Washington

See also: National Parks and Monuments (table)National Parks and Monuments

National Parks
Name Type¹ Location Year authorized Size
acres (hectares)
Description
Acadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.
..... Click the link for more information.

Washington,

state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is bordered by Idaho (E); Oregon, with the Columbia River marking much of the boundary (S); the Pacific Ocean (W); and the Canadian province of British Columbia (N).

Facts and Figures

Area, 68,192 sq mi (176,617 sq km), including 1,483 sq mi (3,841 sq km) of inland water surface. Pop. (2010) 6,724,540, a 14.1% increase since the 2000 census. Capital, Olympia. Largest city, Seattle. Statehood, Nov. 11, 1889 (42d state). Highest pt., Mt. Rainier, 14,410 ft (4,395 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Evergreen State. Motto, Alki [By and By]. State bird, willow goldfinch. State flower, Western rhododendron. State tree, Western hemlock. Abbr., Wash., WA

Geography

The state comprises three major geographic zones. In the east, most of interior Washington is made up of the Columbia PlateauColumbia Plateau,
physiographic region of North America, c.100,000 sq mi (259,000 sq km), NW United States, between the Rocky Mts. and the Cascade Range in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
..... Click the link for more information. and the valleys of the Columbia River and its tributaries. Central Washington is dominated, and the state is divided, by the north-south Cascade Range. To the west of the Cascades lie coastal lowlands in the Puget Trough, Puget Sound and its many arms, and to their west the Coast Ranges, which in part form the backbone of the Olympic Peninsula.

The Interior

Washington's interior is a region of hard volcanic substructure, in many places scoured by glacial and river action, that is left largely dry by the shield the Cascades form against the Pacific winds; in some areas, as in the southeastern Palouse hills, loess deposits provide a basis for irrigated agriculture. The Blue Mts., an offshoot of the Rockies in the state's southeast corner, are one of the interior's few forested sections. The Columbia River enters the state from British Columbia in the northeast. After receiving the Spokane River from the east, it turns westward across the state and swings south at the foot of the Cascades, enclosing the Big Bend country. Near Washington's southern border, it receives the Yakima (from the west) and Snake (from the east), then bends westward again, forming the boundary with Oregon as it cuts through the Cascades on its way to the sea.

The Cascades

Washington's boldest physiographic feature is the lofty Cascade RangeCascade Range,
mountain chain, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, extending S from British Columbia to N Calif., where it becomes the Sierra Nevada; it parallels the Coast Ranges, 100–150 mi (161–241 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean.
..... Click the link for more information. , rising to 14,410 ft (4,392 m) at Mt. Rainier. The Cascades block the eastward movement of warm ocean air from the Alaska Current, causing abundant rainfall to the west and semiarid conditions to the east. The valleys of the Wenatchee, Yakima, and other rivers flowing eastward from the mountains are important irrigated farming areas, while the Cascades themselves are the site of North Cascades and Mount Rainier national parks, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, several national forests, and noted ski resorts. Their scenery is a major tourist attraction. Mount St. Helens, on the west slope near the Oregon boundary, is the most recent (1980) Cascade peak to erupt.

The West and the Pacific Coast

Washington's coastal region is one of the wettest areas in the United States, receiving up to 150 in. (381 cm) of rain per year at high elevations; it is correspondingly heavily forested, especially with spruce, fir, cedar, and hemlock. Between the Cascades and the much lower Coast RangesCoast Ranges,
series of mountain ranges along the Pacific coast of North America, extending from SE Alaska to Baja California; from 2,000 to 20,000 ft (610–6,100 m) high. The ranges include the St. Elias Mts.
..... Click the link for more information. to the west lies the Puget Trough, a lowland heavily indented by Puget SoundPuget Sound
, arm of the Pacific Ocean, NW Wash., connected with the Pacific by Juan de Fuca Strait, entered through the Admiralty Inlet and extending in two arms c.100 mi (160 km) S to Olympia.
..... Click the link for more information. , the site of Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, and most of the state's population and industry. The Coast Ranges rise to 7,965 ft (2,428 m) at Mt. Olympus in the Olympic Mts., within Olympic National Park. Along the Pacific coast, in the southwest, they are breached by two substantial bays, Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay. Puget Sound is filled with more than 300 islands, including the San Juan Archipelago and Whidbey Island; it is entered from the northwest through the Juan de Fuca Strait, from the north through the Strait of Georgia. Point Roberts, the northwesternmost portion of Washington on the latter strait, is the southern end of a peninsula that begins in Canada, and the area is not connected by land with the rest of the state.

