Welcome to Victoria ...

The coastal city of Victoria is located on the south coast of Vancouver Island (the Juan De Fuca Strait).

Google driving directions from your current location to Victoria (Patience, this may take a moment).

Victoria was established in 1849 and was incorporated August 2, 1862.

The origin (or the toponymy) of Victoria: Named after Her Majesty Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who ascended to the throne in 1837.

When the people of Victoria refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Victorian<1>

The community of Victoria is 100 feet [30 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Victoria lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time. The time zone in French: PST- Heure Normale du Pacifique (HNP), PDT- Heure Avancée du Pacifique (HAP).

Area Codes for Victoria: 250, 236, 672 & 778<3>

Communities Also Named Victoria ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 43 communities that are also named Victoria - they are located in Alabama, Alberta, Arkansas (2), California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois (2), Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky (3), Louisiana, Manitoba, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Mexico (2), New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario (2), Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas (3), Virginia (2) and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Victoria.

Websites for Victoria ...

Official Website: www.city.victoria.bc.ca/

Chamber of Commerce: www.gvcc.org/

Communities near Victoria ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Victoria.

Langford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langford
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Langford <4>
Colwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colwood
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colwood <4>
Sidney
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidney came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <4>
North Saanich
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Saanich came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Saanich
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Saanich <4>
Sooke
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sooke
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sooke <4>
Metchosin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metchosin
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Metchosin <4>
Friday Harbor
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friday Harbor
- Friday Harbor is located in San Juan County (WA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,544 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Friday Harbor <4>
View Royal
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for View Royal came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for View Royal
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for View Royal <4>
Prospect Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Lake
Keating
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keating

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Victoria. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Victoria.

We have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Victoria. See our Newspapers Page for Victoria.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Victoria ...

Looking for more information about Victoria? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Victoria, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Victoria.

Adding Victoria to Our Gazetteer ...

The earliest source we've referenced which mentioned Victoria was mentioned on a train schedule titled Canadian Pacific Railroad Time Tables (October 1899).

We also found Victoria on a map titled Auto Trails Map of Washington and Oregon (1925).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Victoria.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Victoria: www.city.victoria.bc.ca/

The official website for Province of British Columbia: https://www.gov.bc.ca/

Footnotes ...

<1>	A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Victoria refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Victoria may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<2>	The elevation is an estimate for the area around Victoria - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>	When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 250 code has been Overlayed with one of the following codes: 236, 672 or 778. New phone numbers in the Victoria area will be assigned with one of these codes: 250, 236, 672 or 778. As a result, placing a call in the Victoria area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>	While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>	If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.