Washington (State)

History

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Peaceful Coast is inhabited by many tribes of Amerindian S of very varied cultures, living fishing of Saumon and Baleine. They are known today for their totems and their Canoë S.

The Spanish captain Don Bruno de Heceta discovers the area in 1775 and asserts in the name of Spain all the grounds going until the Russian possessions in north. In 1778 the explorer James Cook sails to the neighborhoods of the Cape Flattery, with the entry of the Détroit of Juan de Fuca, but this last is explored only starting from 1789 per Charles W. Barkley, then by Spanish navigators and the British George Vancouver in 1792.

At the conclusion of the Convention of Nootka of 1790, the territory of the North-West is opened to the trappers and exploring British and American. The captain Robert Gray, who gave his name to the Comté of Grays Harbor, discovers the mouth of the Columbia, and gives to the river the name of his boat, Columbia. The first colonist S to settle and discover this area are Lewis and Clark.

In 1889, Washington becomes the 42^e State the United States of America. In the Years 1850, the State named two of its counties Pierce and King, in homage to the president Franklin Pierce and to its vice-president William Rufus DeVane King. Since, second was officially famous in the honor of Martin Luther King Jr..

Geography

The State of Washington is bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the west, the State of Oregon in the south (of which the river Columbia skirts the borders), the State of the Idaho in the east and by the Colombia-British (Canada) in north. He is recognized for his sights of a splendid beauty and a époustouflant contrast. High mountains overhang green forests with length of the year and coasts étincelantes. Its coastal site and the ports of the Puget Sound confer to him an important role in the trade with the Alaska, the Canada and the countries of the Pacific Rim. Several islands of Puget Sound are served by the most important sea traffic in the United States. Washington is a ground of contrasts. The deep forests of the Olympic Péninsule are among the most rainy places in the world and are the only tropical forests in the United States and in particular the Hoh Rain Forest, however the plates semi-deserts which extend to the east from the Chaîne from the Cascades on long distances with any tree. High snow-covered peaks of mountain emerge, surrounded by piedmonts and plains. The Mount Rainier, culminating point of the State, seems even " flotter" at the horizon, the south-east of Seattle and Tacoma. The part is State can be divided into two areas: Okanogan Highlands and Columbia To rivet Basin.

The chain of the Cascades cuts the State of Washington in two areas: in the west, the east coast a wetland and fresh: the climate is described of “oceanic soft” or as “Breton”. The population, primarily urban is attached there to the values Libérales and Hédonistes. The economy rests on new technologies. In the east of the mountains, the grounds are hotter and dry in summer. Mentalities are more marked by the Christian and preserving values. The inhabitants call the chain of the Cascades “the Iron curtain”, by allusion to the division of Europe at the time of the Cold war.

In 2000, the State counted: 5894121 inhabitants.

Climate

The climate of the State varies west considerably where dominates a oceanic Climat soft, in the east of the Chain of the Cascades, much drier.

Subdivisions

The State of Washington is divided into 39 counties.

Main cities

Seattle (more big city of the State)
Everett
Olympia (capital)
Spokane
Tacoma
Tri-Cities They is three cities, Kennewick, Richland and Pasco.
Vancouver, not to confuse with the Canadian city of the same name.

Another Cities

Aberdeen
Bellingham
Bothell
Edmonds
Federal Way
Issaquah
Port Angeles
Pullman
Puyallup
Redmond
Renton
Spokane Valley
Walla Walla
Wenatcee
Yakima

Rivers

Columbia (river)
Snake To rivet
Yakima To rivet

Mountains

The Chain of the Cascades:

Mount Adams
Mount Baker
Glacier Peak
Mount Rainier
Holy Mount Helens
Mount Stuart

The Olympic Mounts:

Mount Olympus

Federal territories, parks and reserves

The State includes/understands three national parks: the National park of Mount Rainier, the National park of North Cascades and the National park of Olympic. One can also find there many National Forests : National Colville Forest, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, National Okanogan Forest, National Olympic Forest, and National Wenatchee Forest, inter alia.