Places of Interest and Cities

Visitors are attracted to Mount Rainier National ParkMount Rainier National Park
, 235,625 acres (95,395 hectares), SW Wash., in the Cascade Range; est. 1899. The area is dominated by Mt. Rainier, a volcanic peak 14,410 ft (4,392 m) high.
..... Click the link for more information. , Olympic National Park, North Cascades National ParkNorth Cascades National Park,
504,781 acres (204,436 hectares), N Washington. Located in the Cascade Range, the park has outstanding alpine scenery, including high jagged peaks, glaciers, icefalls, hanging valleys, and mountain lakes in high glacial cirques.
..... Click the link for more information. , Fort Vancouver and Whitman Mission national historic sites, and Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (see National Parks and MonumentsNational Parks and Monuments

National Parks
Name Type¹ Location Year authorized Size
acres (hectares)
Description
Acadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.
..... Click the link for more information. , table). Mt. Saint HelensSaint Helens, Mount,
volcanic peak, 8,363 ft (2,549 m; 9,677 ft/2,950 m before its 1980 eruption) high, SW Wash., historically the most active volcano in the Cascade Range. Dormant since 1857, Mt. St.
..... Click the link for more information. , which erupted in 1980, is now a national monument. Miles of apple and cherry orchards in the irrigated area just east of the Cascades create the spring landscape for which the state is famous. The rugged mountain slopes and grandeur of the Cascades draw climbers during the summer months, and in winter excellent snowfields near Seattle and Tacoma attract skiers. OlympiaOlympia,
city (1990 pop. 33,840), state capital, and seat of Thurston co., W Wash., at the southern tip of Puget Sound, on Budd Inlet; inc. 1859. A port of entry, it ships lumber products and agricultural produce.
..... Click the link for more information. is the capital; SeattleSeattle
, city (1990 pop. 516,259), seat of King co., W Wash., built on seven hills, between Elliott Bay of Puget Sound and Lake Washington; inc. 1869. Seattle, the largest city in the Pacific Northwest, is the region's commercial, financial, transportation, and industrial hub
..... Click the link for more information. , SpokaneSpokane
, city (1990 pop. 177,196), seat of Spokane co., E Wash., at the spectacular falls of the Spokane River; inc. 1881. It is a port of entry and the commercial, transportation, and industrial center of a productive region known as the "Inland Empire," comprising E
..... Click the link for more information. , and TacomaTacoma
, city (1990 pop. 176,664), seat of Pierce co., W Wash., on Commencement Bay and Puget Sound at the mouth of the Puyallup River; inc. 1884. It is a major seaport and railroad terminus and one of the chief industrial cities in the Northwest.
..... Click the link for more information. are the largest cities.

Economy

Washington's water resources provide both irrigation and enormous hydroelectric power. The impact of the ColumbiaColumbia,
river, c.1,210 mi (1,950 km) long, rising in Columbia Lake, SE British Columbia, Canada. It flows first NW in the Rocky Mt. Trench, then hooks sharply about the Selkirk Mts.
..... Click the link for more information. River on the life and economy of the state can scarcely be overestimated. In early days the river was a means of transport and a salmon-fishing field for many Native American tribes. Because of the steep drop from its origin to its mouth, the Columbia is one of the greatest sources of hydroelectric power in the world. Grand Coulee DamGrand Coulee Dam
, 550 ft (168 m) high and 4,173 ft (1,272 m) long, on the Columbia River, N central Wash., NW of Spokane; built 1933–42 as a key unit in the Columbia basin project of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
..... Click the link for more information. —one of the world's largest concrete dams and greatest potential power-producing structures—and Bonneville DamBonneville Dam
, one of the major dams on the Columbia River where it passes through the Cascade Mts., between Oregon and Wash. The dam, 2,690 ft (820 m) long and 197 ft (60 m) high, was built between 1933 and 1943 by the U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. have been supplemented, on the river's upper course, by Chief Joseph and Rocky Reach dams (both completed 1961), Priest Rapids Dam (1962), and Wanapum Dam (1963), and, on its lower course, by The Dalles Dam (1957), John Day Dam (1968), and McNary Dam (1953), all shared with Oregon.

The dams on the Columbia's lower course were designed as power, flood-control, and navigation projects, whereas the dams on the upper course are integral to the Columbia basin projectColumbia basin project,
central Wash., a multipurpose development of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation providing irrigation, hydroelectric power, and flood control. Its key unit, the Grand Coulee Dam, provides the project with power and pumps the waters of the Columbia River into
..... Click the link for more information. (with the Grand Coulee as the key unit), providing not only power and flood control but extensive irrigation to the Columbia Plateau. The Snake River in the east and the Yakima River in S central Washington also have important irrigation projects. Dams on the Skagit River (including Ross and Diablo, two of the world's highest) supply power to Seattle and the surrounding area.

Puget Sound is the heart of Washington's industrial and commercial development. It is navigable and has many beautiful bays, on which are situated such commercial and industrial cities as Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett. Seattle, an exporter and importer in trade with Asia and a gateway to Alaska (because of the protected Inland Passage), is a major U.S. city and a center for the manufacture of jet aircraft (as well as missiles and spacecraft) by the Boeing Corp. In recent years, computer software (Microsoft Corp. is near Seattle), electronics, and biotechnology have become increasingly important to the economy.

Washington's huge food processing industry is based on the state's diversified irrigated farming and dairying as well as on its abundant fishing resources. Salmon is the biggest catch, but halibut, bottomfish, oysters, and crabs are also significant.

Much of the land in E Washington is used for dry farming. Irrigation, however, has converted many of the river valleys east of the Cascades (especially the Yakima and Wenatchee) into garden areas. This region contains most of Washington's vineyards; from the 1980s the state has developed an important wine industry. Washington leads the country in the production of apples, sweet cherries, and pears and is a major wheat producer, chiefly in the hilly southeastern Palouse area. Washington is also a major producer of corn, onions, potatoes, apricots, grapes (including those made into wine), and other fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Cattle, dairy goods, sheep, and poultry are also economically important. Spokane is the commercial and transportation hub of the entire "Inland Empire" region between the Cascades and the Rockies, which extends into British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon.

Despite the vast semiarid expanse E of the Cascades, more than half of the state's area is forested, and the lumber and wood-products industry, so important in the early development of the state, remains one of its largest. Many of Washington's cities (among them Tacoma, Bellingham, Everett, and Anacortes) began as sawmill centers—Seattle itself was home to the original "Skid Road"—and lumber, pulp, paper, and related items are still among their major products.

Other important manufactures in the state are chemicals and primary metals, especially aluminum. Abundant water power and the rich aluminum and magnesium ores found in the Okanogan Highlands in the northeast part of the state have made Washington the nation's leading aluminum producer. Washington's chief minerals are sand and gravel, cement, stone, and diatomite. Gold, lead, and zinc are also found in the Okanogan Highlands. Tourism is an increasingly important industry.

Government and Higher Education

Washington still operates under its first constitution, adopted in 1889. Its executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. The legislature has a senate with 49 members and a house of representatives with 98 members. The state sends 2 senators and 10 representatives to the U.S. Congress and has 12 electoral votes. Democrat Mike Lowry, elected governor in 1992, was succeeded by another Democrat, Gary LockeLocke, Gary,
1950–, American politician and government official, b. Seattle. The son and grandson of Chinese immigrants, he graduated from Yale (B.A., 1972) and Boston Univ. Law School (J.D., 1975).
..... Click the link for more information. , elected in 1996 and reelected in 2000. Christine O. Gregoire, a Democrat, was narrowly elected to the office in 2004 after a hand recount. She had trailed after the first two vote counts, and the final count was challenged in court. Gregoire was reelected in 2008 and succeeded in 2012 by fellow Democrat Jay Inslee, who was reelected in 2016.

Among the state's institutions of higher learning are Central Washington Univ., at Ellensburg; Eastern Washington Univ., at Cheney; Evergreen State College, at Olympia; Gonzaga Univ., at Spokane; Pacific Lutheran Univ. and the Univ. of Puget Sound, at Tacoma; Seattle Univ. and the Univ. of Washington, at Seattle; Washington State Univ., at Pullman; Western Washington Univ., at Bellingham; and Whitman College, at Walla Walla.

History

European Exploration

Washington's early history is shared with that of the whole Oregon Territory. The perennial search for the Northwest PassageNorthwest Passage,
water routes through the Arctic Archipelago, N Canada, and along the northern coast of Alaska between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Even though the explorers of the 16th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. aroused initial interest in the area. Of the early explorers along the Pacific coast, Spanish expeditions under Juan Pérez (1774) and Bruno Heceta (1775) are the first known to have definitely skirted the coast of what is now Washington. Capt. James Cook's English expedition (1778) first opened up the area to the maritime fur trade with China, and British fur companies were soon exploring the West and encountering Russians pushing southward from posts in Alaska. In 1787, Charles William Barkley found the inland channel, which the following year John Meares named the Juan de Fuca Strait (after the sailor who is alleged to have discovered it). In 1792, the British explorer George Vancouver and the American fur trader Robert Gray crossed paths along the Washington coast. Vancouver sailed into Puget Sound and mapped the area; Gray, convinced of the existence of a great river that the other explorers rejected, found the entrance, crossed the dangerous bar, and sailed up the Columbia, establishing U.S. claims to the areas that it drained.

Early Settlement and Boundary Disputes

The Lewis and Clark expedition, which reached the area in 1805, and the establishment of John Jacob Astor's settlement, AstoriaAstoria
. 1 Commercial, industrial, and residential section of NW Queens borough of New York City, SE N.Y.; settled in the 17th cent. as Hallet's Cove. It was renamed for John Jacob Astor in 1839.
..... Click the link for more information. , both helped to further the American claim; but in 1807 the Canadian trader David Thompson traveled the length of the Columbia, mapping the region and establishing British counterclaims. After Astoria was sold to the North West CompanyNorth West Company,
fur-trading organization in North America in the late 18th and early 19th cent.; it was composed of Montreal trading firms and fur traders. Formation
..... Click the link for more information. in the War of 1812, British interests appeared paramount, although in 1818 a treaty provided for 10 years (later extended) of joint rights for the United States and Great Britain in the Columbia River country. The Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay Company,
corporation chartered (1670) by Charles II of England for the purpose of trade and settlement in the Hudson Bay region of North America and for exploration toward the discovery of the Northwest Passage to Asia.
..... Click the link for more information. absorbed the North West Company in 1821 and, under the patriarchal guidance of Dr. John McLoughlin, dominated the region until challenged by the Americans in the 1840s.

Fort Vancouver, on the site of present-day Vancouver, sheltered American overland traders—particularly Jedediah Smith, Benjamin Bonneville, and Nathaniel Wyeth—and later the American missionaries, who were the first real settlers in the area north of the Columbia. Marcus Whitman established (1836) a mission at Waiilatpu (near present-day Walla Walla), which for a decade not only served Native Americans as a medical and religious center but also provided an indispensable rest stop for immigrants on the Oregon TrailOregon Trail,
overland emigrant route in the United States from the Missouri River to the Columbia River country (all of which was then called Oregon). The pioneers by wagon train did not, however, follow any single narrow route.
..... Click the link for more information. . Meanwhile the British, although despairing of control over the area S of the Columbia, were still determined to retain the region to the north; the Americans, on the other hand, demanded the ouster of the British from the whole of the Columbia River country up to a lat. of 54°40'N. "Fifty-four forty or fight" became a slogan in the 1844 election campaign, and for a time war with Britain threatened. However, diplomacy prevailed, and in 1846 the boundary was set at lat. 49°N.

Native American Resistance and Territorial Status

Peace with the British did not, however, preclude Native American conflict. Partly as a protective measure, the Oregon Territory, embracing the Washington area, was created the following year; but in 1853 the region was divided, and Washington Territory (containing a part of what is now Idaho) was set up, with Isaac Stevens as the first governor. (The Idaho section was cut away when Idaho Territory was formed in 1863.) Meanwhile, some of the pioneers on the oregon trailOregon Trail,
overland emigrant route in the United States from the Missouri River to the Columbia River country (all of which was then called Oregon). The pioneers by wagon train did not, however, follow any single narrow route.
..... Click the link for more information. began to turn northward, and a small settlement sprang up at New Market, or Tumwater (near present-day Olympia).

After word of the needs of California gold-seekers for lumber and food spread northward, settlers recognized the commercial potential of the Puget Sound country and poured into the area in ever-increasing numbers. Lumber and fishing industries arose to satisfy the demand to the south, and new towns, including Seattle, were founded. Meanwhile Stevens, who also served as superintendent of Indian affairs, set about persuading the Native Americans to sell much of their lands and settle on reservations. Treaties with the coast tribes were quickly concluded, but the inland tribes revolted, and hostilities with the Cayuse, the Yakima, and the Nez Percé tribes continued for many years. Over the years, Native Americans remained a small but significant presence in the state; in the early 1990s their population was over 81,000.

Gold, Immigration, and Statehood

Gold was first discovered in Washington in 1852 by a Hudson's Bay Company agent at Fort Colville, but the Yakima War was then in progress and it hindered extensive mining activity. In 1860 the Orofino Creek and Clearwater River deposits were uncovered, bringing a rush of prospectors to the Walla Walla area. The major influx of settlers was delayed, however, until the 1880s, when transport by rail became possible (the first of three transcontinental railroads linked to Washington was completed in 1883).

The population almost quadrupled between 1880 and 1890; although the majority of the new settlers were from the East and Midwest, the territory also absorbed large numbers of foreign immigrants. Chinese laborers had been brought in during the 1860s to aid in placer mining; after 1870 they were followed by substantial groups of Germans, Scandinavians, Russians, Dutch, and Japanese immigrants. By the time Washington became a state in 1889, the wide sagebrush plains of E Washington had been given over to cattle and sheep, agriculture was flourishing in the fertile valleys, and the lumber industry had been founded.

