Everything about Washington totally explained
Washington is a
state in the
Pacific Northwest region of the
United States. Named after
George Washington, it's the only
U.S. state named after a president.
Washington was carved out of the western part of
Washington Territory and admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. In 2006, the
Census Bureau estimated the state's population at 6,395,798. Residents are called "Washingtonians" (emphasis on the third syllable, pronounced as
tone). Washington is sometimes called
Washington state or
The state of Washington to distinguish it from
Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital.
Geography
Washington is the northwestern-most state of the
contiguous United States. Its northern border lies mainly along the
49th parallel, with the
Canadian province of
British Columbia to the north. Washington borders
Oregon to the south, with the
Columbia River forming most of the boundary and the 46th parallel forming the eastern part of the southern boundary. To the east Washington borders
Idaho, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the
Snake River and
Clearwater River (about 116°57' west), except for the southernmost section where the border follows the Snake River. To the west of Washington lies the
Pacific Ocean.
Washington is in the region known as the
Pacific Northwest, a term which often includes part or all of
British Columbia in
Canada and part of
Alaska. Sometimes it refers only to lands within the
northwestern United States, including
Oregon.
The high mountains of the
Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state.
Western Washington, west of the Cascades, has a mostly
marine west coast climate with relatively mild temperatures, wet winters, and dry summers. Western Washington also supports dense forests of conifers and areas of
temperate rain forest. In contrast,
Eastern Washington, east of the Cascades, has a relatively dry climate with large areas of semiarid
steppe and a few truly arid
deserts lying in the
rainshadow of the Cascades; the Hanford reservation receives an average annual precipitation of between six and seven inches (178 mm) . Farther east, the climate becomes less arid. The
Palouse region of southeast Washington was grassland that has been mostly converted into farmland. Other parts of eastern Washington are forested and mountainous.
The Cascade Range contains several
volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains. From the north to the south these volcanoes are
Mount Baker,
Glacier Peak,
Mount Rainier,
Mount St. Helens, and
Mount Adams.
Mount St. Helens is currently the only Washington volcano that's actively erupting; however, all of them are considered active volcanoes. Nestled amongst the hills are the
Galena chain lakes.
Washington's position on the Pacific Ocean and the harbors of
Puget Sound give the state a leading role in maritime trade with
Alaska, Canada, and the
Pacific Rim. Puget Sound's many islands are served by the largest
ferry fleet in the United States.
Washington is a land of contrasts. The deep forests of the
Olympic Peninsula, such as the
Hoh Rain Forest, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States, but the semi-desert east of the Cascade Range has few trees.
Mount Rainier, the highest mountain in the state,
The
Climate Impacts Group
(CIG) at the
University of Washington studies the impacts of
climate change in the
Pacific Northwest state of
Washington. In 2006, a group of scientists and economists published The Impacts of
Climate change in Washington’s Economy, a preliminary assessment on the risks and opportunities presented given the possibility of a rise in global temperatures and their effects on Washington State.
Rain shadow effects
The coastal mountains and Cascades compound this climatic pattern by causing
orographic lift of the air masses blown inland from the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the windward side of the mountains receiving high levels of precipitation and the leeward side receiving low levels. This occurs most dramatically around the Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Range. In both cases the windward slopes facing southwest receive high precipitation and mild, cool temperatures. In contrast, the leeward slopes facing northeast experience a
rain shadow effect, with low precipitation and warmer temperatures. As a result, there are
temperate rain forests on the southwest side of the Olympic Mountains while the northeast side has a drier climate sometimes called
sub-mediterranean climate. The
San Juan Islands and the city of
Sequim are known for their dry climate compared to the rest of the coastal region. The Olympic rain shadow extends into Canada. Terms like "Mediterranean", "sub-Mediterranean", and "modified Mediterranean" are sometimes used to describe the Olympic rainshadow region even though it's quite different from the standard "Mediterranean" climate. The terms are mainly used to indicate a climate with wet winters and dry summers with regular drought conditions.
The Cascade Range forms a larger barrier than the Olympics and has a correspondingly stronger
orographic effect. While the Puget Sound lowlands are known for clouds and rain in the winter, the western slopes of the Cascades receive larger amounts of precipitation, often falling as snow at higher elevations. (
Mount Baker, near the state's northern border, is one of the snowiest places in the world: in 1999, it set the world record for snowfall in a single season. (1,140 inches/95 feet/2,896 cm)
(External Link).) East of the Cascades, a large region experiences strong
rain shadow effects.
Semi-arid conditions occur in much of eastern Washington with the strongest rain shadow effects at the relatively low elevations of the central
Columbia River Plateau — especially the region just east of the Columbia River from about the Snake River to the
Okanagan Highland. Thus instead of rain forests much of eastern Washington is covered with
grassland and
shrub-steppe.
