Washington (state)

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. Washington State University is in a small town called Pullman. Pullman is on the east of the state.

Geography and climate 

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

References 

 
1889 establishments in the United States