Washington is the 18th-largest state, with an area of 71,362 square miles (184,830 km2), and the 13th-most populous state, with more than 7.8 million people. The majority of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry on Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean consisting of numerous islands, deep fjords and bays carved out by glaciers. The remainder of the state consists of deep temperate rainforests in the west; mountain ranges in the west, center, northeast, and far southeast; and a semi-arid basin region in the east, center, and south, given over to intensive agriculture. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, after California. Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the state's highest elevation at 14,411 feet (4,392 meters), and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous U.S.
Washington is a leading lumber producer, the largest producer of apples, hops, pears, blueberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries in the U.S., and ranks high in the production of apricots, asparagus, dry edible peas, grapes, lentils, peppermint oil, and potatoes. Livestock, livestock products, and commercial fishing—particularly of salmon, halibut, and bottomfish—are also significant contributors to the state's economy. Washington ranks second only to California in wine production. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft, missiles, shipbuilding, and other transportation equipment, food processing, metals, and metal products, chemicals, and machinery. (Full article...)
Wagon roads along the west side of the Columbia River were plotted in the 1880s by American settlers and added to the state highway system in 1897. The wagon road was designated as State Road 10 (later the Lake Chelan and Okanogan Highway) and was completely paved by the late 1930s. US 97 was created in 1926 and followed the highway, which was relocated in the 1950s due to the construction of the Rocky Reach Dam. A highway on the east side of the river was completed in the 1980s and designated as part of US 97 in 1987, leaving the west side to become an alternate route. (Full article...)
Expansionist competition into the region began in the 18th century, with participants including the Russian Empire, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. After the War of 1812, the Oregon dispute took on increased importance for diplomatic relations between the British Empire and the fledgling American republic. In the mid-1820s, the Russians signed the Russo-American Treaty of 1824 and the Russo-British Treaty of 1825, and the Spanish signed the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, by which Russia and Spain formally withdrew their respective territorial claims in the region, and the British and the Americans acquired residual territorial rights in the disputed area. But the question of sovereignty over a portion of the North American Pacific coast was still contested between the United Kingdom and the United States. The disputed area was defined as the region west of the Continental Divide of the Americas, north of Mexico's Alta California border of 42nd parallel north, and south of Russian America at parallel 54°40′ north. The British generally called this region the Columbia District and the Americans generally called it Oregon Country. (Full article...)
Image 22Race and Hispanic origin of Washington by county, showing race by color, and then breaking down non-Hispanic and Hispanic origin by color tone. The county population is shown by size and by the label. The same data on the map below shows non-Hispanic and Hispanic origin first and then breaks that down by race using color tone. (from Washington (state))
Image 41Race and Hispanic origin of Washington by county, showing race by color, and then breaking down non-Hispanic and Hispanic origin by color tone. The county population is shown by size and by the label. The same data on the map below shows non-Hispanic and Hispanic origin first and then breaks that down by race using color tone. (from Washington (state))
Image 53The same race and origin data as above, but the Hispanic origin is grouped first, then by race. The first emphasizes the racial diversity of people of Hispanic origin, while the second grouping gives a clearer indication of the total Hispanic population. (from Washington (state))
Image 56Dryland farming caused a large dust storm in arid parts of Eastern Washington on October 4, 2009. Courtesy: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response. (from Washington (state))
Image 651893 advert from the People's Shoe Store, a business looking to capitalize on the boom of populism throughout the state. (from History of Washington (state))
Image 66Dryland farming caused a large dust storm in arid parts of Eastern Washington on October 4, 2009. Courtesy: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response. (from Washington (state))
Image 75The same race and origin data as above, but the Hispanic origin is grouped first, then by race. The first emphasizes the racial diversity of people of Hispanic origin, while the second grouping gives a clearer indication of the total Hispanic population. (from Washington (state))
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