The District of Sechelt is located on the lower Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately 50 km northwest of Vancouver, Sechelt is accessible to the mainland of British Columbia via a 40 minute ferry trip between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale, and a 25 minute drive from Langdale along Highway 101, now known as the Sunshine Coast Highway. The municipality takes its name from the Coast Salish Shishalh people, who first settled the area thousands of years ago, and means "land between two waters". The original Village of Sechelt was incorporated on February 15, 1956. Sechelt later expanded its boundaries in 1986 with the inclusion of a number of adjacent unincorporated areas. The District of Sechelt, as it is known today, encompasses some 39.71 km² (15.33 sq mi) at the isthmus of the Sechelt Peninsula, between the southern tip of Sechelt Inlet (Porpoise Bay) and the Strait of Georgia that separates the provincial mainland from Vancouver Island). Sechelt is a seaside community that extends primarily along the coastline of the Sunshine Coast. It is bounded to the west and east by the unincorporated communities of Halfmoon Bay and Roberts Creek, respectively. As of the 2016 Canadian census its population was 10,216.