Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a
state in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
region of the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...
. Named for
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
—the first
U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the
Washington Territory, which was ceded by the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
in 1846, by the
Oregon Treaty in the settlement of the
Oregon boundary dispute. The state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
to the south,
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...
to the east, and the
Canadian province of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
to the north. It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889.
Olympia is the
state capital; the state's largest city is
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
. Washington is often referred to as Washington state to distinguish it from the nation's capital,
Washington, D.C.
Washington is the
18th-largest state, with an area of , and the
13th-most populous state, with more than 7.7 million people. The majority of Washington's residents live in the
Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry on
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...
, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean consisting of numerous islands, deep
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...
s, and bays carved out by glaciers. The remainder of the state consists of deep
temperate rainforests in the west;
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...
s in the west, central, northeast, and far southeast; and a semi-arid basin region in the east, central, 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
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
Mount Rainier, an active
stratovolcano, is the state's highest elevation at , and is the most
topographically prominent
In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest conto ...
mountain in the
contiguous U.S.
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
Washington is a leading
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
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
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...
production.
Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft, missiles, shipbuilding, and other transportation equipment, food processing, metals, and metal products, chemicals, and machinery. Washington has more than a thousand dams, including the
Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerho ...
, built for a variety of purposes including irrigation, electricity generation, flood control, and water storage.
Washington is one of the
wealthiest
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
as well as most socially liberal states in the country. The state consistently ranks among the best for
life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
and low
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refe ...
. Along with
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
, Washington was one of the
first to legalize medicinal and recreational cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
, was among the first states to legalize
same-sex marriage in 2012, and was one of only four U.S. states to have been providing legal
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
s
on request before the 1973
Supreme Court decision in ''
Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...
'' loosened abortion laws nationwide.
Similarly, Washington voters approved a
2008 referendum on legalization of
physician-assisted suicide, and Washington is currently one of ten states—along with Washington, D.C.—to have legalized the practice.
Etymology
Washington was named after
President George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
by an act of the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
during the creation of
Washington Territory in 1853; the territory was to be named "Columbia", for the
Columbia River and the
Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company bet ...
, but Kentucky representative
Richard H. Stanton found the name too similar to the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
(the national capital, itself containing the city of Washington), and proposed naming the new territory after President Washington.
Washington is the only U.S. state named after a president.
Confusion over the state of Washington and the city of Washington, D.C., led to renaming proposals during the statehood process for Washington in 1889, including
David Dudley Field II's suggestion to name the new state "Tacoma"; these proposals failed to garner support. Washington, D.C.'s, own
statehood movement in the 21st century has included a proposal to use the name "State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth", which would conflict with the current state of Washington.
Residents of Washington (known as "Washingtonians") and the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
simply refer to the state as "Washington", and the nation's capital "Washington, D.C.", "the other Washington", or simply "D.C."
History
Early history
The 9,300-year-old skeletal remains of
Kennewick Man
Kennewick Man and Ancient One are the names generally given to the skeletal remains of a prehistoric Paleoamerican man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, on July 28, 1996. It is one of the most complete ancient ske ...
, one of the oldest and most complete human remains found in North America, were discovered in Washington in the 1990s.
The area has been known to host
megathrust earthquakes in the past, the last being the
Cascadia earthquake of 1700. Before the arrival of Europeans, the region had many established tribes of indigenous peoples, notable for their
totem poles and their ornately carved canoes and masks. Prominent among their industries were
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...
fishing and, notably among the
Makah, whale hunting. The peoples of the Interior had a different subsistence-based culture based on hunting, food-gathering and some forms of agriculture, as well as a dependency on salmon from the Columbia and its tributaries. The
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemic of the 1770s devastated the Native American population.
European exploration
The first recorded European landing on the Washington coast was by Spanish Captain Don
Bruno de Heceta
Bruno de Heceta (Hezeta) y Dudagoitia (1743–1807) was a Spanish Basque explorer of the Pacific Northwest. Born in Bilbao of an old Basque family, he was sent by the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio María Bucareli y Ursúa, to explore the area no ...
in 1775, on board the ''Santiago'', part of a two-ship
flotilla with the ''Sonora''. He claimed the coastal lands up to
Prince William Sound for Spain as part of their claimed rights under the
Treaty of Tordesillas, which they maintained made the Pacific a "Spanish lake" and all its shores part of the Spanish Empire.
In 1778,
British explorer Captain
James Cook sighted
Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the
Strait of Juan de Fuca, but Cook did not realize the strait existed. It was not discovered until
Charles William Barkley, captain of the ''
Imperial Eagle'', sighted it in 1787. The straits were further explored by
Spanish explorers Manuel Quimper in 1790 and Francisco de Eliza in 1791, and British explorer
George Vancouver in 1792.
European settlement
The British–Spanish
Nootka Convention of 1790 ended Spanish claims of exclusivity and opened the Northwest Coast to explorers and traders from other nations, most notably Britain and Russia as well as the fledgling United States. American captain
Robert Gray (for whom
Grays Harbor County
Grays Harbor County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,636. Its county seat is Montesano, and its largest city is Aberdeen. Grays Harbor County is included in the Aberdeen Micropolita ...
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
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...
entered the state on October 10, 1805.
Explorer
David Thompson, on his voyage down the Columbia River, camped at the confluence with the Snake River on July 9, 1811, and erected a pole and a notice claiming the territory for Great Britain and stating the intention of the
North West Company to build a trading post at the site.
Britain and the United States agreed to what has since been described as "joint occupancy" of lands west of the
Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean as part of the
Anglo–American Convention of 1818, which established the 49th Parallel as the international boundary west from
Lake of the Woods to the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
. Resolution of the territorial and treaty issues west to the Pacific was deferred until a later time. In 1819, Spain ceded their rights north of the 42nd Parallel to the United States.
Negotiations with Great Britain over the next few decades failed to settle upon a compromise boundary and the
Oregon boundary dispute was highly contested between Britain and the United States. Disputed joint occupancy by Britain and the U.S. lasted for several decades. With American settlers pouring into
Oregon Country,
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
, which had previously discouraged settlement because it conflicted with the fur trade, reversed its position in an attempt to maintain British control of the
Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company bet ...
.
Fur trapper
James Sinclair, on orders from
Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, led some 200 settlers from the
Red River Colony west in 1841 to settle on Hudson Bay Company farms near
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of ...
. The party crossed the Rockies into the
Columbia Valley, near present-day
Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia, then traveled south-west down the
Kootenai River and Columbia River. Despite such efforts, Britain eventually ceded all claims to land south of the 49th parallel to the United States in the
Oregon Treaty on June 15, 1846.
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 County
Walla Walla County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 62,584. The county seat and largest city is Walla Walla. The county was formed on April 25, 1854 and is named after the Walla ...
, in the territory of both the
Cayuse and the
Nez Perce 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 the 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.
Fort Nisqually, a farm and trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company and the first European settlement in the
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...
area, was founded in 1833. Black pioneer
George Washington Bush
George Washington Bush (1779 – April 5, 1863) was an American pioneer and one of the first African-American (Irish and African) non-Amerindian settlers of the Pacific Northwest.
Early life and education
George Bush was born in Pennsylvania ...
and his Caucasian wife, Isabella James Bush, from
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
and
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
, respectively, led four white families into the territory and founded New Market, now
Tumwater
Tumwater is a town in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,350 at the 2020 census. It is situated near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound; it also borders the state ...