Strong Lewis, the McChord Air Force Bases, the Naval one Bases Kitsap, the National laboratory of Hanford and Yakima Training Center is the principal military centers of the State.

Among the Indian reserves, most important are: Colville Indian Reservation, Spokane Indian Reservation, Yakama Indian Reservation, and Quinault Indian Reservation.

Fauna and flora

The valley of Methow, long of a hundred kilometers, has a population of 2.500 people and shelters more than 25.000 Daim S. In May, they gain the Alpage S of the mountains and go down again from there in October.

Demography

The center of population of the State in 2000 was located in a not populated part of the rural east of the county of King, in the south-east of North Bend and in the North-East of Enumclaw.

According to the Bureau of the census of the United States, the State had a population of 6.395.798 inhabitants in 2005, which represents an increase of 501.658 inhabitants, that is to say 8,25% compared to the year 2000. This includes a natural increase in 221.958 people (503 819 births minus 281.861 deaths) and an arrival of 287.759 people, from including 157.950 coming from abroad and 129.809 of the remainder of the country. In 2000, the principal urban surface of the State, that the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area , counted 3.043.878 inhabitants, that is to say about half of the total population of Washington.

The six recorded principal origins of the inhabitants are: Germanic (18.7%), English (12%), Irish (11.4%), Norwegian (6.2%), Mexican (5.6%) and Filipino (3.7%).

Policy

The State of Washington is a State very shared between its very preserving oriental party and the very liberal area of Seattle. Since the middle of the years 1980, demographic imbalance enters the county of King (including the town of Seattle) and the counties of the west clearly makes lean the State on the side of the Democratic party. With the beginning of the year 2000 and more still after the disputed election of the democratic governor Christine Gregoire, acquired thanks to the only voices of the county of King, of many elected officials of the counties of the east of the State started to militate for the creation of a new separate State of the area of Seattle.

Presidential elections: a State won over to the Democrats

In 1968, the State of Washington was the only State of the west to mainly bring its voices to the democrat Hubert Humphrey.

The republican last to have carried the State at the time of a presidential election is Ronald Reagan in 1984.

With the presidential election of 2004, the democratic candidate John Kerry carried it with 52,82% of the voices compared with 45,64% with the president and republican candidate George W. Bush.

A perfume of Florida at the time of the election of the governor in 2004

In 2004, the election of the governor was played with a margin of a few hundreds of voice. After two calculations favorable to the republican candidate Dino Rossi, it is a third and last calculation which gave the victory by 129 votes coming from the county of King to the democrat Christine Gregoire.

This victory over the wire, under not very clear conditions as for the regularity of the last recount in the county including the town of Seattle, led the republican candidate to be turned over in front of the courts to require a new election for November 2006, supported by the surveys indicating that a frank majority of its fellow-citizens of the State thought that it had been despoiled of his victory.

It is only in June 2005 that Dino Rossi agreed to recognize the victory of Christine Gregoire after having failed to bring the proof of the electoral frauds of its democratic adversaries.

A State dominated by the democrats of the west coast

Four democrats, three republicans and a not-partisan share the other stations of the executive.

The local congress is composed of a senate of 49 seats and a room of representatives of 98 seats. At the time of the session 2007 - 2008, the senate is controlled by a majority of 32 democrats and the room by a majority of 63 democrats.

At the federal level, the two senators of the State of Washington are the democrats Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray whereas 6 democrats and 3 republicans represent the State with the room of the representatives.

Economy

the head office of Microsoft is with Redmond

Culture

Sport

Seattle SuperSonics (NBA)
Seattle Storm (WNBA)
Seattle Mariners (MLB)
Seattle Sounders
Seattle Seahawks (NFL)

See too

Random links:

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