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The island has been inhabited by humans for some eight thousand years. By the late 1700s, the primary Indian nations there were the Nuu-Chah-Nulth (Nootka) on the west coast, Salish on the south and east coasts, and the Kwakiutl in the centre of the island and the north.

After these first peeks, Vancouver Island came to the attention of the wider world after the third voyage of Captain James Cook, who landed at Nootka SoundNootka Sound is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean and a natural harbour on the west coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada, separating Vancouver Island and Nootka Island. The mouth of the sound was sighted in 1774 by Juan Perez, a Spanish expl of the Island's western shore on March 31March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years). There are 275 days remaining. Events 307 After divorcing his wife Minerva, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian. 1774 American R, 1778Events "The term Thoroughbred was first used in the United States in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick. January 18 Third Pacific expedition of Capt. James Cook, with ships HMS Resolution and HMS Dis and claimed it for the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly. The island's rich fur trading potential led the British East India CompanyThe British East India Company popularly known as John Company was founded by a Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600. Over the next 250 years, it became one of the most powerful commercial enterprises of its time. The British East India to set up a single-building trading post in the native village of Yuquot on Nootka IslandNootka Island is an island near Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It contains 534 km² (206 square miles) of area. It is separated from Vancouver Island by Nootka Sound. Nootka Island is named after the Nootka people who live mostly on Vancouve, a small island in the Sound.

The island was further explored by SpainThe Kingdom of Spain is a country located in the southwest of Europe. It shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. To the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. It inc in 1789Events January 7 First nationwide United States election January 21 The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth is printed in Boston, Massachusetts January 23 Georgetown College becomes the first Catholic coll by Esteban José Martínez , who built Fort San Miguel on one of Vancouver Island's small offshore islets in the Sound near Yuquot. This was to be the only Spanish settlement in what would later be Canada. The Spanish began seizing British ships and the two nations came close to war, but the issues were resolved peacefully in favour of the British with the Nootka Convention in 1792. Coordinating the handover was Captain George Vancouver from King's Lynn in England, who had sailed as a midshipman with Cook, and from whom the island gained its name.

The first British settlement on the island was a Hudson's Bay Company post, Fort Camosun, founded in 1843. This became the centre of an important base during the Fraser Gold Rush , and the burgeoning town was incorporated as Victoria in 1862. Victoria became the capital of the colony of Vancouver Island, then retained that status when the island was amalgamated with the mainland nearby. Victoria remains the capital of British Columbia, although long since surpassed in population by the city of Vancouver. Note that Vancouver is not on Vancouver Island (a matter of some confusion), and Victoria is on Vancouver Island, not Victoria Island (a much larger island in the Canadian Arctic). Vancouver Island is the exception to the Treaty of Oregon where the island south of the 49th parallel is under Canadian control.

A British naval base was established at Esquimalt, British Columbia in 1865, and eventually taken over by the Canadian military. It is the second largest Canadian naval base after that at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Vancouver Island's economy outside Victoria is largely dominated by the forestry industry, with tourism and fishing also playing a large role. Many of the logging operations are for paper pulp , in "2nd growth" tree farms that are harvested approximately every 30 years. In recent years the government of British Columbia has engaged in an advertising program to draw more tourists to beach resorts such as Tofino.

Logging operations involving old-growth forests such as those found on Clayoquot Sound are controversial, and have gained international attention through the efforts of environmental activist groups.