, in 1846. They settled in Washington to avoid
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
's
Black Exclusion Law, which prohibited African Americans from entering the territory while simultaneously prohibiting
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. After them, many more settlers, migrating overland along the Oregon Trail, wandered north to settle in the Puget Sound area.
Spanish and Russian claims to the region were ceded in the early 19th century through a series of treaties. The Spanish signed the
Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, and the Russians the
Russo-American Treaty of 1824 and
1825.
The
Oregon Question remained contested between the United Kingdom and the United States until the 1846
Oregon Treaty established the border between
British North America and the United States along the 49th parallel until the
Strait of Georgia.
Vague wording in the treaty left the ownership of the
San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core ...
in doubt; during the so-called
Pig War, both nations agreed to a joint military occupation of the islands.
Kaiser
Wilhelm I of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
was selected as an arbitrator to end the dispute, with a three-man commission ruling in favor of the United States in 1872. The border established by the Oregon Treaty and finalized by the arbitration in 1872 remains the boundary between Washington and
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
.
Statehood
The growing population of Oregon Territory north of the Columbia River formally requested a new territory. As a result of the
Monticello Convention, held in present-day
Cowlitz County,
U.S. Congress passed legislation and
President Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
signed into law on March 2, 1853, the creation of a new
Washington Territory.
The boundary of Washington Territory initially extended farther east than the present state, including what is now the
Idaho Panhandle and parts of western Montana, and picked up more land to the southeast that was left behind when Oregon was admitted as a state; the creation of
Idaho Territory in 1863 established the final eastern border. A
Washington state constitution was drafted and ratified in 1878, but it was never officially adopted. Although never approved by the United States Congress, the 1878 constitution is an important historical document that shows the political thinking of the time; it was used extensively during the drafting of Washington state's 1889 constitution, the one and only official Constitution of the State of Washington. Washington became the
42nd state of the United States on November 11, 1889.
Early prominent industries in the new state included agriculture and lumber. In Eastern Washington, the
Yakima River Valley became known for its apple orchards, while the growth of wheat using
dry farming techniques became particularly productive. 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 included fishing, salmon canning and mining.
Post–statehood
For a long period,
Tacoma had large smelters where gold, silver, copper, and lead ores were treated.
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
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
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, and the
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...
company became an established icon in the area.
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, 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
Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerho ...
, the largest concrete structure in the United States and the largest dam in the world at its construction.
During World War II, the state became a focus for war industries. While the Boeing Company produced many
heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range ( takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larg ...
s, ports in Seattle,
Bremerton,
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
, and Tacoma were available for the manufacture of warships. Seattle was the point of departure for many soldiers in the Pacific, several of whom were quartered at Fort Lawton, which later became
Discovery Park. In Eastern Washington, the
Hanford Works atomic energy Atomic energy or energy of atoms is energy carried by atoms. The term originated in 1903 when Ernest Rutherford began to speak of the possibility of atomic energy. Isaac Asimov, ''Atom: Journey Across the Sub-Atomic Cosmos'', New York:1992 Plume, ...
plant was opened in 1943 and played a major role in the construction of
atomic bombs.
After the end of World War II, and with the beginning of the
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
, the state's growing
Black or African American population's wages were 53% above the national average. The early diversification of Washington through the
Great Migration led to successful efforts at reducing discrimination in the workplace. In 1950, Seattle's first black representative for the
state's legislature was elected. At the
1970 U.S. census, the black population grew to 7.13% of the total population.
In 1970, the state was one of only four U.S. states to have been providing legal abortions before the 1973
Supreme Court decision in ''
Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...
'' which loosened abortion laws nationwide.
On May 18, 1980, following a period of heavy tremors and small eruptions, the north face of
Mount St. Helens slid off in the largest landslide in recorded history before erupting violently, destroying a large part of the top of the volcano. The eruption flattened the forest
up to 20 km north of the volcano, killed 57 people, flooded the Columbia River and its tributaries with ash and mud, and blanketed large parts of Washington eastward and other surrounding states in ash, making day look like night.
Geography
Washington is the northwesternmost state of the
contiguous United States. It borders
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...
to the east, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the
Snake River and
Clearwater River (about 117°02'23" west), except for the southernmost section where the border follows the Snake River. Oregon is to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part and the 46th parallel forming the eastern part of the Oregon–Washington border. During Washington's partition from Oregon, the original plan for the border followed the Columbia River east until the confluence with the Snake, and then would have followed the Snake River east; this was changed to keep
Walla Walla's fertile farmland in Washington.
To the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean.
Its northern border lies mostly along the
49th parallel, and then via marine boundaries through the
Strait of Georgia,
Haro Strait, and
Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the
Canadian province of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
to the north.
Washington is part of a region known as the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
, a term which always refers to at least Washington and Oregon, and may or may not include some or all the following, depending on the user's intent: Idaho, western
Montana,
northern California, British Columbia, and
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
.
The high mountains of the
Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state. In addition to
Western Washington and
Eastern Washington, residents call the two parts of the state the "Westside" and the "Eastside", "Wet side" and "Dry side", or "Timberland" and "Wheatland", the latter pair more commonly in the names of region-specific businesses and institutions. These terms reflect the geography, climate, and industry of the land on both sides of the Cascades.
Western Washington
From the
Cascade Mountains westward,
Western Washington has a mostly
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
, with mild temperatures and wet winters, autumns and springs, and relatively dry summers. The Cascade Range has several
volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains. From north to south, these major volcanoes are
Mount Baker
Mount Baker ( Lummi: '; nok, Kw’eq Smaenit or '), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. ...
,
Glacier Peak,
Mount Rainier,
Mount St. Helens, and
Mount Adams. All are active volcanoes.
Mount Rainier—the tallest mountain in the state—
is south of the city of Seattle, from which it is prominently visible. The
U.S. Geological Survey considers Mount Rainier the most dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range, due to its proximity to the
Seattle metropolitan area, and most dangerous in the continental U.S. according to the
Decade Volcanoes
The Decade Volcanoes are 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) as being worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and p ...
list.
It is also covered with more
glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states.
Western Washington also is home of the
Olympic Mountains
The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easte ...
, far west on the
Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a ...
, which support dense forests of conifers and areas of
temperate rainforest. These deep forests, such as the
Hoh Rainforest, are among the only rainforests in the continental United States. While Western Washington does not always experience a high amount of rainfall as measured in total inches of rain per year, it does consistently have more rainy days per year than most other places in the country.
Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington—the part of the state east of the Cascades—has a relatively dry climate, in distinct contrast to the west side. It includes large areas of semiarid
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate gras ...
and a few truly arid
deserts in the
rain shadow of the Cascades; the Hanford reservation receives an average annual precipitation of . Despite the limited amount of rainfall,
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
is an extremely important business throughout much of Eastern Washington, as the soil is highly productive and
irrigation, aided by dams along the Columbia River, is fairly widespread. The spread of population in Eastern Washington is dominated by access to water, especially rivers. The main cities are all located alongside rivers or lakes; most of them are named after the river or lake they adjoin.
Farther east, the climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes east to in Pullman, near the Washington–Idaho border. The
Okanogan Highlands
The Okanagan Highland is an elevated hilly plateau area in British Columbia, Canada, and the U.S. state of Washington (where it is spelled Okanogan Highlands). Rounded mountains with elevations up to above sea level and deep, narrow valleys a ...
and the rugged
Kettle River Range and
Selkirk Mountains cover much of the state's northeastern quadrant. The
Palouse
The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primar ...
southeast region of Washington was grassland that has been mostly converted into farmland, and extends to the
Blue Mountains.
