An interactive map celebrating the roles of women in 500 locations across the country will help Canadians understand how towns and cities, rivers and lakes and major geographical landmarks 鈥� even undersea formations 鈥� got their names.
Users can click on the and instantly find biographical information on the women for whom particular places were named.
Eleven sites are listed on Vancouver Island, ranging from Victoria, named for the queen, to a remote submarine canyon named for a woman who ran a trading post near Zabellos.
鈥淭his is a completely new way for our youth 鈥� anyone, really 鈥� to explore geography,鈥� said Janice Sharpe, senior director at the Canadian Centre for Mapping and Earth 颅Observation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very different than looking at an atlas. This is a highly interactive way to look at history and geography, and quite easy to use.鈥�
The interactive map was developed by Natural Resource sa国际传媒鈥檚 Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation in collaboration with the Geographical Names Board of sa国际传媒 and provincial heritage branches. It鈥檚 the third interactive mapping project from Natural Resource sa国际传媒 in four years. A commemorative map with who served sa国际传媒 was produced in 2018, and an was completed in 2019.
The women鈥檚 map 鈥� released March 8 for International Women鈥檚 Day 鈥� is categorized by theme. Coloured dots on map locations represent who the women were 鈥� pioneers, royalty and religious figures, Indigenous cultures, community service, arts/literature, medicine, science and political figures. Each has a description, some have photos and there are links to further historical data about the naming process and 颅locations.
Steve Westley, manager at the Geographical Names Board of sa国际传媒 Secretariat, said it鈥檚 the first national map of its kind and it illustrates how geospatial information plays a major role in defining national identity. Until recently, there had been little effort to identify place names by gender across sa国际传媒, and the new map tells untold or forgotten stories of women who have contributed to sa国际传媒鈥檚 rich history and to its life today. He said the place names range from the mid-1850s to as recent as 2019. More names will be added to the maps in the future, he added. 鈥淲e welcome the input.鈥�
Westley said the Geographical Names Board of sa国际传媒 is the national co-ordinating body responsible for official place names. It is made up of representatives from each provincial and territorial naming authority, as well as several federal departments and agencies.
The members of the board work to research, standardize, approve, record and promote the official geographical names of sa国际传媒. 鈥淚t was really a team effort from the provinces and territories,鈥� said Westley.
In British Columbia, provincial toponymist Carla Jack, who works in the sa国际传媒 Geographical Names Office as part of the Ministry of Forestry and Lands, selected the place names and compiled the historical data for the map.
There are 43 sa国际传媒 locations on the map, but Jack said more will be added as research continues. .
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a challenge to identify all the names and data,鈥� she said, noting the province has more than 41,000 official names for communities and natural landmarks, and it鈥檚 not always obvious which might have been named for women.
Researchers scoured geographical databases with 颅keyword searches using common names, pronouns, historical professions and others that could produce results.
Jack said when place names were produced, there were varying amounts of information 鈥� from multiple volumes and sources to nothing at all, which was the case with Celia Reefs, an underwater rock formation off Swartz Bay.
鈥淥verall, [the map] is a powerful virtual learning tool,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 valuable to help people think a little more deeply about the stories about the places in our province.鈥�
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