Комокс: История и современность тихоокеанского городка.

Comox (/lang/'/k//oʊ//m//ɒ//k//s/) is a town on the southern coast of the Comox Peninsula in the Strait of Georgia on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Thousands of years ago, the warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil, and abundant sea life attracted First Nations, who called the area kw'umuxws (Kwak'wala, the adopted language of the K'omoks, for plentiful). When the area was opened for settlement in the mid 19th century, it quickly attracted farmers, a lumber industry and a fishing industry. For over fifty years, the village remained isolated from the outside world other than by ship until roads and a railway were built into the area during the First World War. The installation of an air force base near the village during the Second World War brought new prosperity to the area, and in recent years, Comox attracts tourists for its fishing; local wildlife; year round golf; and proximity to the Mount Washington ski area, the Forbidden Plateau, and Strathcona Provincial Park. The town is also home to a Royal Canadian Air Force base CFB Comox, an airport for military and commercial airline use and the Sea Cadet training facility HMCS Quadra. The mild climate has attracted many retirees to the area in the 21st century, which has resulted in a high rate of growth and a sharp increase in the median age of residents. Comox town is in the Comox Valley, along with several other communities, including Courtenay, Cumberland, and the unincorporated hamlets of Royston, Union Bay, Fanny Bay, Black Creek and Merville. The nearby Comox Glacier is visible from many parts of the town and is the area's signature landmark. It is close (5.94 miles or 9.57 kilometers) to Denman Island in the Georgia Strait.

Archaeological evidence suggests there was an active Coast Salish fishing settlement at Comox for at least 4,000 years. Several of these wooden stakes were carbon dated, revealing the oldest to be made from a hemlock tree c.750 CE, while the youngest dated from around 1830. The Pentlatch also harvested the abundant shellfish in Comox Bay. Centuries of discarded shells resulted in a deep strata of shell fragments along the shoreline of present day Comox now known as the Great Comox Midden. By the 19th century, the K'ómoks had been driven out of their lands by a particularly fierce group of Kwakwaka'wakw, the Lekwiltok, who raided other villages to capture slaves. The K'ómoks migrated south to present day Comox, where they allied with the resident Pentlatch against their common enemy. In 1791, a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores produced a crude chart of the Strait of Georgia and possibly visited Comox. Captain George Vancouver arrived the following year, tasked by the British government with charting the northwest coast of North America. Vancouver, in concert with the Spanish expedition, entered the Courtenay River estuary between the present day locations of Courtenay and Comox and charted the shoreline of Comox.

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Comox had a population of 14,806 living in 6,442 of its 6,672 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 14,028. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. According to the federal 2016 census, the median age in 2016 was 51.8 years old. Average after tax household income was just over $69,000.

+ Panethnic groups in the Town of Comox (2001−2021)Panethnicgroup2021201120062001Pop. (Population)% (percentage)Pop. (Population)% (percentage)Pop. (Population)% (percentage)Pop. (Population)% (percentage)Pop. (Population)% (percentage) European 12,645 88.24 12,410 90.55 12,520 94.24 11,275 93.88 10,470 95.05 Indigenous 980 6.84 780 5.69 450 3.39 360 3.00 360 3.27 East Asian 210 1.47 220 1.61 100 0.75 75 0.62 80 0.73 Southeast Asian 160 1.12 75 0.55 55 0.41 35 0.29 40 0.36 South Asian 100 0.70 60 0.44 30 0.23 10 0.08 20 0.18 African 100 0.70 60 0.44 100 0.75 215 1.79 30 0.27 Latin American 30 0.21 50 0.36 25 0.19 30 0.25 10 0.09 Middle Eastern 0 0.00 20 0.15 0 0.00 20 0.17 10 0.09 Other/Multiracial 105 0.73 35 0.26 0 0.00 10 0.08 10 0.09 Total responses 14,330 96.79 13,705 97.70 13,285 97.49 12,010 98.96 11,015 96.70 Total population 14,806 100.00 14,028 100.00 13,627 100.00 12,136 100.00 11,391 100.00

As of 2016, 12,440 gave English as their "mother tongue", followed by French, at 480.

Comox has a warm summer mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb). Due to its position on a small peninsula surrounded by the waters of Georgia Strait, Comox Bay and the Courtenay River Estuary, Comox enjoys temperate weather year round: summer temperatures average and rarely reach , while winter temperatures rarely fall below freezing. Although annual precipitation averages , almost 80% of this falls between October and March, mainly as rain rather than snow. The result is dry, sunny summers, and mild, wet winters. The all time heat record for Comox is which was set on June 27, 2021, at the Comox weather station.

The Filberg Festival, named for the park in which it is held, is an arts and crafts fair that takes place each summer on the BC Day long weekend. On the same weekend, Comox also holds "Nautical Days" in Comox Marina Park, featuring an arts and crafts festival, a parade, a classic car show, the "Build, Bail and Sail" amateur boat building competition and live music. Comox is host to two of the nine local museums in the Comox Valley. Comox Museum and Archives offers a glimpse into the history of the town of Comox. The Comox Air Force Museum commemorates the role and history of 19 Wing, and documents significant achievements in coastal military aviation history. The Comox North East Woods is a conservation area home to numerous walking and biking trails. It also includes the Lazo Marsh North East Comox Wildlife Management Area.

St. Joseph General Hospital (SJGH) was founded by four nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto in 1913, to provide the needed health care to the settlers of the Comox Valley and its active logging industry. Initially housed in a converted house with room for only 10 patients, it grew to 235 beds, 110 for acute care and 125 for complex care. In 2017 the new north island hospital opened in Courtenay and subsequently St Joseph's hospital ceased to be an acute care facility. It still provides laboratory services and also houses "The Views", residential care and services to members of the community who can no longer live alone independently. The Views at St. Joseph's is owned and operated by the Providence Residential & Community Care (PRCC) Services Society. It is accountable to – and works in partnership with – our residents, patients, and their families, the Vancouver Island Health Authority, The B. C. Ministry of Health and the taxpayers of B. C. The Views at St. Joseph's operates under a Master Agreement between the Province of British Columbia and the Denominational Health Association. The agreement recognizes the rights of owners of denominational care facilities to own, manage and operate their respective facilities and carry out their respective religious missions. It obligates the owners to meet provincial standards and national accreditation for health care.

CKLR FM – 97.3 MHz
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The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Comox.

Wing commander James Francis "Stocky" Edwards : June 2007. John Marinus: 16 August 2017. Russ Arnott: 5 October 2022.