Climate
The state of Washington has a temperate climate. The eastern half of Washington has a semi-arid climate, while the western side of Washington as well as the coastal areas of the state have a cool oceanic climate. Major factors determining Washington's climate include the large semi-permanent
low pressure and
high pressure systems of the north Pacific Ocean, the continental air masses of North America, and the Olympic and Cascade mountains. In the spring and summer, a high-pressure
anticyclone
An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from ...
system dominates the north Pacific Ocean, causing air to spiral out in a clockwise fashion. For Washington, this means
prevailing winds from the northwest bring relatively cool air and a predictably
dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...
.
In the autumn and winter, a low-pressure
cyclone system takes over in the north Pacific Ocean. The air spiraling inward in a counter-clockwise fashion causes Washington's prevailing winds to come from the southwest, and bring relatively cool and overcast weather and a predictably
wet season. The term "
Pineapple Express" is used colloquially to describe
atmospheric river events, where repeated storm systems are directed by this persistent cyclone from the tropical Pacific regions a great distance into the Pacific Northwest.
Despite Western Washington's marine climate similar to many coastal cities of Europe, there are exceptions such as the "Big Snow" events of 1880, 1881, 1893, and 1916,
and the "deep freeze" winters of 1883–1884, 1915–1916, 1949–1950, and 1955–1956, among others. During these events, Western Washington experienced up to of snow, sub-zero (−18 °C) temperatures, three months with snow on the ground, and lakes and rivers frozen over for weeks.
Seattle's lowest officially recorded temperature is set on January 31, 1950, but low-altitude areas approximately three hours away from Seattle have recorded lows as cold as .
The Southern Oscillation greatly influences weather during the cold season. During the El Niño phase, the jet stream enters the U.S. farther south through California, therefore late fall and winter are drier than normal with less snowpack. The La Niña phase reinforces the jet stream through the Pacific Northwest, causing Washington to have more rain and snow than average.
In 2006, the Climate Impacts Group at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...
published ''The Impacts of Climate change in Washington's Economy'', a preliminary assessment of the risks and opportunities presented given the possibility of a rise in global temperatures and their effects on Washington state.
Rain shadow effects
Rainfall in Washington varies dramatically going from east to west. The Olympic Peninsula's western side receives as much as of precipitation annually, making it the wettest area of the 48 conterminous states and a
temperate rainforest. Weeks 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 water equivalent) in the country. In the rain shadow area east of the Cascades, the annual precipitation is only . Precipitation then increases again eastward toward the Rocky Mountains (about east of the Idaho border).
The Olympic 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. 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
Mount Baker ( Lummi: '; nok, Kw’eq Smaenit or '), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. ...
, 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—.
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 Plateau
The Columbia Plateau is a geologic and geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, cut through by the Col ...
—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 dry
grassland,
shrub-steppe, and
dunes.
Temperatures
The average annual temperature ranges from on the Pacific coast to in the northeast. The lowest temperature recorded in the state was in
Winthrop and
Mazama. The highest recorded temperature in the state was at
Hanford on June 29, 2021. Both records were set east of the Cascades. Western Washington is known for its mild climate, considerable fog, frequent cloud cover, long-lasting drizzles in the winter and warm, temperate summers. The eastern region, which does not benefit from the general moderating effect of the Pacific Ocean, occasionally experiences extreme climate. Arctic cold fronts in the winter and heat waves in the summer are not uncommon. In the Western region, temperatures have reached as high as in
Maple Valley during the
June 2021 heat wave, and as low as in
Longview.
Flora and fauna
Forests cover about half the state's land area, mostly west of the northern Cascades. Approximately two-thirds of Washington's forested area is publicly owned, including 64 percent of federal land. Common trees and plants in the region are
camassia, Douglas fir, hemlock,
penstemon, ponderosa pine,
western red cedar, and many species of ferns. The state's various areas of wilderness offer sanctuary, with substantially large populations of shorebirds and marine mammals. The Pacific shore surrounding the
San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core ...
is heavily inhabited by
killer, gray, and humpback whales.
In Eastern Washington, the flora is vastly different.
Tumbleweeds and
sagebrush dominate the landscape throughout large parts of the countryside.
Russian olives and other trees are common alongside riverbanks; however, apart from the riversides, large swaths of Eastern Washington have no naturally existing trees at all (though many trees have been planted and are irrigated by people, of course). A wider variety of flora can be found in both the
Blue Mountains and the eastern sides of the Cascades.
Mammals native to the state include the
bat,
black bear,
bobcat,
cougar,
coyote,
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
,
elk,
gray wolf,
hare,
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...
,
mountain beaver
The mountain beaver (''Aplodontia rufa'')Other names include mountain boomer, ground bear, giant mole, gehalis, lesser sasquatch, sewellel, suwellel, showhurll, showtl, and showte, as well as a number of Chinookan and other Native American terms ...
,
muskrat,
opossum,
pocket gopher,
rabbit,
raccoon,
river otter,
skunk, and
tree squirrel. Because of the wide range of geography, the State of Washington is home to several different ecoregions, which allow for a varied range of bird species. This range includes raptors, shorebirds, woodland birds, grassland birds, ducks, and others. There have also been a large number of species introduced to Washington, dating back to the early 18th century, including horses and burros. The
channel catfish,
lamprey, and
sturgeon are among the 400 known
freshwater fishes.
Along with the Cascades frog, there are several forms of snakes that define the most prominent
reptiles and amphibians. Coastal bays and islands are often inhabited by plentiful amounts of shellfish and whales. There are five species of
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...
that ascend the Western Washington area, from streams to spawn.
Washington has a variety of
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...
units. Among these are the
Alta Lake State Park
Alta Lake State Park is a public recreation area located southwest of Pateros, Washington, at the northern end of Alta Lake, in the mountainous northwest interior of the state. The state park and adjacent lake lie beneath towering stone cli ...
,
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area,
San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge, as well as three national parks—the
Olympic National Park,
North Cascades National Park, and
Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preservin ...
. The three national parks were established between 1899 and 1968. Almost 95 percent (876,517 acres, 354,714 hectares, 3,547.14 square kilometers) of Olympic National Park's area has been designated as wilderness under the
National Wilderness Preservation System. Additionally, there are 143
state parks and9
national forests, run by the
Washington State Park System
The Washington State Park System is a set of state parks owned by the state government of Washington, USA. They are managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. There are over 140 parks throughout the state, including 19 mari ...
and the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Nationa ...
. The
Okanogan National Forest Okanogan (US) or Okanagan (Canada) may refer to:
People and regions
*Okanagan Country, a divided region in British Columbia and Washington
*Okanagan people, a Native American (USA) or First Nations (Canada) people, known as the ''Syilx'' in their ...
is the largest national forest on the
West Coast, encompassing . It is managed together as the Okanogan–
Wenatchee National Forest, encompassing a considerably larger area of around .
Administrative divisions
There are 39 counties within the state, and 281 incorporated municipalities which are divided into cities and towns. The majority of the state's population lives within Western Washington, in the Seattle metropolitan area; the city of Seattle is the principal city of the metropolitan area, and Western Washington, with a 2020 census population of 737,015.
