TECH NEWSS

The Evergreen State, Washington was named by for President George Washington by an eastern politician.

Washington is located in the North-West and is bordered by British Columbia on the north, Idaho (east), Oregon (south), and Pacific Ocean (west).



At 68,126 square miles, Washington is the 20th largest state. The highest Elevation is Mt. Rainier in West Pierce County at 14,410 feet while the lowest elevation is the Pacific Ocean at sea level.

The Pacific Ocean moderates Western Washington's climate, which is generally mild, with rainy winters and little snow in the lowlands. Eastern Washington gets much hotter in summer and colder in winter.

The highest temperature recorded was 118° while the lowest was -48°

National Parks & Monuments include Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic, Mount St Helens.

The History

Two of the most important elements encouraging European exploration of the Northwest were competition between European nations and the search for the Northwest Passage, an inland water route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Spanish and the English were the first to venture up the northwest coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Spain, which had become the wealthiest European nation during the 16th century, saw its wealth decline during the 17th century. Spaniards hoped to reestablish themselves through exploration of the Northwest. In 1775 Spaniards Bruno Heceta and Juan de la Bodega y Quadra sent an expedition to near present-day Point Grenville and claimed the land in the name of the king of Spain. In 1778 British explorer Captain James Cook charted the Washington coast and went ashore on Vancouver Island at Nootka Sound. Since both the British and Spanish claimed land in the area, relations between the two countries became tense. In order to avoid a war, they agreed to respect each other's commercial activities and settlements in the region.

In 1792 Captain George Vancouver of Britain became the first European to complete a detailed survey of the Washington coast and the inland waters. Vancouver named many Washington landmarks, including Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, and many of the San Juan Islands. Vancouver named Puget Sound after the officer who first sighted it, Peter Puget.

Also in 1792, as Vancouver charted the Washington coast and inland waters, American captain Robert Gray, a fur trader from Boston, explored the mouth of the Columbia River. He named the river after his ship. Both Britain and the United States had claims on Washington territory.

After the United States acquired the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the West (see Lewis and Clark Expedition). The two explorers, instructed to take special note of the geography and vegetation of the West, traveled down the Columbia River and reached the Pacific Coast in 1805.

Washington Territory was carved out of Oregon Territory in 1853.

Washington became the 42nd State to Unite under America on November 11, 1889.

The People

Whites constitute 81.8 percent of the population. The largest nonwhite group are Asians, who represent 5.5 percent of the people. Blacks are 3.2 percent, Native Americans 1.6 percent, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.4 percent, and those of mixed heritage or who didn't report ethnicity 7.5 percent. Hispanics, who can be of any race, are 7.5 percent of the people. Washington contains more than 20 Native American reservations, including one of the largest in the country, belonging to the Yakama peoples. Other Native American groups are the Pend d'Oreille (Kalispel), Spokane, and Makah.

The 1998 census put Washington's population at 5,689,000. The State Capital is Olympia, other major cities or towns include Bellevue, Bellingham, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma.