Portal:Pacific Northwest

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The Pacific Northwest Portal

P:PNW

The Pacific Northwest (PNW), sometimes referred to as Cascadia, is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common conception includes the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, northern Idaho, and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Some broader conceptions reach north into Alaska and Yukon, south into northern California, and east into western Montana. Other conceptions may be limited to the coastal areas west of the Cascade and Coast mountains.

The Northwest Coast is the coastal region of the Pacific Northwest, and the Northwest Plateau (also commonly known as "the Interior" in British Columbia), is the inland region. The term "Pacific Northwest" should not be confused with the Northwest Territory (also known as the Great Northwest, a historical term in the United States) or the Northwest Territories of Canada. The region is sometimes referred to as Cascadia, which, depending on the borders, may or may not be the same thing as the Pacific Northwest.

The region's largest metropolitan areas are Greater Seattle, Washington, with 4 million people; Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, with 2.84 million people; and Greater Portland, Oregon, with 2.5 million people.

The culture of the Pacific Northwest is influenced by the Canada–United States border, which the United States and the United Kingdom established at a time when the region's inhabitants were composed mostly of indigenous peoples. Two sections of the border—one along the 49th parallel south of British Columbia and one between the Alaska Panhandle and northern British Columbia—have left a great impact on the region. According to Canadian historian Ken Coates, the border has not merely influenced the Pacific Northwest—rather, "the region's history and character have been determined by the boundary". (Full article...)

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The Salish Sea, showing the open Pacific Ocean at lower left, and from there, heading inland: the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the narrow Puget Sound at lower right, and the wide Strait of Georgia at upper center. Sediment from the Fraser River shows as a greenish plume in the Strait of Georgia.

The Salish Sea (/ˈseɪlɪʃ/ SAY-lish) is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington. It includes the Strait of Georgia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and an intricate network of connecting channels and adjoining waterways.

The sea stretches from the channels of the Discovery Islands north of the Strait of Georgia to Budd Inlet at the south end of Puget Sound. It is partially separated from the open Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula. (Full article...)

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Lawrence Edwin Craig (born July 20, 1945) is an American retired politician who served in the United States Senate representing Idaho from 1991 to 2009 and in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Idaho's 1st District from 1981 to 1991. A Republican, his 28 years in Congress rank as the second-longest in Idaho history, trailing only William Borah, who served over 32 years in the Senate.

Born in Council, Idaho, Craig was raised on a ranch in Washington County. He attended the University of Idaho, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the university in 1969, and later briefly attended George Washington University before returning to Washington County in 1971 to work in his family's ranching business. Following a brief stint in the Idaho Army National Guard, Craig ran for and won a seat in the Idaho Senate in 1974, and was re-elected in 1976 and 1978, before his successful first run for Congress to represent Idaho's 1st congressional district in the House of Representatives in 1980. He won reelection four times before running for the U.S. Senate in 1990, defeating Ron J. Twilegar in the general election and winning reelection in 1996 and 2002. (Full article...)

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Largest cities of the Pacific Northwest

City	State/Province	Population	Metropolitan Area	Urban Area
Seattle	Washington	704,000^[1]	3,905,026^[2]	3,059,393^[3]
Portland	Oregon	658,347^[2]	2,753,168^[2]	1,849,898^[3]
Vancouver	British Columbia	631,486^[4]	2,737,698^[5]	2,264,823^[6]
Surrey	British Columbia	598,530^[4]	^{[n 1]}	^{[n 1]}
Burnaby	British Columbia	257,926^[4]	^{[n 1]}	^{[n 1]}
Boise	Idaho	226,570^[7]	691,423^[2]	349,684^[3]
Spokane	Washington	222,081^[1]	573,493 ^[8]^[9]	486,225^[3]
Richmond	British Columbia	216,046^[4]	^{[n 1]}	^{[n 1]}
Tacoma	Washington	198,397^[1]	^{[n 2]}	^{[n 2]}
Vancouver	Washington	175,673^[1]	^{[n 3]}	^{[n 3]}

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The following are images from various Pacific Northwest-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A map of the Snake River Plain, showing its smooth topography (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 2Lassen Peak in the California Cascades. Southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range and part of Lassen Volcanic National Park (from Cascade Range)
Image 3Map of the Anahim Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 4Map of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 5U.S. Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes' 1841 Map of the Oregon Territory from "Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition". Philadelphia: 1845 (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 6Geology of the Cascade Range-related plate tectonics. (from Cascade Range)
Image 7The Golden Hinde on Vancouver Island was formed by erosion carving into basalt. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 8Pacific Northwest Trail at Blanchard Mountain in Washington (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 9The Columbia Gorge marks where the Columbia River splits the Cascade Range between the states of Washington and Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 10Mount Edziza, a large shield volcano in northwestern British Columbia (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 11West side view of Mount Shuksan in summer as seen from Artist Point in Washington (from Cascade Range)
Image 12Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail overview map (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 13Map of "megacity", showing population density (shades of yellow/brown), highways (red), and major railways (black). Public land shown in shades of green. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 14The Pacific Northwest from outer space. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 15The Boundary Trail section of the PNT in Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 16The Columbia River basalts cover portions of three states (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 17The Coquihalla River in the Canadian Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 18The Pacific Northwest from space (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 19The North Cascades are heavily eroded by glaciers (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 20A man in Portland, Oregon with Cascadian flag on International Workers' Day, 2012 (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 21Lava Butte, Oregon, erupted roughly 5000 years BCE (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 22May 1915 Lassen Peak eruption column (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 23The Coast Mountains are heavily eroded by glaciers, including Mount Waddington (far background, center). (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 24Magnetic anomalies around the Juan de Fuca and Gorda Ridges, off the west coast of North America, color coded by age. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 25Image of the Juan de Fuca Plate that produced the magnitude 8.7–9.2 Cascadia earthquake in 1700. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 26HMS Discovery was the lead ship used by George Vancouver (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 27Mountain goat on Wallaby Peak in the North Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 28Public transportation is used in the Pacific Northwest region. Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system achieves daily ridership of over 500,000 passengers per day on weekdays and the overall transit ridership levels in the Metro Vancouver area rank third in North America per capita. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 29None of the multiple possible definitions of the Pacific Northwest is universally accepted. This map shows three possibilities: (1) The shaded area shows the historical Oregon Country. (2) The green line shows the Cascadia bioregion. (3) The labeled states and provinces include Washington, Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 30State Route 302 after the Nisqually earthquake (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 31The Cascades range (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 32Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18, 1980 (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 33The immense floods created channels that are presently dry, such as the Drumheller Channels (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 34Mount Hood is the tallest point in the U.S. state of Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 35Lumen Field, home of Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 36Oval-leaf blueberry on Mount Pilchuck (from Cascade Range)
Image 37The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (from Cascade Range)

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... that after serving as President of the Oregon State Senate, Brady L. Adams founded BearFest in Grants Pass, Oregon, which featured playful fiberglass bear statues placed around the town?
... that while George C. Brownell played no part in the Oregon land fraud scandal, a published cartoon showed him as the "Pretty Moth" that flew too close to the land fraud limelight?
... that in the 1951 court case Kuzych v White, on appeal from the British Columbia Court of Appeal, five law lords of the British Judicial Committee ruled in favour of a Communist-led trade union?
... that Saint Rose Catholic Church was moved from the ghost town of Fleetwood, Oregon, to the Fort Rock Valley Historical Homestead Museum in 1988?
... that future state senator William T. Vinton was sent to jail for contempt of court when he refused to sign a city paving contract, but was later vindicated by an Oregon Supreme Court decision?
... that after serving as the speaker of the Oregon Territory House of Representatives, Lafayette Cartee moved to the Idaho Territory where he became a well-known horticulturalist?