Demographics
Population
Washington's population was 7,705,281 in the
2020 census,
a 14.6 percent increase since the
2010 census.
In 2018, the state ranked 13th overall in population, and was the third most populous, after California and Texas, west of the Mississippi River. Washington has the largest Pacific Northwest population, followed by Oregon, then Idaho. The Washington State Office of Financial Management reported the state population at 7,656,200 as of April 1, 2020.
As of the 2010 census, the population of Washington was 6,724,540. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area population was 3,439,809 in the 2010 census, half the state total.
The
center of population of Washington in 2010 was at , in an unpopulated part of the
Cascade Mountains in rural eastern
King County
King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...
, southeast of
North Bend, northeast of
Enumclaw
Enumclaw ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 12,543 at the 2020 census.
The Enumclaw Plateau, on which the city resides, was formed by a volcanic mudflow ( lahar) from Mount Rainier approximately 5,700 ...
, and west of
Snoqualmie Pass
Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 (I-90) through the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington. The pass summit is at an elevation of , on the county line between Kittitas County and King County.
Snoqualmie P ...
.
Washington's proportion of residents under the age of five was 6.7%, 25.7% under 18, and 11.2% 65 or older.
The racial composition of Washington's population as of 2016 was:
According to the 2016
American Community Survey, 12.1% of Washington's population were of
Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race):
Mexican (9.7%),
Puerto Rican (0.4%),
Cuban
Cuban may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean
* Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent
** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof
* Cuban citizen, a pers ...
(0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (1.8%).
The five largest ancestry groups were:
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
(17.8%),
Irish (10.8%),
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
(10.4%),
Norwegian (5.4%), and
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
(4.6%).
; Birth data
In 2011, 44.3 percent of Washington's population younger than age1 were minorities.
''Note: Births in table don't add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.''
* Since 2016, data for births of
White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one ''Hispanic'' group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Areas of concentration
While the population of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest is relatively scarce overall, they are mostly concentrated in the
South End and
Central District areas of Seattle, and in inner Tacoma. The black community of Seattle consisted of one individual in 1858,
Manuel Lopes, and grew to a population of 406 by 1900. It developed substantially during and after World War II when wartime industries and the
U.S. Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
employed and recruited tens of thousands of African Americans from the
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the south ...
. They moved west in the second wave of the
Great Migration, leaving a high influence on West Coast
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...
and
R&B and
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...
in the 1960s, including Seattle native
Jimi Hendrix, a pioneer in hard rock, who was of African American and
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
Indian descent.
Native Americans lived on Indian reservations or jurisdiction lands such as the
Colville Indian Reservation
The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the northwest United States, in north central Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which is federally recognized.
Established ...
,
Makah,
Muckleshoot Indian Reservation
The Muckleshoot ( lut, bəqəlšuł ) are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe, part of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest. They are descendants of the Duwamish and Puyallup peoples whose traditional territory was located a ...
,
Quinault,
Salish people,
Spokane Indian Reservation, and
Yakama Indian Reservation. The westernmost and Pacific coasts have primarily American Indian communities, such as the
Chinook,
Lummi, and
Salish.
Urban Indian communities formed by the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs relocation programs in Seattle since the end of World War II brought a variety of Native American peoples to this diverse metropolis. The city was named for
Chief Seattle in the very early 1850s when European Americans settled the sound.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are mostly concentrated in the Seattle−Tacoma metropolitan area of the state. Seattle,
Bellevue, and
Redmond, which are all within King County, have sizable Chinese communities (including
Taiwanese
Taiwanese may refer to:
* Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien
* Something from or related to Taiwan (Formosa)
* Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan
* Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan
* Taiwanese people, r ...
), as well as significant
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
and
Japanese communities. The
Chinatown-International District in Seattle has a historical Chinese population dating back to the 1860s, who mainly emigrated from
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
Province in southern China, and is home to a diverse East and Southeast Asian community.
Koreans
Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula.
Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply r ...
are heavily concentrated in the suburban cities of
Federal Way
Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-larg ...
and
Auburn to the south, and in
Lynnwood to the north. Tacoma is home to thousands of
Cambodians, and has one of the largest Cambodian-American communities in the United States, along with
Long Beach, California, and
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as ...
. The
Vietnamese and
Filipino populations of Washington are mostly concentrated within the Seattle metropolitan area. Washington state has the second highest percentage of Pacific Islander people in the mainland U.S. (behind
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
); the Seattle-Tacoma area is home to more than 15,000 people of
Samoan ancestry, who mainly reside in southeast Seattle, Tacoma, Federal Way, and in
SeaTac.
[Race, Hispanic or Latino, Age, and Housing Occupancy: 2010 more information 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File](_blank)
. Factfinder2census.gov. (2010). Retrieved December 30, 2011.
The most numerous (ethnic, not racial, group) are Latinos at 11%, as
Mexican Americans formed a large ethnic group in the
Chehalis Valley,
Skagit Valley, farming areas of
Yakima Valley, and
Eastern Washington. They were reported to at least date as far back as the 1800s. But it was in the late 20th century, that large-scale Mexican immigration and other Latinos settled in the southern suburbs of Seattle, with limited concentrations in King,
Pierce, and
Snohomish Counties during the region's real estate construction booms in the 1980s and 1990s.
Additionally, Washington has a large
Ethiopian
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...
community, with many
Eritrean residents as well.
Both emerged in the late 1960s, and developed since 1980. An estimated 30,000
Somali
Somali may refer to:
Horn of Africa
* Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region
** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis
** Somali culture
** Somali cuisine
** Somali language, a Cushitic language
** Somali ...
immigrants reside in the Seattle area.
Languages
In 2010, 82.51% (5,060,313) of Washington residents age5 and older spoke English at home as a
primary language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tong ...
, while 7.79% (477,566) spoke Spanish, 1.19% (72,552) Chinese (which includes
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...
and
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standa ...
), 0.94% (57,895) Vietnamese, 0.84% (51,301)
Tagalog
Tagalog may refer to:
Language
* Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines
** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language
** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language
* Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...
, 0.83% (50,757) Korean, 0.80% (49,282) Russian, and 0.55% (33,744) German. In total, 17.49% (1,073,002) of Washington's population age5 and older spoke a
mother language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother ton ...
other than English.
Religion
Major religious affiliations of the people of Washington are:
*
Christian: 60%
**
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
: 40%
***
Evangelical Protestant: 25%
***
Mainline Protestant: 13%
***
Black church: 2%
**
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
: 17%
**
Latter-day Saint
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into sev ...
: 4%
*
Unaffiliated: 32%
*
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
: 1%
*
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
: 1%
*
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
: 0.5%
*
Other religions 3%
The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2010 were the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, with 784,332;
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
, with 282,356; and the
Assemblies of God, with 125,005.
Aquarian Tabernacle Church
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) is a Wiccan church located in Index, Washington. It is one of the first Wiccan organisations to receive full legal recognition as a church in the United States and Australia. The church has an umbrella 501c ...
is the largest
Wiccan church in the country.
Like other West Coast states, the percentage of Washington's population identifying themselves as "
non-religious" is higher than the national average.
Economy
Washington has a relatively strong economy, with a total
gross state product of $612,996.5 million in 2019, placing it fifth in the nation and growing by 6.5 percent per year—the fastest rate in the United States. The
minimum wage as of January 1, 2021, was $13.69 an hour, the second highest of any state or district in the country behind Washington D.C at $14.00 an hour. Significant business within the state include the design and manufacture of aircraft (
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...
