Portal:Washington (state)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Washington Portal

Panoramic view from Washington Pass Observation Site (a.k.a. Washington Pass Overlook), Okanogan County, Washington (2023)
Panoramic view from Washington Pass Observation Site (a.k.a. Washington Pass Overlook), Okanogan County, Washington (2023)
The Flag of Washington

Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington state or Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named for George Washington (the first U.S. president). Washington borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, Oregon to the south, Idaho to the east, and the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. The state was formed from the western part of the Washington Territory, which was ceded by the British Empire in the Oregon Treaty of 1846. It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Olympia is the state capital, and the most populous city is Seattle.

Washington is the 18th-largest state, with an area of 71,362 square miles (184,830 km2), and the 13th-most populous state, with more than 7.8 million people. The majority of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry on Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean consisting of numerous islands, deep fjords and bays carved out by glaciers. The remainder of the state consists of deep temperate rainforests in the west; mountain ranges in the west, center, northeast, and far southeast; and a semi-arid basin region in the east, center, and south, given over to intensive agriculture. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, after California. Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the state's highest elevation at 14,411 feet (4,392 meters), and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous U.S.

Washington is a leading lumber producer; its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa pine, white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. The state is the largest producer of apples, hops, pears, blueberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries in the U.S., and ranks high in the production of apricots, asparagus, dry edible peas, grapes, lentils, peppermint oil, and potatoes. Livestock, livestock products, and commercial fishing—particularly of salmon, halibut, and bottomfish—are also significant contributors to the state's economy. Washington ranks second only to California in wine production. (Full article...)

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

U.S. Route 97 Alternate (US 97 Alt., also abbreviated as US 97A) is an alternate route of US 97 within the state of Washington. It runs for 40 miles (64 km) from Wenatchee to Chelan, following the west bank of the Columbia River opposite from US 2 and US 97. The highway travels through sparsely-populated areas along the river and passes near the Rocky Reach Dam and through the town of Entiat.

Wagon roads along the west side of the Columbia River were plotted in the 1880s by American settlers and added to the state highway system in 1897. The wagon road was designated as State Road 10 (later the Lake Chelan and Okanogan Highway) and was completely paved by the late 1930s. US 97 was created in 1926 and followed the highway, which was relocated in the 1950s due to the construction of the Rocky Reach Dam. A highway on the east side of the river was completed in the 1980s and designated as part of US 97 in 1987, leaving the west side to become an alternate route. (Full article...)

Selected article - show another

The Oregon Country/Columbia District stretched from 42°N to 54°40′N. The most heavily disputed portion is highlighted.

The Oregon boundary dispute or the Oregon Question was a 19th-century territorial dispute over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations in the region.

Expansionist competition into the region began in the 18th century, with participants including the Russian Empire, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. After the War of 1812, the Oregon dispute took on increased importance for diplomatic relations between the British Empire and the fledgling American republic. In the mid-1820s, the Russians signed the Russo-American Treaty of 1824 and the Russo-British Treaty of 1825, and the Spanish signed the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, by which Russia and Spain formally withdrew their respective territorial claims in the region, and the British and the Americans acquired residual territorial rights in the disputed area. But the question of sovereignty over a portion of the North American Pacific coast was still contested between the United Kingdom and the United States. The disputed area was defined as the region west of the Continental Divide of the Americas, north of Mexico's Alta California border of 42nd parallel north, and south of Russian America at parallel 54°40′ north. The British generally called this region the Columbia District and the Americans generally called it Oregon Country. (Full article...)

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various Washington (state)-related articles on Wikipedia.

Did you know - load new batch

  • ... that a mobile production unit served as the first studios of Washington state public TV station KTNW?
  • ... that a Washington state radio station turned to "professional bikini watchers"—military recruiters—to report on crowds at local beaches?
  • ... that Washington state TV station KTRX went on the air in January 1958—and failed to make it to the end of the year?

Related portals

Topics

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

New articles

This list was generated from these rules. Questions and feedback are always welcome! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.

Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2024-05-09 22:47 (UTC)

Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.















Tasks


Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Sources

Discover Wikipedia using portals