Although some agrarian and labor dissatisfaction with the railroads and other big corporations existed, giving rise to the Granger movementGranger movement,
American agrarian movement taking its name from the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, an organization founded in 1867 by Oliver H. Kelley and six associates. Its local units were called granges and its members grangers.
..... Click the link for more information. and the Populist partyPopulist party,
in U.S. history, political party formed primarily to express the agrarian protest of the late 19th cent. In some states the party was known as the People's party.
..... Click the link for more information. , the discovery of gold in Alaska in 1897 brought renewed prosperity. Seattle, the primary departure point for the Klondike, became a boomtown. Labor and election reform laws were enacted, and the primary, the initiative, the referendum, and the recall were adopted.

The Early Twentieth Century

The turn of the century brought labor clashes that gave Washington a reputation as a radical state. The extreme policies of the Industrial Workers of the WorldIndustrial Workers of the World
(IWW), revolutionary industrial union organized in Chicago in 1905 by delegates from the Western Federation of Mines, which formed the nucleus of the IWW, and 42 other labor organizations.
..... Click the link for more information. (IWW; also known as the "Wobblies") proved appealing to the shipyard and dock workers and to the loggers, and in 1917 the U.S. War Dept. was forced to intervene in a lumber industry dispute. A general strike following World War I had a crippling effect on the state's economy; antilabor feeling increased, and the famous incident at Centralia resulted in bloody strife between the IWW and the American Legion. The alarmed and brutal reaction of management to radical labor policies produced a confrontational atmosphere that hindered the mediation until the onset of the lean days of the 1930s and the emergence of the New Deal.

Washington was an important center of the defense industry during World War II, particularly with the immense aircraft industry in Seattle and the Manhattan ProjectManhattan Project,
the wartime effort to design and build the first nuclear weapons (atomic bombs). With the discovery of fission in 1939, it became clear to scientists that certain radioactive materials could be used to make a bomb of unprecented power. U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. 's Hanford Works at Richland. (Decades later it was discovered that the Hanford facility had leaked large amounts of hazardous radioactive waste in the 1940s and 50s.) During the war, the large Japanese-American population in the state (more than 15,000 persons) was moved eastward to camps, where they suffered great physical and emotional hardship.

Postwar Change and New Industry

In the postwar period military spending continued to pour into such facilities as the Hanford nuclear reservation and the Bremerton naval shipyard, as well as into Boeing's bomber production. At the same time, trade with Asia boomed. Since the 1970s, Washington has attracted a large number of firms moving from California to a more favorable business climate. These include computer software manufacturers and other high-technology companies. The increased economic diversification and stepped-up activity in high-tech industries have cushioned the impact of job losses in the 1990s from post–cold war cutbacks, especially in aerospace orders for Boeing. At the same time, industrial and residential growth has brought the state face to face with environmental issues, among them the effects of continued massive logging and the impact of dams on fish populations.

Bibliography

See E. I. Stewart, Washington: Northwest Frontier (4 vol., 1957); M. W. Avery, Washington: A History of the Evergreen State (1965); P. L. Beckett, From Wilderness to Enabling Act (1968); J. Olson and G. Olson, Washington Times and Trails (1970); J. A. Alwin, Between the Mountains: A Portrait of Eastern Washington (1984); C. J. Manson, Theses on Washington Geology, 1901–1985 (1986); J. W. Scott and R. L. DeLorme, Historical Atlas of Washington (1988).

Washington,

town (1991 pop. 48,856), Sunderland metropolitan district, NE England. Washington was designated one of the new townsnew towns,
planned urban communities in Great Britain, developed by long-term loans from the central government and first authorized by the New Towns Act of 1946. The chief purpose of the act was to reduce congestion in the great cities (or at least prevent its increase) through
..... Click the link for more information. in 1964 to alleviate overpopulation in the Tyneside-Wearside area. Industries include the production of electronics and electrical products, chemicals, iron, steel, and motor vehicles. There is a wildlife refuge and arts center.

Washington.

1 City (1990 pop. 10,838), seat of Daviess co., SW Ind.; settled 1805, inc. as a city 1871. Turkey processing and farming are the chief economic activities, and there is light manufacturing.

2 City, SW Ohio: see Washington Court HouseWashington Court House,
city (1990 pop. 12,983), seat of Fayette co., SW Ohio, on Paint Creek, in a productive farm, dairy, and poultry area; laid out and founded c.1810, inc. 1831. Its many manufactures include shoes, gloves, dairy products, and automobile and aircraft parts.
..... Click the link for more information. , Ohio.