),
automotive (
Paccar), computer software development (
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
,
Bungie,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
,
Nintendo of America
is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing card ...
,
Valve,
ArenaNet),
telecom (
T-Mobile US),
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
,
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...
,
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
production, lumber and wood products (
Weyerhaeuser), mining, beverages (
Starbucks,
Jones Soda), real estate (
John L. Scott
John L. Scott Real Estate is headquartered in Bellevue, WA. It currently has over 110 offices with over 3,000 brokers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Northern California.
Current
John L. Scott is owned and operated by a third-generation Scott ...
,
Colliers International
Colliers is a Canada-based diversified professional services and investment management company with approximately 18,000 employees in more than 400 offices in 63 countries.
The firm provides services to commercial real estate users, owners, in ...
,
Windermere Real Estate
Windermere Real Estate is a real estate company founded in 1972 and based in Seattle, Washington. It is a privately held company and is the largest regional real estate company in the Western U.S., with over 300 offices and 6,500 agents.
Histor ...
, Kidder Mathews), retail (
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...
,
Eddie Bauer,
Car Toys,
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation ( doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costc ...
,
R.E.I.
Rei or REI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Rei, a story arc of the anime '' Higurashi When They Cry''
*Rei, a shapeshifting godlike dragon in the Australian webcomic series ''Vainglorious''
*Rei I, II and III, episodes of ''Neon Genesis Ev ...
), and tourism (
Alaska Airlines,
Expedia, Inc.
Expedia Group, Inc. is an American online travel shopping company for consumer and small business travel. Its websites, which are primarily travel fare aggregators and travel metasearch engines, include Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Vrbo (previously ...
). A ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' magazine survey of the top 20 Most Admired Companies in the U.S. has four Washington-based companies: Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, and Costco. At over 80 percent the state has significant amounts of hydroelectric power generation. Also, significant amounts of trade with Asia pass through the ports of the Puget Sound, leading to a number six ranking of U.S. ports (ranking combines twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) moved and infrastructure index).
With the passage of Initiative 1183, the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) ended its monopoly of all-state liquor store and liquor distribution operations on June 1, 2012.
, the state's unemployment rate was 3.7 percent.
Taxes
The state of Washington is one of seven states that do not levy a personal
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...
. The state does not collect a
corporate income tax
A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed a ...
or
franchise tax either. Washington businesses are responsible for various other state levies, including the
business and occupation tax (B & O), a
gross receipts tax which charges varying rates for different types of businesses.
Washington's state base
sales tax is 6.5%, which is combined with a local sales tax that varies by locality. The combined state and local retail sales tax rates increase the taxes paid by consumers, depending on the variable local sales tax rates, generally between 7.5% and 10%.
As of March 2017, the combined sales tax rate in Seattle and Tacoma was 10.1%.
The cities of Lynnwood and Mill Creek have the highest sale tax rate in the state at 10.5%. These taxes apply to services as well as products. Most foods are exempt from sales tax. However, prepared foods,
dietary supplements, and
soft drinks remain taxable.
An
excise tax applies to certain products such as gasoline, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages.
Property tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inher ...
was the first tax levied in the state of Washington, and its collection accounts for about 30% of Washington's total state and local revenue. It continues to be the most important revenue source for
public schools, fire protection,
libraries, parks and recreation, and other special-purpose districts.
All
real property and
personal property are subject to tax unless specifically exempted by law. Most personal property owned by individuals is exempt from tax.
Personal property tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
applies to personal property used when conducting business, or to other personal property not exempt by law. All property taxes are paid to the county treasurer's office where the property is located. Neither does the state assess any tax on retirement income earned and received from another state. Washington does not collect
inheritance taxes. However, the
estate tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an ...
is de-coupled from the federal estate tax laws, and therefore, the state imposes its estate tax.
Washington state has the 18th highest per capita
effective tax rate in the United States, as of 2017. Their tax policy differs from neighboring Oregon's, which levies no sales tax, but does levy a personal income tax. This leads to
border economic anomalies in the
Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area
The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsbo ...
. Additional border economies exist with neighboring British Columbia and Idaho.
Agriculture
Washington is a leading agricultural state. The following figures are from th
Washington State Department of Agricultureand the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington Field Office. For 2018, the total value of Washington's agricultural products was $10.6 billion.
In 2014, Washington ranked first in the nation in production of red
raspberries (90.5 percent of total U.S. production),
hops (79.3 percent),
spearmint oil (75 percent), wrinkled seed
peas (70.4 percent),
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...
s (71.1 percent), sweet
cherries (62.3 percent), pears (45.6 percent),
Concord grape
The Concord grape is a cultivar derived from the grape species ''Vitis labrusca'' (also known as fox grape) that are used as table grapes, wine grapes and juice grapes. They are often used to make grape jelly, grape juice, grape pies, grape- ...
s (55.1 percent),
carrots for processing (30.6 percent), and green peas for processing (32.4 percent).
Washington also ranked second in the nation in the production of fall potatoes (a quarter of the nation's production),
nectarine
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, n ...
s,
apricots, asparagus, all raspberries, grapes (all varieties taken together), sweet corn for processing (a quarter of the nation's production), and summer onions (a fifth of the nation's production). Washington also ranked third in the nation in the production of dried peas, lentils, onions, and peppermint oil.
The apple industry is of particular importance to Washington. Because of the favorable climate of dry, warm summers and cold winters of central Washington, the state has led the U.S. in apple production since the 1920s. Two areas account for the vast majority of the state's apple crop: the Wenatchee–Okanogan region (comprising
Chelan,
Okanogan,
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
* Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...
, and
Grant counties), and the Yakima region (comprising
Yakima,
Benton, and
Kittitas counties). Washington produces seven principal varieties of apples which are exported to more than sixty countries.
Wine
Washington ranks second
in the United States in the production of wine, behind only
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
[A. Domine (ed) ''Wine'' pg 798–800 Ullmann Publishing 2008 ] By 2006, the state had over of
vineyard
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyard ...
s, a
harvest of of grapes, and exports going to more than forty countries around the world from the state's 600
wineries
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...
. By 2021, that number had grown to 1050 wineries. While there are some
viticultural activities in the cooler, wetter
western half of the state, almost all (99%) of wine grape production takes place in the desert-like
eastern half.
[J. Robinson (ed) ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition, pg. 761–762 Oxford University Press 2006 ] The
rain shadow of the Cascade Range leaves the
Columbia River Basin
The Columbia River drainage basin is the drainage basin of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It covers . In common usage, the term often refers to a smaller area, generally the portion of the drainage basin t ...
with around of annual rain fall, making
irrigation and
water rights of paramount interest to the Washington wine industry. Viticulture in the state is also influenced by long sunlight hours (on average, two more hours a day than in California during the
growing season) and consistent temperatures.
[C. Fallis, editor ''The Encyclopedic Atlas of Wine'', p. 50 Global Book Publishing 2006 ]
Internet access
As of December 2014, there are 124 broadband providers offering service to Washington state; 93 percent of consumers have access to broadband speeds of 25/3Mbit/s or more.
From 2009–2014, the Washington State Broadband Project was awarded $7.3 million in federal grants, but the program was discontinued in 2014. For infrastructure, another $166 million has been awarded since 2011 for broadband infrastructure projects in Washington state.
