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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Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. It was founded as Boones Landing because of the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location; the community became Wilsonville in 1880. The city was incorporated in 1969 with a population of approximately 1,000. The population was 13,991 at the 2000 census, and grew to 19,509 as of 2010. Slightly more than 90% of residents at the 2000 census were white, with Hispanics comprising the largest minority group.

Located within the Portland metropolitan area, the city also includes the planned communities of Charbonneau on the south side of the river, and Villebois on the western edge. The city is bisected by Interstate 5 and includes I-5's Boone Bridge over the Willamette. Public transportation is provided by the city-owned South Metro Area Regional Transit, which connects to the Portland-based TriMet by train through TriMet's WES and by bus at the Tualatin Park & Ride. Students in public schools attend schools in the West Linn-Wilsonville and Canby school districts, including the only traditional high school, Wilsonville High School. Clackamas Community College and Oregon Tech have satellite campuses in the city. (Full article...)

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Dixy Lee Ray (September 3, 1914 – January 2, 1994) was an American academic, scientist, and politician who served as the 17th governor of Washington from 1977 to 1981. Variously described as idiosyncratic and "ridiculously smart," she was the state's first female governor and was in office during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. She was a supporter of atomic energy.

A graduate of Mills College and Stanford University, where she earned a doctorate in biology, Ray became an associate professor at the University of Washington in 1957. She was chief scientist aboard the schooner SS Te Vega during the International Indian Ocean Expedition. Under her guidance, the nearly bankrupt Pacific Science Center was transformed from a traditional, exhibit-oriented museum to an interactive learning center, and returned to solvency. (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 1The Pacific Northwest from space (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 2Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail overview map (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 3HMS Discovery was the lead ship used by George Vancouver (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 4Map of the Anahim Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 5Lava Butte, Oregon, erupted roughly 5000 years BCE (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 6Geology of the Cascade Range-related plate tectonics. (from Cascade Range)
Image 7Lassen Peak in the California Cascades. Southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range and part of Lassen Volcanic National Park (from Cascade Range)
Image 8The Golden Hinde on Vancouver Island was formed by erosion carving into basalt. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 9A man in Portland, Oregon with Cascadian flag on International Workers' Day, 2012 (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 10Oval-leaf blueberry on Mount Pilchuck (from Cascade Range)
Image 11Public 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 12The Coquihalla River in the Canadian Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 13None 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 14Lumen Field, home of Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 15West side view of Mount Shuksan in summer as seen from Artist Point in Washington (from Cascade Range)
Image 16Mount Edziza, a large shield volcano in northwestern British Columbia (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 17Magnetic 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 18The Coast Mountains are heavily eroded by glaciers, including Mount Waddington (far background, center). (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 19Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18, 1980 (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 20The Columbia River basalts cover portions of three states (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 21May 1915 Lassen Peak eruption column (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 22Image 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 23Mountain goat on Wallaby Peak in the North Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 24Map of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 25The immense floods created channels that are presently dry, such as the Drumheller Channels (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 26Map 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 27The North Cascades are heavily eroded by glaciers (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 28The Cascades range (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 29The Columbia Gorge marks where the Columbia River splits the Cascade Range between the states of Washington and Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 30Pacific Northwest Trail at Blanchard Mountain in Washington (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 31The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (from Cascade Range)
Image 32The Pacific Northwest from outer space. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 33Mount Hood is the tallest point in the U.S. state of Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 34The Boundary Trail section of the PNT in Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 35State Route 302 after the Nisqually earthquake (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 36A map of the Snake River Plain, showing its smooth topography (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 37U.S. Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes' 1841 Map of the Oregon Territory from "Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition". Philadelphia: 1845 (from Pacific Northwest)

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... that in 1943, it took the Oregon State Senate 45 ballots to elect William H. Steiwer as president of the senate over fellow Republican Dorothy McCullough Lee?
... that Joan Phillip offered to give any MLAs who were rude to her a whack with her Saskatoon berry stick?
... that women- and minority-owned businesses built the Frequent Express high-capacity bus line in Portland, Oregon?
... that Linn County clerk Del Riley established Oregon's vote-by-mail system, now used as the only voting method in the state?
... that it has been a goal of Oregon state senator Bill Hansell to get the potato officially designated as the state vegetable?
... that the flightless suliforme Klallamornis likely went extinct when the volcanic islands it used for shelter along the coast of the Pacific Northwest eroded away into the Pacific Ocean?