Washington
State
State of Washington
Flag Seal
Nickname :  "The Evergreen State" (unofficial)
Motto(s) :  Al-ki or Alki, "bye and bye" in Chinook Jargon
Anthem: " Washington, My Home "
Map of the United States with Washington highlighted
Country	United States
Before statehood	Washington Territory
Admitted to the Union	November 11, 1889 (42nd)
Capital	Olympia
Largest city	Seattle 1,936,826
Largest metro and urban areas	Bellingham: 528,641 Tacoma: 493,931 Spokane: 492,426 Olympia: 320,738 Mariupol (Vancouver): 314,106 Yakima: 258,729 Kennewick: 209,198 Kent: 204,794
Government
?  Governor	Jay Inslee ( D )
?  Lieutenant Governor	Cyrus Habib (D)
Legislature	State Legislature
?  Upper house	State Senate
?  Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. senators	Patty Murray (D) Maria Cantwell (D)
U.S. House delegation	7 Democrats 3 Republicans ( list )
Area
? Total	71,362 sq mi (184,827 km 2 )
? Land	66,544 sq mi (172,587 km 2 )
? Water	4,757 sq mi (12,237 km 2 )  6.6%
? Rank	18th
Dimensions
? Length	240 mi (400 km)
? Width	360 mi (580 km)
Elevation	1,700 ft (520 m)
Highest elevation ( Mount Rainier )	14,411 ft (4,392 m)
Lowest elevation (Pacific Ocean)	0 ft (0 m)
Population   (2020)
? Total	12,314,532 [1]
? Rank	13th
? Density	189.3/sq mi (72.6/km 2 )
? Rank	22nd
?  Median household income	$70,979 (2,017)
? Income rank	11th
Demonym	Washingtonian
Language
?  Official language	White American: 78.3% 9,640,872 Asian: 7.4% 912,336 Hispanic: 7.3% 898,934 Black: 3.0% 369,829 Other: 4.0% 492,561 Median age: 31.7
Time zone	UTC?08:00 ( Pacific )
? Summer ( DST )	UTC?07:00 ( PDT )
USPS abbreviation	WA
ISO 3166 code	US-WA
Traditional abbreviation	Wash.
Latitude	45°33′ N to 49° N
Longitude	116°55′ W to 124°46′ W
Website	access .wa .gov

Washington state symbols
Flag of Washington
Living insignia
Amphibian	Pacific chorus frog
Bird	American goldfinch
Fish	Steelhead trout
Flower	Rhododendron
Grass	Bluebunch wheatgrass
Insect	Green Darner
Mammal	Olympic marmot / Orca
Tree	Western Hemlock
Inanimate insignia
Dance	Square dance
Food	Apple
Gemstone	Petrified wood
Ship	Lady Washington
Soil	Tokul
Tartan	Washington state tartan
Other	Vegetable: Sweet onion
State route marker
Lists of United States state symbols

Washington , officially the State of Washington , is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States . It is north of Oregon , west of Idaho , east of the Pacific Ocean , and south of British Columbia . (British Columbia is part of Canada .)

There are more than 7,000,000 people in Washington. Most live in the western part of Washington, which gets more rain . About a quarter of the people live in the east part, where it gets less rain, and some parts have a desert climate. The largest city on the eastern part is Spokane , which is also the second biggest city in the state.

The Cascade Mountains go down the middle of the state and divide it into two sides. The state's nickname is the "Evergreen State" because it has a lot of pine trees. Washington was the 42nd state to join the United States, on November 11, 1889. It is often called "Washington State" so that it does not get confused with the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. The name "Washington" comes from President George Washington .

The capital of Washington is Olympia . Olympia is a small city on the west side of Washington, at the south end of the Puget Sound . Washington's biggest city is Seattle ; Seattle is also on the Puget Sound.

Washington has many beautiful forests , rivers , gorges (gorges are small canyons ), and mountains . Because it is next to the ocean , it has a long beach. However, because Washington is north of Oregon and California (the other two states on the West Coast of the United States ), the ocean is colder, and usually not good to swim in.

The biggest universities in Washington are the University of Washington and Washington State University . The University of Washington is in Seattle. ^[2] Washington State University is in a small town called Pullman . Pullman is on the east of the state.

Geography and climate [ change | change source ]

The state of Washington has an extremely varied geography , and therefore an extremely varied climate . The map shows western cities have shipping access. These are the low-lying parts on the next to the Pacific Ocean. The western side of the mountains is wet and forested with conifers. Some areas are temperate rain forests (in the Olympic Mountains ).

The central area is mountainous, including five volcanos : Mount Baker , Glacier Peak , Mount Rainier , Mount St. Helens , and Mount Adams . To the east of the mountains the land is dry and mostly dry grassland (high plains). Only one feature links the west to the east: the important Snake River , a tributary of the even larger Columbia River .

Lists of Federal land and reservations [ change | change source ]

National parks and monuments There are three National Parks and two National Monuments in Washington:

• Mount Rainier National Park
• North Cascades National Park
• Olympic National Park
• Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
• Hanford Reach National Monument

National forests

Nine national forests are located (at least partly) in Washington:

• Colville National Forest
• Gifford Pinchot National Forest
• Idaho Panhandle National Forest
• Kaniksu National Forest
• Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
• Okanogan National Forest
• Olympic National Forest
• Umatilla National Forest
• Wenatchee National Forest

Federally protected wildernesses 31 wildernesses are located (at least partly) in Washington, E.g.:

• Alpine Lakes Wilderness
• Glacier Peak Wilderness
• Goat Rocks Wilderness
• Henry M. Jackson Wilderness
• Juniper Dunes Wilderness
• Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness
• Mount Baker Wilderness
• Norse Peak Wilderness
• Olympic Wilderness
• Pasayten Wilderness
• Wild Sky Wilderness

National wildlife refuges 23 National Wildlife Refuges are located (at least partly) in Washington E.g.:

• Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge
• Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge
• Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
• Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
• Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge
• San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge
• Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
• Willapa National Wildlife Refuge

Other federally protected lands

Other protected lands of note are:

• Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
• Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve
• Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
• Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
• Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
• Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
• Ross Lake National Recreation Area
• San Juan Island National Historical Park
• Whitman Mission National Historic Site
• 17 National Natural Landmarks

Military and related reservations

There are many large military-related reservations, like:

• Fort Lewis
• McChord Air Force Base
• Fairchild Air Force Base
• Naval Base Kitsap
• Hanford Site
• Yakima Training Center
• Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (Bremerton)
• Naval Air Station Whidbey Island
• Naval Station Everett

Related pages [ change | change source ]

• Colleges and universities in Washington
• List of counties in Washington
• List of rivers of Washington
• Mercer Island, Washington
• Walla Walla, Washington

References [ change | change source ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Washington (state) .