Kitimat

Kitimat, district municipality in the Kitimat-Stikine Regional District of western British Columbia, Canada, at the head of Douglas Channel. A seaport and industrial community, Kitimat is the site of one of Canada's largest aluminum smelters. Commercial fishing, lumbering, and pulp and paper production are also important to the settlement's economy. A planned community, Kitimat was established between 1951 and 1953 by an aluminum company. It was incorporated in 1953. Its name refers to the Kitimat, whose name means “people of the snow.” Population 11,305 (1991); 10,285 (2001).