18th largest by area and 13th most populous in the United of States

• State capital: Olympia

• The largest city: Seattle

• Population: 7.7 million (2020 U.S. Census Bureau)

• History:

  • The state was formed from the western part of the Washington Territory, which was ceded by the British Empire in the Oregon Treaty of 1846

  • It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889.

• Nick name: The Evergreen State

• Geology:

  • Part of the Pacific Northwest region

  • Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state into wet/timberland westside and dry/wheatland eastside

  • Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the tallest mountain in the state and also the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous U.S.