The New International Encyclopædia/Georgia, Strait of

GEORGIA, Strait of. The main section of the arm of the North Pacific Ocean which separates Vancouver Island from the mainland. It lies between Vancouver on the west and British Columbia on the east (Map: British Columbia, D 5). It averages perhaps 25 miles in width, and is comparatively deep, having soundings of over 1000 feet. It receives the water of the Fraser River (q.v.) and some smaller streams, and communicates with the open ocean by Queen Charlotte Sound in the north, and by the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the south.