Temperatures
The average annual temperature ranges from 51 °F (10.6 °C) on the Pacific coast to 40 °F (4.4 °C) in the northeast. The recorded temperature in the state has ranged from -48 °F (-44.4 °C) to 118 °F (47.8 °C) with both records set east of the Cascades. Western Washington is known for its mild climate, considerable fog, frequent cloud cover and long-lasting drizzles in the winter, and sunny and dry summers. The western region occasionally experiences extreme climate. Arctic cold fronts in the winter and heat waves in the summer are not uncommon. The western side of the Olympic Peninsula receives as much as 160 inches (4064 mm) of precipitation annually, making it the wettest area of the 48 conterminous states. Weeks or even months may pass without a clear day. The western slopes of the Cascade Range receive some of the heaviest annual snowfall (in some places more than 200 inches/5080 mm) in the country. In the rain shadow area east of the Cascades, the annual precipitation is only 6 inches (152 mm). Precipitation increases eastward toward the Rocky Mountains.
History
Europe, this region of the Pacific Coast had many established tribes of
Native Americans, each with its own unique culture. Today, they're most notable for their
totem poles and their ornately carved canoes and masks. Prominent among their industries were
salmon fishing and
whale hunting. In the east, nomadic tribes traveled the land and missionaries such as the
Whitmans settled there.
The first
European record of a landing on the Washington coast was by
Spanish Captain
Don Bruno de Heceta in 1775, on board the
Santiago, part of a two-ship
flotilla with the
Sonora. They claimed all the coastal lands up to the
Russian possessions in the north for
Spain.
In 1778,
British explorer Captain
James Cook sighted
Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the
Strait of Juan de Fuca, but the straits wouldn't be explored until 1789, by Captain Charles W. Barkley. Further explorations of the straits were performed by
Spanish explorers Manuel Quimper in 1790 and Francisco de Eliza in 1791, then by British Captain
George Vancouver in 1792.
The Spanish
Nootka Convention of 1790 opened the northwest territory to explorers and trappers from other nations, most notably
Britain and then the
United States. American captain
Robert Gray (for whom
Grays Harbor County is named) then discovered the mouth of the
Columbia River. He named the river after his ship, the
Columbia. Beginning in 1792, Gray established trade in
sea otter pelts. The
Lewis and Clark Expedition entered the state on
October 10,
1805.
In 1819,
Spain ceded their original claims to this territory to the United States. This began a period of
disputed joint-occupancy by Britain and the U.S. that lasted until
June 15,
1846, when Britain ceded their claims to this land with the
Treaty of Oregon.
In 1836, a group of missionaries including
Marcus Whitman established several missions and Whitman’s own settlement Waiilatpu, in what is now southeastern Washington state, near present day
Walla Walla, in territory of both the
Cayuse and the
Nez Percé Indian tribes. Whitman’s settlement would in 1843 help the
Oregon Trail, the overland emigration route to the west, get established for thousands of emigrants in following decades. Marcus provided medical care for the Native Americans, but when Indian patients – lacking immunity to new, ‘European’ diseases - died in striking numbers, while at the same time many white patients recovered, they held ‘medicine man’ Marcus Whitman personally responsible, and murdered Whitman and twelve other white settlers in the
Whitman massacre in 1847. This event triggered the
Cayuse War between settlers and Indians.
The first settlement in the
Puget Sound area in the west of what is now Washington, was that of Washington's founder, the black pioneer
George Washington Bush and his caucasian wife, Isabella James Bush, from
Missouri and
Tennessee, respectively. They led four white families into the territory and settled
New Market, now known as
Tumwater, Washington, in 1846. They settled in Washington to avoid Oregon's racist settlement laws. After them, many more settlers, migrating overland along the
Oregon trail, wandered north to settle in the
Puget Sound area.
Washington became the
42nd state in the United States on
November 11,
1889.
Early prominent industries in the state included agriculture and lumber. In eastern Washington, the
Yakima Valley became known for its
apple orchards, while the growth of wheat using
dry-farming techniques became particularly productive. The heavy rainfall to the west of the
Cascade Range produced dense forests, and the ports along Puget Sound prospered from the manufacturing and shipping of lumber products, particularly the
Douglas fir. Other industries that developed in the state include fishing, salmon canning and mining.
For a long period,
Tacoma was noted for its large smelters where gold, silver, copper and lead ores were treated.
Seattle was the primary port for trade with
Alaska and the rest of the country, and for a time it possessed a large shipbuilding industry. The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period including
World War I and
World War II, and the
Boeing company became an established icon in the area.
