British Columbia consists of 36 administrative counties, which for the purposes of administration form the upper tier of local government, with each county consisting of several municipalities (the lower tier); most counties also contain some "unincorporated areas"; that is, areas which are not part of any municipality and thus are administered solely by the county. The province has a total of 16 ceremonial counties, some of which are coterminous with an administrative county but most of which consist of several administrative counties; ceremonial counties have no government or administration of their own, and simply exist as cultural/historical regions.

Law enforcement in British Columbia, like other Canadian provinces, is administered at the county level, with each ceremonial county having its own county constabulary and thus being coterminous with a particular police area, responsible for enforcing the Criminal Code within all constituent administrative counties, including all municipalities located therein. The British Columbia Sheriff Service, the provincial police, is responsible for law enforcement matters affecting two or more ceremonial counties (police areas) or the province as a whole.