3 City (1990 pop. 15,864), seat of Washington co., SW Pa., in a bituminous coal region; settled 1769, laid out 1781, inc. as a city 1924. There is agriculture, coal mining, limestone quarrying, tool and die making, and the manufacture of metal, paper, and plastic products, valves, machinery, iron molds for the glass industry, and wire and cable. The David Bradford House, erected in 1788, was a meeting place in the Whiskey RebellionWhiskey Rebellion,
1794, uprising in the Pennsylvania counties W of the Alleghenies, caused by Alexander Hamilton's excise tax of 1791. The settlers, mainly Scotch-Irish, for whom whiskey was an important economic commodity, resented the tax as discriminatory and detrimental to
..... Click the link for more information. (1794). Le Moyne House (1812) was the home of Dr. Francis Le Moyne, an abolitionist leader. Washington and Jefferson College (1781; oldest college W of the Alleghenies) is there.

Washington State Information

Phone: (360) 753-5000
access.wa.gov

Area (sq mi):: 71299.64 (land 66544.06; water 4755.58) Population per square mile: 94.50
Population 2005: 6,287,759 State rank: 0 Population change: 2000-20005 6.70%; 1990-2000 21.10% Population 2000: 5,894,121 (White 78.90%; Black or African American 3.20%; Hispanic or Latino 7.50%; Asian 5.50%; Other 9.50%). Foreign born: 10.40%. Median age: 35.30
Income 2000: per capita $22,973; median household $45,776; Population below poverty level: 10.60% Personal per capita income (2000-2003): $31,779-$33,254
Unemployment (2004): 6.30% Unemployment change (from 2000): 1.30% Median travel time to work: 25.50 minutes Working outside county of residence: 18.20%

List of Washington counties:

Adams County

Asotin County

Benton County

Chelan County

Clallam County

Clark County

Columbia County

Cowlitz County

Douglas County

Ferry County

Franklin County

Garfield County

Grant County

Grays Harbor County

Island County

Jefferson County

King County

Kitsap County

Kittitas County

Klickitat County

Lewis County

Lincoln County

Mason County

Okanogan County

Pacific County

Pend Oreille County

Pierce County

San Juan County

Skagit County

Skamania County

Snohomish County

Spokane County

Stevens County

Thurston County

Wahkiakum County

Walla Walla County

Whatcom County

Whitman County

Yakima County

Washington Parks

US National Parks

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park - Seattle Unit
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
Mount Rainier National Park
North Cascades National Park
Olympic National Park

Ross Lake National Recreation Area
San Juan Island National Historical Park
Whitman Mission National Historic Site

Urban Parks
Discovery Park
Green Lake Park
Seward Park
Warren G. Magnuson Park

State Parks

Alta Lake State Park
Anderson Lake State Park
Battle Ground Lake State Park
Bay View State Park
Beacon Rock State Park
Belfair State Park
Birch Bay State Park
Blake Island State Park
Bogachiel State Park
Bridgeport State Park
Bridle Trails State Park
Brooks Memorial State Park
Camano Island State Park
Cape Disappointment State Park
Centennial Trail State Park
Columbia Hills State Park
Columbia Plateau Trail State Park
Conconully State Park
Crawford State Park
Curlew Lake State Park
Damon Point State Park
Daroga State Park
Dash Point State Park
Deception Pass State Park
Dosewallips State Park
Doug's Beach State Park
Fay Bainbridge State Park
Federation Forest State Park
Fields Spring State Park
Flaming Geyser State Park
Fort Casey State Park
Fort Columbia State Park
Fort Ebey State Park
Fort Flagler State Park
Fort Okanogan State Park
Fort Simcoe State Park
Fort Ward State Park
Fort Worden State Park
Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park

Goldendale Observatory State Park
Grayland Beach State Park
Griffiths-Priday Ocean State Park
Hope Island State Park
Ike Kinswa State Park
Illahee State Park
Iron Horse State Park
Jarrell Cove State Park
Joemma Beach State Park
Joseph Whidbey State Park
Kanaskat-Palmer State Park
Kitsap Memorial State Park
Kopachuck State Park
Lake Chelan State Park
Lake Easton State Park
Lake Sammamish State Park
Lake Sylvia State Park
Lake Wenatchee State Park
Larrabee State Park
Lewis & Clark State Park
Lewis & Clark Trail State Park
Lime Kiln Point State Park
Lincoln Rock State Park
Manchester State Park
Maryhill State Park
McMicken Island State Park
Millersylvania State Park
Moran State Park
Mount Pilchuck State Park
Mount Spokane State Park
Mystery Bay State Park
Nolte State Park
Ocean City State Park
Olallie State Park
Old Fort Townsend State Park
Olmstead Place State Park
Osoyoos Lake State Park
Pacific Beach State Park
Pacific Pines State Park

