Nanaimo
Nanaimo | |
|---|---|
| City of Nanaimo | |
 | |
| Country |  Zamastan |
| Province | Zian |
| Incorporated | 1774 |
| Area | |
| • City | 391.30 km2 (151.08 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,280.84 km2 (494.54 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 28 m (92 ft) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • City | 3,080,000 |
| Demonym | Nanaimoite |
Nanaimo is a city on the northwest coast of the province of Zian in Zamastan. It has a population of 3.08 million, making it the 26th-most populous city in the country. Settled in 1774 by Skithan fur traders, it was originally named Laisa Bay. The Indigenous peoples of the area, the Nanaimo, gave the city its current name in 1843. Nanaimo is one of the most livable cities in Zamastan and in the world, but it is also one of the most expensive cities in the world for housing costs. Nanaimo plans to become one of the greenest cities in the world, with Nanaimoism being the city's urban planning design philosophy, characterized by a large residential population living in the city center with mixed-use developments, typically with a medium-height, commercial base and narrow, high-rise residential towers, significant reliance on mass public transit, creation and maintenance of green park spaces, and preserving view corridors. Nanaimo and neighboring Sutton is the easternmost point of the Tofino-Arinals Metropolitan Area. A Zian Ferries service runs multiple times per day between Wingerton and Nanaimo across the mouth of Vallium Inlet, consisting of a three-hour trip.