''
U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Washington second nationally for household internet access, and sixth for online download speed, based on data from 2014 and 2015.
Transportation
Washington's state transportation system comprises several modes that are maintained by various government entities. The
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
system, called
State Routes, includes over of roads and the
Washington State Ferries system, the largest of its kind in the nation and the third largest in the world. There are also of local roads maintained by cities and counties, as well as several ferries operated by local governments.
There are 140
public airfields in Washington, including 16
state airports owned by the
Washington State Department of Transportation.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) is the major commercial airport of greater Seattle.
Boeing Field
Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport , is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA (King County International Airpo ...
in Seattle is one of the busiest primary non-hub airports in the U.S.
There are extensive waterways around Washington's largest cities, 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
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...
and its inland waterways to 20 different ports of call, completing close to 147,000 sailings each year. Washington is home to four of the five longest
floating bridges in the world: the
Evergreen Point Floating Bridge
The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to its eastern suburbs. The floating span is the ...
,
Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and
Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge
The Third Lake Washington Bridge, officially the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, is a floating bridge in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Washington. It is one of the Interstate 90 floating bridges, carrying the westbound lan ...
over
Lake Washington, and the
Hood Canal Bridge which connects the Olympic Peninsula and
Kitsap Peninsula. Among its most famous bridges is the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which collapsed in 1940 and was rebuilt. Washington has 75 port districts,
including several major
seaports on the Pacific Ocean. Among these are ports in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
,
Tacoma,
Kalama,
Anacortes,
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
,
Everett,
Longview, Grays Harbor, Olympia, and
Port Angeles
Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. With a population of 19,960 as of the 2020 census, it is the largest city in the county. The population was estimated at 20,134 in 2021.
The city's har ...
. The Columbia and Snake rivers also provide of inland waterways that are navigable by barges as far east as
Lewiston, Idaho.
The Cascade Mountain Range also impedes transportation. Washington operates and maintains roads over seven major
mountain passes and eight minor passes. During the winter months, some of these passes are plowed, sanded, and kept safe with avalanche control. Not all stay open through the winter. The North Cascades Highway,
State Route 20, closes every year due to snowfall and avalanches in the area of
Washington Pass
Washington Pass (el. 5477 ft./1669 m.) and Rainy Pass (el. 4875 ft./1486 m.) are two mountain passes on State Route 20 ( North Cascades Highway) in the North Cascades mountains of Washington state. Rainy Pass is about 4 miles to the ...
. The
Cayuse and
Chinook passes east of Mount Rainier also close in winter.
Washington is crossed by several
freight railroads, and Amtrak's passenger
Cascade route between Eugene, Oregon, and Vancouver, BC is the eighth busiest Amtrak service in the U.S. Seattle's
King Street Station
King Street Station is a train station in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is served by Amtrak's '' Cascades'', ''Coast Starlight'', and ''Empire Builder'', as well as Sounder commuter trains run by Sound Transit. The station also anc ...
, the busiest station in Washington, and 15th busiest in the U.S., serves as the terminus for the two long-distance Amtrak routes in Washington, the
Empire Builder to Chicago and the
Coast Starlight to Los Angeles. The
Sounder commuter rail service operates in Seattle and its surrounding cities, between
Everett and
Lakewood. The intercity network includes the
Cascade Tunnel, the longest railroad tunnel in the United States, which is part of the
Stevens Pass route on the BNSF Northern Transcom.
Sound Transit
Link light rail
Link light rail is a light rail rapid transit system serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit providers, and consists of two non-connected lines ...
currently operates in the Seattle area at a length of , and in
Tacoma at a length of . The entire system has a funded expansion plan that will expand light rail to a total of 116 miles by 2041. Seattle also has a
streetcar network with two lines and plans to expand further by 2025. 32 local bus transit systems exist across the state,
the busiest being
King County Metro, located in Seattle and King County, with just above 122 million riders in 2017. Residents of Vancouver have resisted proposals to extend Portland's mass transit system into Washington.
Environment
Hanford Nuclear Reservation is currently the most
contaminated nuclear site in the United States and is the focus of the nation's largest
environmental cleanup. The radioactive materials are known to be leaking from Hanford into the environment.
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 are being 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 State Department of Ecology showed toxic chemicals banned decades ago 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 from 45 sites. The toxic substances included
PCBs,
dioxins, two chlorinated pesticides,
DDE,
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 State Department of Health
The Washington State Department of Health is a state agency of Washington. It is headquartered in Olympia, Washington. The agency was created by the state legislature in May 1989 after splitting from the Washington State Department of Social and ...
advises 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 showed 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.
On March 27, 2006, Governor
Christine Gregoire signed into law the recently approved House Bill 2322. This bill would limit
phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...
content in dishwashing detergents statewide to 0.5 percent over the next six years. Though the ban would be effective statewide in 2010, it would take place in
Whatcom County,
Spokane County, and
Clark County in 2008. A recent discovery had linked high contents of phosphorus in water to a boom in
algae population. An invasive amount of algae in bodies of water would lead to a variety of excess ecological and technological issues.
Government and politics
State government
Washington's
executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. The current statewide elected officials are:
*
Jay Inslee
Jay Robert Inslee (; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, lawyer, and economist who has served as the 23rd governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
,
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
(D)
*
Denny Heck,
Lieutenant Governor (D)
*
Steve Hobbs,
Secretary of State (D)
*
Mike Pellicciotti,
State Treasurer
In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...
(D)
*
Patrice McCarthy,
State Auditor (D)
*
Bob Ferguson,
Attorney General (D)
*
Chris Reykdal,
Superintendent of Public Instruction
A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistance on educationa ...
(D)
*
Hilary Franz,
Commissioner of Public Lands (D)
*
Mike Kreidler,
Insurance Commissioner (D)
The
bicameral Washington State Legislature is the state's
legislative branch. The
state legislature
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
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, while senators serve for four years. There are no
term limits. The
Democratic Party has a majority in the House and Senate.
The
Washington Supreme Court
The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. Justices must retire ...
is the highest court in the state. Nine justices serve on the bench and are elected statewide.
Federal representation
The two current
United States senators from Washington are
Patty Murray and
Maria Cantwell
Maria Ellen Cantwell (; born October 13, 1958) is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Washingto ...
, both Democrats. Murray has represented the state since 1993, while Cantwell was first elected in 2001. The state is one of four with two female senators.
Washington's ten representatives in the United States House of Representatives (
''see map of districts'') as of the 2020 election are
Suzan DelBene (D-1),
Rick Larsen (D-2),
Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-3),
Dan Newhouse (R-4),
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-5),
Derek Kilmer
Derek Christian Kilmer (born January 1, 1974) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the Washington Hous ...
(D-6),
Pramila Jayapal (D-7),
Kim Schrier (D-8),
Adam Smith (D-9), and
Marilyn Strickland
Marilyn Strickland (born September 25, 1962) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from Washington's 10th congressional district. The district is based in the state capital of Olympia, and also includes much of eastern Tacom ...
(D-10).
Due to
Congressional redistricting as a result of the
2010 Census, Washington gained one seat in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. With the extra seat, Washington also gained one electoral vote, raising its total to 12.
Politics
The state is typically thought of as politically divided by the Cascade Mountains, with Western Washington being
liberal (particularly the ) and Eastern Washington being
conservative. Washington has voted for the
Democratic presidential nominee in every election since
1988.