During the
Great Depression, a series of
hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Columbia river as part of a project to increase the production of
electricity. This culminated in 1941 with the completion of the
Grand Coulee Dam, the largest concrete structure in the United States.
During World War II, the state became a focus for war industries, with the
Boeing Company producing many of the nation's
heavy bombers and ports in
Seattle,
Bremerton,
Vancouver, and
Tacoma were available for the manufacture of warships.
Seattle was the point of departure for many soldiers in the Pacific, a number of which were quartered at
Golden Gardens Park. In
eastern Washington, the
Hanford Works atomic energy plant was opened in 1943 and played a major role in the construction of the nation's
atomic bombs.
On
May 18,
1980, following a period of heavy tremors and eruptions, the northeast face of
Mount St. Helens exploded outward, destroying a large part of the top of the volcano. This eruption flattened the forests, killed 57 people, flooded the Columbia River and its tributaries with ash and mud, and blanketed large parts of Washington and other surrounding states in ash, making day look like night.
Demographics
center of population of Washington in the year 2000 was located in an unpopulated part of rural eastern
King County, southeast of
North Bend and northeast of
Enumclaw.
According to the
U.S. Census, as of 2006, Washington has an estimated population of 6,395,798, which is an increase of 501,658, or 8.5%, since the year 2000.
This includes a natural increase of 221,958 people (that is, 503,819 births minus 281,861 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 287,759 people into the state.
Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 157,950 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 129,809 people.
As of the Census 2000, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area's population was 3,043,878, about half the state's total population.
As of 2004, Washington's population included 631,500 foreign-born (10.3% of the state population), and an estimated 100,000 illegal aliens (1.6% of state population).
Largest Cities
The largest cities in Washington according to 2007 state census estimates.
| Rank |
City |
Population |
| 1 |
Seattle |
586,200 |
| 2 |
Spokane |
202,900 |
| 3 |
Tacoma |
201,700 |
| 4 |
Vancouver |
160,800 |
| 5 |
Bellevue |
118,800 |
| 6 |
Everett |
101,800 |
| 7 |
Spokane Valley |
88,280 |
| 8 |
Federal Way |
87,390 |
| 9 |
Kent |
86,660 |
| 10 |
Yakima |
82,940 |
Race
Two areas account for the vast majority of the state's apple crop: the Wenatchee–Okanogan region (comprised of
Chelan,
Okanogan,
Douglas, and
Grant counties), and the Yakima region (
Yakima,
Benton and
Kittitas counties).
Transportation
Washington has a system of
state highways, called
State Routes, as well as an extensive
ferry system which is the largest in the nation as well as the third largest in the world. There are 140
public airfields in Washington, including 16
state airports owned by the
Washington State Department of Transportation.
Boeing Field in Seattle is one of the busiest primary non-hub airports in the US. The unique geography of Washington presents exceptional transportation needs.
There are extensive waterways in the midst of Washington's largest cites, including
Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Olympia. The state highways incorporate an extensive network of bridges and the largest ferry system in the United States to serve transportation needs in the Puget Sound area. Washington's marine highway constitutes a fleet of twenty-eight ferries that navigate Puget Sound and its inland waterways to 20 different ports of call. Washington is home of four of the five longest
floating bridges in the world: the
Evergreen Point Floating Bridge,
Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and
Homer M. Hadley Bridge over
Lake Washington, and the
Hood Canal Bridge which connects the
Olympic Peninsula and
Kitsap Peninsula.
The Cascade Mountain Range also provides unique transportation challenges. Washington operates and maintains roads over seven major
mountain passes and eight minor passes. During winter months some of these passes are plowed, sanded, and kept safe with avalanche control. Not all are able to stay open through the winter. The
North Cascades Highway on
State Route 20 closes every year. This is because of the extraordinary amount of snowfall and frequency of avalanches, leading to it not being safe in the winter months.
Toxic chemicals
In 2007, Washington became the first state in the nation to target all forms of highly toxic
brominated flame retardants known as
PBDEs for elimination from the many common household products in which they're used. A 2004 study of 40 mothers from
Oregon, Washington,
British Columbia, and
Montana found PBDEs in the breast milk of every woman tested.
Three recent studies by the
Washington Department of Ecology showed that toxic chemicals banned decades ago continue to linger in the environment and concentrate in the food chain. In one of the studies, state government scientists found unacceptable levels of toxic substances in 93 samples of freshwater fish collected from 45 sites. The toxic substances included
PCBs;
dioxins, two chlorinated pesticides,
DDE and
dieldrin, and PBDEs. As a result of the study, the department will investigate the sources of PCBs in the Wenatchee River, where unhealthy levels of PCBs were found in mountain whitefish. Based on the 2007 information and a previous 2004 Ecology study, the
Washington Department of Health is advising the public not to eat
mountain whitefish from the
Wenatchee River from
Leavenworth downstream to where the river joins the
Columbia, due to unhealthy levels of PCBs. Study results also indicated high levels of contaminants in fish tissue that scientists collected from Lake Washington and the Spokane River, where fish consumption advisories are already in effect
(External Link).
