# Spallumcheen

Spallumcheen is a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Located in the Okanagan region between Vernon and Enderby, the township had a population of 5,055 and land area of 255.77 square kilometres (98.75 sq mi) in the Canada 2011 Census. The district, whose official name is the Township of Spallumcheen and which is the oldest rural municipality in the British Columbia Interior (incorporated in 1892), consists primarily of agricultural land surrounding the separately incorporated City of Armstrong. Both Spallumcheen and Armstrong are member municipalities of the Regional District of North Okanagan.

## Etymology

The name is derived from a Shuswap language word, either "spil-a-mi-shine" meaning "flat mouth", or "spal-lum-shin" meaning "meadow flat". Another word, spalmtsin, which has an Okanagan language cognate spelemtsin, means "flat area along edge". Other variations include Spellmacheen and Spallamcheen, which were the original names used for the Shuswap River, which exits the Shuswap Highland in this area and heads north to Mara and Shuswap Lakes. The same word is the source of the name of the Spillimacheen River and the settlement of the same name in the Columbia Valley.

## Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Spallumcheen had a population of 5,307 living in 2,036 of its 2,099 total private dwellings, a change of 3.9% from its 2016 population of 5,106. With a land area of 254.92 km$^2$ (98.43 sq mi), it had a population density of 20.8/km$^2$ (53.9/sq mi) in 2021.

### Ethnicity

Panethnic groups in the District of Spallumcheen (2001−2021) :
| Panethnic group | 2021 | 2021 | 2016 | 2016 | 2011 | 2011 | 2006 | 2006 | 2001 | 2001 |
| Panethnic group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| European | 4,915 | 92.65% | 4,720 | 92.55% | 4,690 | 92.96% | 4,690 | 94.56% | 4,790 | 93.37% |
| Indigenous | 310 | 5.84% | 275 | 5.39% | 320 | 6.34% | 220 | 4.44% | 240 | 4.68% |
| East Asian | 30 | 0.57% | 40 | 0.78% | 40 | 0.79% | 20 | 0.4% | 50 | 0.97% |
| Southeast Asian | 20 | 0.38% | 35 | 0.69% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.2% | 15 | 0.29% |
| African | 15 | 0.28% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| South Asian | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 30 | 0.6% | 10 | 0.19% |
| Latin American | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.2% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 20 | 0.39% |
| Middle Eastern | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Other/Multiracial | 0 | 0% | 20 | 0.39% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.2% | 10 | 0.19% |
| Total responses | 5,305 | 99.96% | 5,100 | 99.88% | 5,045 | 100.1% | 4,960 | 100% | 5,130 | 99.92% |
| Total population | 5,307 | 100% | 5,106 | 100% | 5,040 | 100% | 4,960 | 100% | 5,134 | 100% |
| Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses |||||||||||

### Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Spallumcheen included:
* Irreligion (2,925 persons or 55.1%)
* Christianity (2,315 persons or 43.6%)
** Catholic (345 persons or 6.5%)
** United Church (215 persons or 4.1%)
** Baptist (135 persons or 2.5%)
** Reformed (110 persons or 2.1%)
** Anabaptist (65 persons or 1.2%)
** Lutheran (65 persons or 1.2%)
** Other Christian (1,380 persons or 26.0%)
* Other (50 persons or 0.9%)