Although the Eastern half of the state votes heavily
Republican, the overwhelming
Democratic dominance in the
Seattle metropolitan area has turned Washington into a reliably
blue state.
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history ...
narrowly won Washington in 1988, and Democrats have won the state in every presidential election since, and by safe margins since
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
.
Washington was considered a key swing state in 1968, and it was the only western state to give its electoral votes to Democratic nominee
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing ...
over his Republican opponent
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
. Washington was considered a part of the 1994
Republican Revolution, and had the biggest pick-up in the house for Republicans, who picked up seven of Washington's nine House seats. However, this dominance did not 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.
The
governorship is held by Democrat
Jay Inslee
Jay Robert Inslee (; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, lawyer, and economist who has served as the 23rd governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
, who was elected to his first term in the
2012 gubernatorial election and, after the 2020 election, became the first incumbent in more than 40 years to be elected for a third term. In 2013 and 2014, both houses of the
Washington State Legislature (the
Washington Senate
The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...
and the
Washington House of Representatives
The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...
) were controlled by Democrats. The state senate was under Republican control, due to two Democrats' joining Republicans to form the
Majority Coalition Caucus. After the 2014 elections, the Democrats retained control of the House, while Republicans took a majority in the Senate without the need for a coalition. In November 2017, a special election gave Democrats a one-seat majority in the Senate and complete control over state government. Since then, in the 2018 election, the Democrats have only expanded their majorities.
No state has gone longer without a Republican governor than
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. Democrats have controlled the
Washington Governor's Mansion
The Washington Governor's Mansion is the official residence of the governor of Washington. The Georgian-style mansion is located on the grounds of the State Capitol campus in the capital city Olympia. It is on the crest of Capitol Point, with ...
for years; the last Republican Governor was
John Spellman, who left office in 1985. Washington has not voted for a Republican senator, governor, or presidential candidate since 1994, tying Delaware for the longest streak in the country.
Washington uses the
non-partisan blanket primary system after the approval of
Initiative 872 in 2004. All candidates run on the same ballot during primary elections and the top two candidates advance to the general election in November, regardless of party affiliation. This has resulted in several same-party general election match-ups.
In a 2020 study, Washington was ranked as the second easiest state for citizens to vote in.
Notable legislation
Washington is one of the ten states to have legalized
assisted suicide. In 2008 the
Washington Death with Dignity Act ballot initiative passed and became law.
In November 2009, Washington voters approved full domestic partnerships via
Referendum 71
The 2009 Washington Referendum 71 (R-71) legalized domestic partnership in Washington state, the first statewide referendum in the United States that extended to LGBT people the rights and responsibility of domestic partnership. The bill had pa ...
, marking the first time voters in any state expanded recognition of same-sex relationships at the ballot box. Three years later, in November 2012,
same-sex marriage was affirmed via
Referendum 74, making Washington one of only three states to have approved same-sex marriage by popular vote.
Also in November 2012, Washington was one of the first two states to approve the legal sale and possession of
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
for both recreational and medical use with
Initiative 502. Although marijuana is still illegal under U.S. federal law, persons 21 and older in Washington state can possess up to one ounce of marijuana, 16 ounces of marijuana-infused product in solid form, 72 ounces of marijuana-infused product in liquid form, or any combination of all three, and can legally consume marijuana and marijuana-infused products.
In November 2016, voters approved Initiative 1433, which among other things requires employers to guarantee paid
sick leave to most workers. On January 1, 2018, the law went into effect, with Washington becoming the seventh state with paid sick leave requirements.
With the passage of
Initiative 1639 in the 2018 elections, Washington adopted stricter gun laws.
Washington enacted a measure in May 2019 in favor of
sanctuary cities, similar to California and Oregon laws which are among the strongest statewide mandates in the nation.
In 2019 the legislature passed the Clean Energy Transformation Act, which requires all electricity sales to be from zero-carbon sources by 2045 and net-zero by 2030.
Education
Elementary and secondary education
As of the 2020–2021 school year, 1,094,330 students were enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in Washington, with 67,841 teachers employed to educate them. As of August 2009, there were 295
school district
A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations.
North America United States
In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, w ...
s in the state, serviced by nine
Educational Service Districts.
Washington School Information Processing Cooperative (a non-profit opt-in state agency) provides information management systems for fiscal & human resources and student data. Elementary and secondary schools are under the jurisdiction of the
Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
High school
juniors and
seniors in Washington have the option of using the state's
Running Start
Running Start is a dual credit enrollment program in Washington, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Montana and Illinois which allows high school juniors and seniors to attend college courses numbered 100 or above, while completing high school. It is si ...
program. Begun by the
state legislature
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
in 1990, it allows students to attend institutions of higher education at public expense, simultaneously earning high school and college credit.
The state also has several public arts-focused high schools including
Tacoma School of the Arts, the
Vancouver School of Arts and Academics
The Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA) is a public arts magnet school for grades 6 to 12 in Vancouver, Washington, United States. It is part of the Vancouver Public Schools and in addition to traditional academic studies, the school's ...
, and
The Center School. There are also four Science and Math based high schools: one in the
Tri-Cities Tri-Cities most often refers to:
*Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States
*Tri-Cities, Washington, United States
Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to:
Populated places
Americas
Canada
*Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...
known as Delta, one in Tacoma known as SAMI, another in Seattle known as
Raisbeck Aviation High School
Raisbeck Aviation High School (or RAHS), part of the Highline School District, is located in Tukwila, Washington. The school is an aviation- and aerospace-themed STEM school and one of the Highline School District's small schools. It is focused o ...
, and one in Redmond known as
Tesla STEM High School.
Higher education
There are more than 40 institutions of higher education in Washington. The state has major research universities, technical schools, religious schools, and private career colleges. Colleges and universities include the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...
,
Seattle University,
Washington State University,
Western Washington University,
Eastern Washington University,
Central Washington University,
Seattle Pacific University,
Saint Martin's University,
Pacific Lutheran University,
Gonzaga University,
University of Puget Sound
The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional ...
,
The Evergreen State College,
Whitman College, and
Walla Walla University.
Health care
Insurance
The top two health insurers as of 2017 were
Premera Blue Cross
Premera Blue Cross is a not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield licensed health insurance company based in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, United States. It sells health insurance plans under the Blue Cross license in Washington state except Clar ...
, with 24 percent market share, followed by
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser Per ...
at 21 percent. For the individual market,
Molina Healthcare had the top share at 23%.
The state adopted the
Washington Healthplanfinder system in 2014 after the passage of the federal
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as "ObamaCare").
The state of Washington reformed its health care system in 1993 through the Washington Health Services Act. The legislation required individuals to obtain health insurance or face penalties, and required employers to provide insurance to employees. In addition, health insurance companies were required to sell policies to all individuals, regardless of pre-existing conditions, and cover basic benefits. The act was mostly repealed in 1995 before it could go into full effect.
Facilities
Hospitals exist across the state, but many of Washington's best-known medical facilities are located
in and around Seattle. The Seattle–Tacoma area has six major hospitals:
Harborview Medical Center,
University of Washington Medical Center
The University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) is a hospital in the University District of Seattle, Washington. It is one of the teaching hospitals affiliated with the University of Washington School of Medicine.And is located in the Wa ...
