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Home > Washington
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Washington
The state of Washington is located in the Pacific Northwest district of the United States. In 1889, Washington was acknowledged to the Union as the 42nd state. The Census Bureau projected the state's population at 6,395,798 in 2006.
The state is named after the first President of the US, George Washington. People in Washington are called "Washingtonians". Washington is at times called the State of Washington or Washington State to differentiate it from the the U.S. capital, city of Washington.
Its northern border lies mostly along the 49th parallel, and then by means of marine boundaries in the course of the Strait of Georgia, Strait and Haro Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the company of the Canadian territory of British Columbia to the north. Washington borders Idaho to the east, bounded generally by the meridian in succession north from the converging of the Clearwater River and Snake River (about 116°57' west), excluding the southernmost section where the boundary follows the Snake River. Washington borders Oregon to the south, with the 46th parallel forming the eastern part of the southern boundary and the Columbia River forming most of the boundary. To the west of Washington stretched out the Pacific Ocean.
Washington is in the region recognized as the Pacific Northwest, a term which frequently includes part of Alaska and all of British Columbia in Canada. Occasionally it refers only to lands inside the Northwestern United States, counting Oregon but the term suitably includes Southeast Alaska (the Panhandle) and British Columbia and in some reckonings takes account of the Yukon Territory, the western counties of Montana, the northern counties of California, and Idaho.
The towering mountains of the Cascade Range pass through north-south, spliting the state. Western Washington, west of Cascades, has a typically marine west coast climate with moderately mild temperatures, drenched winters, and arid summers. Western Washington in addition supports thick forests of conifers and parts of clement rain forest. In contrast, Eastern Washington, east of Cascades, has a moderately arid climate with huge areas of semiarid plain and a few very arid deserts lying in the rainshadow of Cascades; the Hanford reservation collects an average yearly precipitation of between 6 and 7 inches (178 mm). Farther east, the climate becomes less arid. The Palouse region was grassland that has been mostly transformed into farmland. Other areas of eastern Washington are mountainous and forested.
The Cascade Range contains a number of volcanoes, which reach heights considerably more elevated than the rest of the mountains. From the south to the north these volcanoes are Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Glacier Peak, and Mount Baker. Mount St. Helens is at present the only Washington volcano that is energetically erupting; yet, all are considered active volcanoes. The Galena chain lakes are nestled among the hills.
Washington's location on the harbors of Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean provide the state a important role in maritime trade with Pacific Rim, Canada, and the Alaska. Puget Sound's numerous islands are served by the biggest ferry fleet in the United States.
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