Washington , officially the State of Washington , [ 5 ] is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington state [ a ] to distinguish it from the national capital , [ 6 ] both named after George Washington the first U. Washington borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, Oregon to the south, Idaho to the east, and shares an international border with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. Olympia is the state capital , and the most populous city is Seattle.
Washington is the 18th-largest state , with an area of 71, square miles , km 2 , and the 13th-most populous state, with a population of just less than 8 million. The remainder of the state consists of deep temperate rainforests in the west; mountain ranges in the west, center, northeast, and far southeast; and a semi-arid basin region in the east, center, and south, given over to intensive agriculture.
Mount Rainier , an active stratovolcano , is the state's highest elevation at 14, feet 4, meters , and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous U. Washington is a leading lumber producer, the largest producer of apples, hops, pears, blueberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries in the U. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft, missiles, shipbuilding, and other transportation equipment, food processing, metals, and metal products, chemicals, and machinery.
The state was formed from the western part of the Washington Territory , which was ceded by the British Empire in the Oregon Treaty of It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in One of the wealthiest and most socially liberal states in the country, [ 14 ] Washington consistently ranks among the top states for highest life expectancy and employment rates.
Wade in Stanton found the name too similar to the District of Columbia the national capital, itself containing the city of Washington , and proposed naming the new territory after President Washington. Confusion between the state of Washington and the city of Washington, D. The 9,year-old skeletal remains of Kennewick Man , one of the oldest and most complete human remains found in North America, were discovered in Washington in the s.