Law and government
The
bicameral Washington State Legislature is the state's
legislative branch. The
state legislature is composed of a
lower House of Representatives and an
upper State Senate. The state is divided into 49 legislative districts of equal population, each of which elects two representatives and one senator. Representatives serve two-year terms, whilst senators serve for four years. There are no
term limits. Currently, the
Democratic Party holds majorities in both chambers.
Washington's
executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. The current governor is
Christine Gregoire, a
Democrat who has been in office since 2005.
The
Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the state. Nine justices serve on the bench and are elected statewide.
U.S. Congress
The two
U.S. Senators from Washington are
Patty Murray (D) and
Maria Cantwell (D).
Washington representatives in the United States House of Representatives (
see map of districts) are
Jay Inslee (D-1),
Richard Ray (Rick) Larsen (D-2),
Brian Baird (D-3),
Doc Hastings (R-4),
Cathy McMorris (R-5),
Norm Dicks (D-6),
Jim McDermott (D-7),
David Reichert (R-8), and
Adam Smith (D-9).
State elected officials
Executive
Christine Gregoire, Governor (D)
Brad Owen, Lieutenant Governor (D)
Sam Reed, Secretary of State (R)
Rob McKenna, Attorney General (R)
Mike Murphy, Treasurer (D)
Brian Sonntag, Auditor (D)
Terry Bergeson, Superintendent of Public Instruction (non partisan office)
Doug Sutherland, Commissioner of Public Lands (R)
Mike Kreidler, Insurance Commissioner (D)
Politics
Presidential elections results>
| Year |
Republican |
Democratic |
| 2004 |
45.59% 1,304,893 |
52.82% 1,510,201 |
| 2000 |
44.59% 1,108,864 |
50.21% 1,247,652 |
| 1996 |
37.32% 840,712 |
49.81% 1,123,323 |
| 1992 |
31.99% 731,234 |
43.41% 993,037 |
| 1988 |
47.97% 903,835 |
50.03% 933,516 |
The state has been thought of as politically divided by the Cascade Mountains, with Western Washington being liberal (particularly the I-5 Corridor) and Eastern Washington being conservative. Lately however, Washington has voted for the Democratic Presidential candidate in every election since 1988. Spokane, the state's second largest city located in Eastern Washington, has been leaning more liberal, with one example being Democrat Maria Cantwell winning by a wide margin in the 2006 senate race against Republican Mike McGavick. Since the population is larger in the west, the Democrats usually fare better statewide. More specifically, the Seattle metro area (especially King County) generally delivers strong Democratic margins, while the outlying areas of Western Washington were nearly tied in both 2000 and 2004. It was considered a key swing state in 1968, and it was the only Western state to give its electoral votes to Hubert Humphrey (D). However, this state did participate in the 1994 Republican Revolution, and had the biggest pickup in the house for Republicans, making 7 of the 9 house members Republicans for the state of Washington. But this dominance didn't last for long as Democrats picked up one seat in the 1996 election and two more in 1998, giving the Democrats a 5-4 majority.
While the Democratic Party has long dominated Washington, the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election was among the closest races in United States election history. The initial count gave Republican candidate Dino Rossi a lead of 261 votes out of a total vote count of 2,805,913, or 0.0093%. The mandatory recount again had Rossi in the lead, but it was now by 42 votes, or 0.0015% of the total 2,808,341 votes included in the first recount. Another recount was done by hand, at the request of the Democratic party as allowed by law. A judge identified 1,678 illegal votes: 745 felons from a Republican list, 647 felons from a Democratic list, 175 mishandled provisional ballots in King County and 77 in Pierce County, six double votes and 19 ballots cast in the name of dead people. However, The final recount resulted in a win for Christine Gregoire, the Democrat candidate, by 0.0045% of the 2,810,058 votes cast. Govenor Gregoire was inaugurated on January 12, 2005. The subsequent court battles raged on for months after the election, but the official count left Gregoire holding office.
Washington is the first and only state in the country to have elected women to all three major statewide offices (Governor Chris Gregoire and U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell) at the same time.
Education
Colleges and universities
State universities
Central Washington University
Eastern Washington University
The Evergreen State College
University of Washington
Washington State University
Western Washington University
Private universities
Community colleges
Educational Cooperatives
Washington School Information Processing Cooperative (WSIPC)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Washington'.
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