Washington is the northwestern-most state of the
contiguous United States. Its northern border lies mostly along the
49th parallel, and then via marine boundaries through the
Strait of Georgia,
Haro Strait and
Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the Canadian province of
British Columbia to the north. Washington is bordered by
Oregon
to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part and the
46th parallel forming the eastern part of the Oregon-Washington border.
[5]
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 southernmost section where the
border follows the Snake River. To the west of Washington lies the
Pacific Ocean.
[6]
Washington is part of a region known as the
Pacific Northwest,
a term which always includes Washington and Oregon and may or may not
include some or all of the following, depending on the user's intent:
Idaho, western
Montana, northern California, British Columbia, and
Alaska.
The high mountains of the
Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state. In addition to
Western Washington and
Eastern Washington
residents call the two parts of the state the "West side" and "East
side", "Wet side" and "Dry side", or "Timberland" and "Wheatland", the
latter pair more commonly in the names of region-specific businesses and
institutions.
Western Washington
Major volcanoes in Washington
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From the
Cascade Mountains westward,
Western Washington has a mostly
marine west coast climate, with mild temperatures and wet winters, autumns and springs, and relatively dry summers. The Cascade Range contains several
volcanoes,
which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the
mountains. From the north to the south, these major volcanoes are
Mount Baker,
Glacier Peak,
Mount Rainier,
Mount St. Helens, and
Mount Adams. All are considered active volcanoes. Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in the state,
[7]
is 50 miles (80 km) south of the city of Seattle, from which it is
prominently visible. The 14,411-foot-tall (4,392 m) Mt. Rainier is
considered the most dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range,
[8] due to its proximity to the
Seattle metropolitan area, and most dangerous in the continental U.S. according to the
Decade Volcanoes list. It is also covered with more
glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states.
[9]
The Columbia River Gorge.
Western Washington also is home of the
Olympic Mountains, far west on the
Olympic Peninsula, which support dense forests of conifers and areas of
temperate rainforest. These deep forests, such as the
Hoh Rainforest, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States.
[10]
Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington
– the part of the state east of the Cascades – has a relatively dry
climate, in distinct contrast to the west side. It includes large areas
of semiarid
steppe and a few truly arid
deserts lying in the
rain shadow
of the Cascades; the Hanford reservation receives an average annual
precipitation of 6 to 7 inches (150 to 180 mm). Farther east, the
climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes
east to 21.2 inches (540 mm) in Pullman, near the Washington-Idaho
border.
[11] The
Okanogan Highlands and the rugged
Kettle River Range and
Selkirk Mountains cover much of the northeastern quadrant of the state. The
Palouse southeast region of Washington was grassland that has been mostly converted into farmland, and extends to the
Blue Mountains.
[12]
