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Washington

Washington (i/ˈwɒʃɪŋtən/ or /wɑ-/) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States located south of British Columbia, north of Oregon, and west of Idaho, 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.

The 2010 United States Census recorded the state's population at 6,724,540. 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 rain forests 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 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." Ironically the area was originally called "Columbia" after the Columbia River. However, it was thought this would cause confusion with the District of Columbia, so the area was renamed Washington.