Kamloops (pop. 97,902) is a city at the junction of the north and south branches of the Thompson River in south-central British Columbia. The name Kamloops comes from an Indigenous (native) word that probably means meeting of the waters. The city serves as the financial, educational, and transportation center of a farming, logging, and mining region. Fishing, boating, and skiing draw growing numbers of tourists to Kamloops.
The North West Company and the Pacific Fur Company built trading posts in the Kamloops area in 1812. The North West Company became part of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821. The gold rush of the 1850’s and the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 stimulated Kamloops’s growth. The city was incorporated in 1893. It merged with North Kamloops in 1967. Kamloops has a council-manager government.
