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Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest
region of the United States located north of Oregon,
west of Idaho and south of the Canadian province of
British Columbia, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
Washington was carved out of the western part of
Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain
in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the
Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the
Union as the 42nd state in 1889.
Washington is the 18th most extensive and the 13th
most populous of the 50 United States. Approximately
60 percent of Washington's residents live in the
Seattle metropolitan area, the center of
transportation, business, and industry along the
Puget Sound region of the Salish Sea, an inlet of
the Pacific consisting of numerous islands, deep
fjords, and bays carved out by glaciers. The
remainder of the state consists of deep rainforests
in the west, mountain ranges in the west, center,
northeast and far southeast, and a semi-arid eastern
basin given over to intensive agriculture.
Washington is the second most populous state on the
west coast and in the western United States after
California.
Name
Washington was named after George Washington, the
first President of the United States, and is the
only U.S. state named after a president. Washington
is commonly called Washington state or occasionally
the State of Washington to distinguish it from the
U.S. capital. However, Washingtonians (residents of
Washington) and many residents of neighboring states
and Canadians from southern B.C. normally refer to
the state simply as "Washington", while usually
referring to the nation's capital as "Washington,
D.C." or simply "D.C." The area was originally
called "Columbia" after the Columbia River; however,
to avoid confusion with the District of Columbia,
the area was renamed Washington.
Transportation
Washington has a system of state highways, called
State Routes, as well as an extensive ferry system
which is the largest in the nation and the third
largest in the world. There are 140 public airfields
in Washington, including 16 state airports owned by
the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Boeing Field in Seattle is one of the busiest
primary non-hub airports in the US. Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport (SeaTac) is the other major
airport of greater Seattle. The unique geography
of Washington presents exceptional transportation
needs.
There are extensive waterways in the midst of
Washington's largest cites, 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 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, Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and
Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge over Lake
Washington, and the Hood Canal Bridge which connects
the Olympic Peninsula and Kitsap Peninsula.
The Cascade Mountain Range also provides unique
transportation challenges. Washington operates and
maintains roads over seven major mountain passes and
eight minor passes. During winter months some of
these passes are plowed, sanded, and kept safe with
avalanche control. Not all are able to stay open
through the winter. The North Cascades Highway,
State Route 20, closes every year. This is because
the extraordinary amount of snowfall and frequency
of avalanches in the area of Washington Pass make it
unsafe in the winter months.
Washington was rated the best state (amongst fifty
U.S. states) in the 2011 American State Litter
Scorecard, for overall effectiveness and quality of
its public space cleanliness from state and related
litter/debris removal efforts, unseating Vermont,
the previous topmost winner.
Symbols, honors, and names
Four ships of the United States Navy, 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 "Evergreen" was proposed in
1890 by Charles T. Conover of Seattle, Washington.
The name proved popular as the forests were full of
evergreen trees and the abundance of rain keeps the
shrubbery and grasses green throughout the year.
State symbols
Main article: List of Washington state symbols
The state song is "Washington, My Home," the state
bird 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 is the Western
Hemlock. The state flower is the Coast Rhododendron.
The state fish is the steelhead trout. The state
folk song is "Roll On, Columbia, Roll On" by Woody
Guthrie. 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 is the Columbian Mammoth. The state
marine mammal is the orca. The state land mammal is
the Olympic Marmot. The state seal (featured in the
state flag as well) was inspired by the unfinished
portrait by Gilbert Stuart.
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