Palouse Falls State Park
Paradise Point State Park
Peace Arch State Park
Pearrygin Lake State Park
Penrose Point State Park
Peshastin Pinnacles State Park
Potholes State Park
Potlatch State Park
Rainbow Falls State Park
Rasar State Park
Riverside State Park
Rockport State Park
Sacajawea State Park
Saint Edward State Park
Saltwater State Park
Scenic Beach State Park
Schafer State Park
Seaquest State Park
Sequim Bay State Park
Shine Tidelands State Park
South Whidbey Island State Park
Spencer Spit State Park
Squilchuck State Park
Steamboat Rock State Park
Steptoe Battlefield State Park
Steptoe Butte State Park
Sun Lakes State Park
Tolmie State Park
Triton Cove State Park
Twanoh State Park
Twenty-Five Mile Creek State Park
Twin Harbors Beach State Park
Wallace Falls State Park
Wenatchee Confluence State Park
Wenberg State Park
Westport Light State Park
Yakima Sportsman State Park

Parks and Conservation-Related Organizations - US
Back Country Horsemen of America (BCHA)
The Mountaineers
Washington Environmental Council (WEC)
Washington Trails Association (WTA)

National Wildlife Refuges

Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge
Columbia National Wildlife Refuge
Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Copalis National Wildlife Refuge
Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge
Flattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge
Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge
Hanford Reach National Monument

Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer
Lewis & Clark National Wildlife Refuge
Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge
McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge
McNary National Wildlife Refuge
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Pierce National Wildlife Refuge
Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge
San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge
Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge
Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge

National Trails
Old Spanish National Historic Trail
National Scenic Byways
Chinook Scenic Byway
Coulee Corridor Scenic Byway
Historic Columbia River Highway
Mountains to Sound Greenway
Stevens Pass Greenway
Straight of Juan de Fuca Highway
National Forests
Colville National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Okanogan National Forest
Olympic National Forest
Wenatchee National Forest
Marine Sanctuaries
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary

Washington

a state in the northwestern USA bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north by Canada. Area, 176,600 sq km. Population (1970 census), 3.3 million, 70 percent of whom live in urban areas.

The state capital of Washington is Olympia, and the largest city and port is Seattle. To the west are the Coast Range of mountains, separated from the high Cascade Mountains (whose highest peak is the 4,392-m Mount Rainier) by a narrow valley of Puget Sound. To the east is the Columbia Plateau, a lava plateau through which the Columbia and Snake rivers have carved their courses. In the western section of the state the average temperature is 4° C in January, the average temperature in July is 16° or 17° C, and annual precipitation is 2,000 mm; in the east, the average January temperature is -2° or -3° C, average July temperature is 20° to 23° C, and annual precipitation is 400-500 mm. The western mountains are covered with coniferous forests (Douglas firs among others), and the plateau is a forest and grassland area.

Washington has the richest supply of hydroelectric energy in the USA (more than 15 million kilowatt-hours [kW-hr]). Large hydroelectric stations have been built there (primarily in the Columbia River basin), including the largest one in the United States, Grand Coulee Dam. In 1969 the overall production of electrical energy reached 11.6 million kW-hr; of this, 10.2 million kW-hr were produced by hydroelectric stations. In 1969, 290,000 people worked in manufacturing industries and 2,000 in extractive industries. Aerospace industries are the most important and are concentrated in the city of Seattle and its suburbs (for example, Boeing factories). Energy-intensive industries are highly developed and include aluminum smelting (plants in Spokane, Wenatchee, Tacoma, and elsewhere), iron smelting, electrochemical and atomic industries (the Hanford plutonium operations), and copper production, primarily from imported concentrates (Tacoma). There is a naval shipyard in Bremerton, as well as other shipyards in the port cities along Puget Sound. Washington is first in the United States in the lumbering and wood products industries, making use especially of its coniferous trees. Among its products from these industries are veneers and papers. There are oil refineries supplied by Canadian pipelines. Along the coast there are dairies and truck farms; in 1969 there were 1.3 million head of cattle, which included 210,000 dairy cows. In the fertile regions of the Columbia Plateau there are large wheat fields and, in irrigated areas, pasture lands and orchards. (These are mainly apple orchards and are concentrated in the area around Yakima.) Washington also has fishing and canning industries. (Salmon and halibut are common.) Seattle and other ports along Puget Sound are major links between the USA mainland and Alaska.

