Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The state is named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory and admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Residents are called "Washingtonians" (emphasis on the third syllable, pronounced as tone). Washington is often called Washington state to distinguish it from Washington, D.C., the nation's capital.
Washington is the northwesternmost state of the contiguous United States. Its northern border lies mainly along the 49th parallel, with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. Washington borders Oregon to the south, with the Columbia River forming most of the boundary and the 46th parallel forming the eastern part. To the east Washington borders Idaho, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the Snake River and Clearwater River (about 116°57' west), except for the southermost section where the border follows the Snake River. To the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean.
Washington is in the region known as the Pacific Northwest, a term which often includes part or all of British Columbia in Canada and part of Alaska. Sometimes the term is used to refer only to the lands within the northwestern United States.
The high mountains of the Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state. Western Washington, west of the Cascades, has a mostly marine west coast climate with relatively mild temperatures, wet winters, and dry summers. Western Washington also supports dense forests of conifers and areas of temperate rain forest. In contrast, Eastern Washington, east of the Cascades, has a relatively dry climate with large areas of semiarid steppe and a few truly arid deserts lying in the rainshadow of the Cascades. Farther east, the climate becomes less arid. The Palouse region of southeast Washington was grassland that has been mostly converted into farmland. Other parts of eastern Washington are forested and mountainous.
The Cascade Range contains several volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains. From north to south these volcanoes are Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams.
Washington's position on the Pacific Ocean and the harbors of Puget Sound give the state a leading role in maritime trade with Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific Rim. Puget Sound's many islands are served by the largest ferry fleet in the United States.
Washington is a land of contrasts. The deep forests of the Olympic Peninsula, such as the Hoh Rain Forest, are among the only rainforests in the continental United States, but the semi-desert east of the Cascade Range has not one single tree. Mount Rainier, the highest mountain in the state, is covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the lower 48 states.
There are three national parks in Washington, Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, and Olympic National Park.National forests in the state include Colville National Forest, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Okanogan National Forest, Olympic National Forest, and Wenatchee National Forest, among others.
Other protected lands of note include Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, and Ross Lake National Recreation Area.
There are many wilderness designated areas in Washington, including Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Glacier Peak Wilderness, Goat Rocks Wilderness, Henry M. Jackson Wilderness, Norse Peak Wilderness, Mount Baker Wilderness, Pasayten Wilderness, Olympic Wilderness, and many others.
There are several large military-related reservations, including Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base, Naval Base Kitsap, the Hanford Site, and the Yakima Training Center.
There are many Indian reservation in Washington. The largest include the Colville Indian Reservation, Spokane Indian Reservation, Yakama Indian Reservation, and the Quinault Indian Reservation.
Washington's climate varies greatly from west to east. A mild oceanic climate (also called "marine west coast climate") predominates in western Washington, and a much drier climate prevails east of the Cascade Range.Major factors determining Washington's climate include the large semi-permanent high pressure and low 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 system dominates the north Pacific Ocean, causing air to spiral out in a clockwise fashion. For Washington this means prevailing winds from the northwest bringing relatively cool air and a predictably dry season. In the autumn and winter, a low pressure cyclone system takes over in the north Pacific Ocean, with air spiraling inward in a counter-clockwise fashion. This causes Washington's prevailing winds to come from the southwest, bringing relatively warm and moist air masses and a predictably wet season. The term Pineapple Express is used to describe the extreme form of this wet season pattern.
The coastal 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 to receive high levels of precipitation and the leeward side to receive 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. In contrast, the leeward slopes facing northeast experience a rain shadow effect, with low precipitation and warmer temperatures. As a result, there are temperate rain forests on the southwest side of the Olympic Mountains while the northeast side has a drier climate sometimes called sub-mediterranean climate. The San Juan Islands and the city of Sequim are known for their dry climate compared to the rest of the coastal region. The Olympic rain shadow extends into Canada. Victoria is known for its "mediterranean" climate. Terms like "mediterranean", "sub-mediterranean", and "modified mediterranean" are sometimes used to describe the Olympic rainshadow region even though it is quite different from the standard "mediterranean" climate. The terms are mainly used to indicate a climate with wet winters and dry summers with regular drought conditions.
The Cascade Range forms a larger barrier than the Olympics and a correspondingly strongly orographic effect. 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. 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 River Plateau — 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 grassland and shrub-steppe.
The average annual temperature ranges from 51° F (10.6° C) on the Pacific coast to 40° F (4.4° C) in the northeast. The recorded temperature in the state has ranged from -48° F (-44.4° C) to 118° F (47.8° C) with both records set east of the Cascades. Western Washington is known for its mild climate, considerable fog, frequent cloud cover and long-lasting drizzles in the winter, and sunny and dry summers. The western region occasionally experiences extreme climate. Arctic cold fronts in the winter and heat waves in the summer are not uncommon. The western side of the Olympic Peninsula receives as much as 160 inches (4064 mm) of precipitation annually, making it the wettest area of the 48 conterminous states. Weeks or even months 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 200 inches/5080 mm) in the country. In the rain shadow area east of the Cascades, the annual precipitation is only 6 inches (152 mm). Precipitation increases eastward toward the Rocky Mountains.
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