Cortes Island
| Feature Type: | Island - Land area surrounded by water or marsh. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Pronounced: | kor-tez |
| Relative Location: | Between Quadra and Redonda Islands, N end Strait of Georgia, Sayward Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 50°07'09"N, 124°55'15"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92K/2 |
| Related Maps: |
92K/2 92K/3 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 31 December 1945 on C.3591, as labelled on British Admiralty Chart 580, 1862 et seq, and on BC map 2C, 1919 et seq. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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"Named in 1792 by the Spanish naval officers, Galiano and Valdes. Presumably after Hernando Cortes (1485-1547), the conqueror of Mexico, as the next island to the southeastward is Hernando and the island to the westward, Mary (Marina). He went from Spain to the New World in 1511, landing in Cuba...." Source: Walbran, John T; British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: their origin and history; Ottawa, 1909 (republished for the Vancouver Public Library by J.J. Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1971) |