,
Seattle Children’s,
Swedish Medical Center,
MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital
MultiCare Health System's Tacoma General Hospital is the largest hospital in Tacoma, Washington. It is a level II trauma center with 437 beds and the second largest obstetrical care center in the state of Washington. Tacoma General began serv ...
, and
St. Joseph Medical Center. The Seattle-area hospitals are concentrated on
First Hill, which is home to
Virginia Mason Medical Center (the neighborhood has received the nickname "Pill Hill" owing to the high concentration of healthcare facilities).
Culture
Sports
Pickleball, a racquet sport invented on
Bainbridge Island
Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...
in 1965, was designated as Washington's official
state sport in 2022.
For two years in a row, 2021 and 2022, the sport was named the fastest growing sport in the United States by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA).
Major professional teams
Minor professional and amateur teams
College sports teams
;
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...
*
Washington Huskies
The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac ...
(
Pac-12 Conference;
Football Bowl Subdivision)
*
Washington State Cougars
The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...
(
Pac-12 Conference;
Football Bowl Subdivision)
*
Gonzaga Bulldogs (
West Coast Conference)
*
Seattle Redhawks
The Seattle Redhawks are the intercollegiate varsity athletic teams of Seattle University of Seattle, Washington. They compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member institution of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
History
Between 1950 and ...
(
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas.
Due to most of t ...
)
*
Eastern Washington Eagles
The Eastern Washington Eagles are the intercollegiate varsity athletic teams that represent Eastern Washington University, located in Cheney, southwest of Spokane. A member of the Big Sky Conference, EWU's athletic program comprises five men's ...
(
Big Sky Conference;
Football Championship Subdivision)
;
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
*
Central Washington Wildcats
The Central Washington Wildcats (also CWU Wildcats) are the 12 varsity athletic teams that represent Central Washington University, located in Ellensburg, Washington, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Wildcats compete as members of ...
*
Saint Martin's Saints
The Saint Martin's Saints (also SMU Saints) are the 13 varsity athletic teams that represent Saint Martin's University, located in Lacey, Washington, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Saints compete as members of the Great Northwest ...
*
Seattle Pacific Falcons
The Seattle Pacific Falcons (also SPU Falcons) are the 12 varsity athletic teams that represent Seattle Pacific University, located in Seattle, Washington, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Falcons compete as members of the Great No ...
*
Western Washington Vikings
The Western Washington Vikings represent Western Washington University in intercollegiate sports in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference of the NCAA Division II with the exception of the women's rowing team which is a member of the Northwest C ...
;
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...
*
Pacific Lutheran Lutes
Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congregations of Region I of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ame ...
*
Puget Sound Loggers
The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...
*
Whitman Blues
*
Whitworth Pirates
Individual sports
The
Seattle Open Invitational
The Seattle Open Invitational was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the northwest United States, in the greater Seattle area. It was played eight times over three decades under five names at three locations.
History
The first Sea ...
golf tournament was part of the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
from the 1930s to the 1960s. The
GTE Northwest Classic was part of the
Senior PGA Tour from 1986 to 1995, and the
Boeing Classic
The Boeing Classic is a professional golf tournament in Washington on the PGA Tour Champions, founded in 2005. The 54-hole event is played annually in late August in Snoqualmie, east of Seattle. It was titled the "Boeing Greater Seattle Classi ...
since 2005. In addition, the
2015 U.S. Open was held at
Chambers Bay, and several major tournaments were held at
Sahalee Country Club.
Pacific Raceways is a motorsports venue that has hosted the Northwest Nationals of the
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and a round of the
Trans-Am Series
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...
.
The
WTA Seattle tennis tournament was part of the
WTA Tour from 1977 to 1982.
Symbols, honors, and names
Four ships of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, including two battleships, have been named
USS ''Washington'' in honor of the state. Previous ships had held that name in honor of George Washington.
The Evergreen State
The state's nickname, "The Evergreen State",
[ was proposed in 1890 by Charles T. Conover of Seattle. The name proved popular as the forests were full of ]evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...
trees and the abundance of rain keeps the shrubbery and grasses green throughout the year. Although the nickname is widely used by the state, appearing on vehicle license plates for instance, it has not been officially adopted.[ The Evergreen State College, a state-funded institution in Olympia, also takes its name from this nickname.
]
State symbols
The state song
Forty-eight of the fifty U.S. states have one or more state songs, a type of regional anthem, which are selected by each state legislature as a symbol (or emblem) of that particular U.S. state.
Some U.S. states have more than one official state ...
is " Washington, My Home", the state bird A state bird is the insignia of a nation or a state (sub-national entity).
For lists of these animals, see:
* List of national birds, national birds on country level
* List of Australian bird emblems, for the Australian states
* List of Brazilian ...
is the American goldfinch, the state fruit is the apple, and the state vegetable is the Walla Walla sweet onion. The state dance, adopted in 1979, is the square dance. The state tree
This is a list of U.S. state, federal district, and territory trees, including official trees of the following of the states, of the federal district, and of the territories.
Table
See also
* List of U.S. state, district, and territorial insign ...
is the western hemlock. The state flower is the coast rhododendron
''Rhododendron macrophyllum'', the Pacific rhododendron, California rosebay, California rhododendron, coast rhododendron or big leaf rhododendron, is a large-leaved species of ''Rhododendron'' native to the Pacific Coast of North America. It is ...
. The state fish is the steelhead.[ The state folk song is "]Roll On, Columbia, Roll On
"Roll On, Columbia, Roll On" is an American folk song written in 1941 by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, who popularized the song through his own recording of it. The song glamorized the harnessing of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwes ...
" by Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspire ...
. The unofficial, but popularly accepted, state rock song is Louie Louie. The state grass is bluebunch wheatgrass. The state insect is the green darner dragonfly. The state gem is petrified wood. The state fossil
Most American states have made a state fossil designation, in many cases during the 1980s. It is common to designate one species in which fossilization has occurred, rather than a single specimen, or a category of fossils not limited to a single ...
is the Columbian mammoth. The state marine mammal is the orca
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...
. The state soil is Tokul soil. The state land mammal is the Olympic marmot.[ The state seal (featured in the state flag as well) was inspired by the unfinished portrait of President George Washington by Gilbert Stuart. The state sport is pickleball.]
Friendship partners
Washington has relationships with many provinces, states, and other entities worldwide.
* Jalisco, Mexico (1996)
See also
* Index of Washington-related articles
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Washington.
0–9
* .wa.us – Internet second-level domain for the state of Washington
* 42nd state to join the United States of America
A
*Adjacent states and ...
* Outline of Washington
Notes
References
Further reading
* .
*
Volume 2
* Edmond S. Meany
''History of the State of Washington''
New York: Macmillan, 1909.
* . Reprinted from the ''Washington Historical Quarterly'', 1918–1919.
External links
*
The official tourism site of the State of Washington
Washington State Databases
Secretary of State's Washington History website
Constitution of the State of Washington
Washington Administrative Code (State Administrative Rules)
State Code Search Tool
Energy Profile for Washington
USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Washington
Washington State Facts from USDA
U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts: Washington
Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
Police Scanner Information for Washington state
CWU Brooks Library Edward W. Nolan Photograph Collection
*
*
{{coord, 47, -120, dim:300000_region:US-WA_type:adm1st, name=State of Washington, display=title
1889 establishments in the United States
Geography of the Pacific Northwest
States and territories established in 1889
States of the United States
States of the West Coast of the United States
Contiguous United States