Washington is the north-western most state of the contiguous United States. The Pacific Coast of Westport, Washington See also: Geology of the Pacific Northwest South Eastern Washington File:Beach at Westport, WA 01.jpg Geography File:South Eastern Washington State.tif Washingtonians (residents of Washington) and other residents of the Pacific Northwest normally refer to the state simply as "Washington", while instead referring to the nation's capital as "Washington, D.C." or simply "D.C." capital, which is also named for George Washington, Washington is often referred to as Washington State, or in more formal contexts as "The State of Washington". Ironically, the area was renamed Washington in order to avoid confusion with the District of Columbia, which contains the city of Washington. The area was originally part of a region called the Columbia District after the Columbia River. The Washington Territory was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. Washington has over 1,000 dams, including the Grand Coulee Dam, built for a variety of purposes including irrigation, power, flood control, and water storage.
Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft and missiles, shipbuilding and other transportation equipment, lumber, food processing, metals and metal products, chemicals, and machinery. Livestock and livestock products make important contributions to total farm revenue, and the commercial fishing of salmon, halibut, and bottomfish makes a significant contribution to the state's economy. The state is the biggest producer of apples, hops, pears, red raspberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries, and ranks high in the production of apricots, asparagus, dry edible peas, grapes, lentils, peppermint oil, and potatoes. Its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa and white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. After California, Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States. The remainder of the state consists of deep temperate rainforests in the west, mountain ranges in the west, central, northeast and far southeast, and a semi-arid basin region in the east, central, and south, given over to intensive agriculture. 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. Washington is the 18th largest and the 13th most populous state. Washington is often referred to as Washington State or the State of Washington to distinguish it from Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Named after George Washington, the first President of the United States, the state was made out of the western part of the Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as a settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. Washington / ˈ w ɒ ʃ ɪ ŋ t ən/ ( 13px listen) 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. For the Washington, D.C., see the state university. For the State of Washington, see the United States capital.