Tourist attraction in Okanagan

View looking east over the southern Okanagan Valley on a spring afternoon : The Okanagan, also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of the Okanagan Country extending into the United States as Okanogan County. As of 2011 the region's population is approximately 341818. The primary city is Kelowna. The region is known for its dry sunny climate dry landscapes and lakeshore communities and particular lifestyle The economy is retirement and commercial recreation based with outdoor activities such as boating and watersports snow skiing and hiking.

Agriculture has been focused primarily on fruit orchards with a recent shift in focus to vineyards and wine. The region stretches northwards via the Spallumcheen Valley to connect to Sicamous in the Shuswap Country and reaches south of the Canada United States border where it continues as Okanogan County. The Okanagan as a region is sometimes described as including the Boundary Similkameen and Shuswap regions though this is because of proximity and historic and commercial ties with those areas.

History: The Okanagan Valley is home to the Syilx commonly known as the Okanagan people an Interior Salish people who live in the valley from the head of Okanagan Lake downstream to near the river's confluence with the Columbia River in present day Washington as well as in the neighbouring similkameen Valley and the Upper Nicola to the north of that though the whole of their traditional territory encompasses the entire Columbia River watershed and includes areas east of the Okanogan River in Washington, i.e. the Colville Reservation.

At the height of Okanagan culture about 3000 years ago it is estimated that 12,000 people lived in this valley and surrounding areas. The Okanagan people employed an adaptive strategy moving within traditional areas throughout the year to fish hunt or collect food while in the winter months they lived in semi permanent villages of Kekulis a type of pithouse. Today the member bands of the Okanagan Nation Alliance are sovereign nations with vibrant natural resource and tourism based economies. Their annual August gathering near Vernon is a celebration of the continuance of Syilx life and culture.