V. M. GOKHMAN

Washington

Forty-second state; admitted on November 11, 1889

Admission Day is observed in Washington by closing public schools (however, schools are expected to hold special patriotic and historic programs on the preceding Friday). Former significant anniversaries of statehood—the 25th, 50th, and 75th—were commemorated with speeches (by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939) and ceremonies.

State capital: Olympia Nickname: Evergreen State State motto: Alki (unspecified American Indian language

“By and By”) State amphibian: Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla) State arboretum: Washington Park Arboretum State bird: Willow goldfinch or wild canary (Spinus tristis

salicamans) State colors: Green and gold State dance: Square dance State fish: Steelhead trout (Salmo gairdnerii) State flower: Coast or pink rhododendron (Rhododendron

macrophyllum) State folk song: “Roll on, Columbia, Roll on” State fossil: Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) State fruit: Apple (Malus sylvestris) State gem: Petrified wood State grass: Bluebunch wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum) State insect: Green darner dragonfly (Anax junius Drury) State marine mammal: Orca (Orcinus orca) State ship: Lady Washington State song: “Washington, My Home” State tartan: Washington State Tartan State tree: Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) State vegetable: Walla Walla sweet onion

More about state symbols at:

www.leg.wa.gov/Legislature/StateSymbols/
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/seal/symbols.aspx

More about the state at:

historylink.org/

SOURCES:

AmerBkDays-2000, p. 766
AnnivHol-2000, p. 189

STATE OFFICES:

State web site:
access.wa.gov

Office of the Governor4
302 14th St SW
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504
360-902-4111
fax: 360-753-4110
www.governor.wa.gov

Secretary of State
PO Box 40220
Olympia, WA 98504
360-902-4151
fax: 360-586-5629
www.secstate.wa.gov

Washington State Library 6880 Capitol Blvd S Olympia, WA 98504 360-704-5200 fax: 360-586-7575 www.secstate.wa.gov/library

Legal Holidays:

Day after Thanksgiving

Nov 25, 2011; Nov 23, 2012; Nov 29, 2013; Nov 28, 2014; Nov 27, 2015; Nov 25, 2016; Nov 24, 2017; Nov 23, 2018; Nov 29, 2019; Nov 27, 2020; Nov 26, 2021; Nov 25, 2022; Nov 24, 2023

Washington

¹1. Booker T(aliaferro). 1856--1915, US Black educationalist and writer 2. Denzil . US film actor; his films include Glory (1990), Malcolm X (1992), The Hurricane (1999), and John Q. (2002) 3. George. 1732--99, US general and statesman; first president of the US (1789--97). He was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army (1775) at the outbreak of the War of American Independence, which ended with his defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown (1781). He presided over the convention at Philadelphia (1787) that formulated the constitution of the US and elected him president

Washington

²1. a state of the northwestern US, on the Pacific: consists of the Coast Range and the Olympic Mountains in the west and the Columbia Plateau in the east. Capital: Olympia. Pop.: 6 131 445 (2003 est.). Area: 172 416 sq. km (66 570 sq. miles) 2. the capital of the US, coextensive with the District of Columbia and situated near the E coast on the Potomac River: site chosen by President Washington in 1790; contains the White House and the Capitol; a major educational and administrative centre. Pop.: 563 384 (2003 est.) 3. a town in Tyne and Wear: designated a new town in 1964. Pop.: 53 388 (2001) 4. Mount. a mountain in N New Hampshire, in the White Mountains: the highest peak in the northeast US; noted for extreme weather conditions. Height: 1917 m (6288 ft.) 5. Lake. a lake in W Washington, forming the E boundary of the city of Seattle: linked by canal with Puget Sound. Length: about 32 km (20 miles). Width: 6 km (4 miles)

Washington

Wash·ing·ton

Washington

Washington

Wash•ing•ton

Washington

Washington,

Facts and Figures

Geography

The Interior

The Cascades

The West and the Pacific Coast

Places of Interest and Cities

Economy

Government and Higher Education

History

European Exploration

Early Settlement and Boundary Disputes

Native American Resistance and Territorial Status

Gold, Immigration, and Statehood

The Early Twentieth Century

Postwar Change and New Industry

Bibliography

Washington,

Washington.

Washington State Information

List of Washington counties:

Washington Parks

Washington

Washington

Legal Holidays:

Washington

Washington

Washington

Synonyms for Washington

noun the capital of the United States in the District of Columbia and a tourist mecca

Synonyms

Related Words

noun a state in northwestern United States on the Pacific

Synonyms

Related Words

noun the federal government of the United States

Synonyms

noun 1st President of the United States

Synonyms

noun United States educator who was born a slave but became educated and founded a college at Tuskegee in Alabama (1856-1915)

Synonyms