Portal:Pacific Northwest

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Washington State University (WSU) (or colloquially and informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an undergraduate enrollment of 24,278 and a total enrollment of 28,581, it is the second largest institution for higher education in Washington state behind the University of Washington. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".

The WSU Pullman campus stands on a hill and is characterized by open spaces and a red brick and basalt material palette—materials originally found on site. The university sits within the rolling topography of the Palouse in rural eastern Washington and remains closely connected to the town and the region. The university also operates campuses across Washington at WSU Spokane, WSU Tri-Cities, and WSU Vancouver, all founded in 1989. In 2012, WSU launched an Internet-based Global Campus, which includes its online degree program, WSU Online. In 2015, WSU expanded to a sixth campus at WSU Everett. These campuses award primarily bachelor's and master's degrees. Freshmen and sophomores were first admitted to the Vancouver campus in 2006 and to the Tri-Cities campus in 2007. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected biography - show another

Gary Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist who created The Far Side, a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to more than 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended with Larson's retirement on January 1, 1995. In September 2019, his website alluded to a "new online era of The Far Side". On July 8, 2020, Larson released three new comics, his first in 25 years. His twenty-three books of collected cartoons have combined sales of more than forty-five million copies. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

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]}

General images - load new batch

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

Image 1Mount Hood is the tallest point in the U.S. state of Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 2Image 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 3Pacific Northwest Trail at Blanchard Mountain in Washington (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 4Public 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 5The Cascades range (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 6Map of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 7The Columbia Gorge marks where the Columbia River splits the Cascade Range between the states of Washington and Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 8Magnetic 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 9The Boundary Trail section of the PNT in Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 10The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (from Cascade Range)
Image 11The Pacific Northwest from outer space. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 12The Pacific Northwest from space (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 13Map of the Anahim Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 14Lumen Field, home of Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 15The Columbia River basalts cover portions of three states (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 16A man in Portland, Oregon with Cascadian flag on International Workers' Day, 2012 (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 17U.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 18HMS Discovery was the lead ship used by George Vancouver (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 19Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail overview map (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 20Geology of the Cascade Range-related plate tectonics. (from Cascade Range)
Image 21A map of the Snake River Plain, showing its smooth topography (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 22The immense floods created channels that are presently dry, such as the Drumheller Channels (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 23Oval-leaf blueberry on Mount Pilchuck (from Cascade Range)
Image 24Mountain goat on Wallaby Peak in the North Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 25Mount Edziza, a large shield volcano in northwestern British Columbia (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 26May 1915 Lassen Peak eruption column (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 27Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18, 1980 (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 28Lava Butte, Oregon, erupted roughly 5000 years BCE (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 29The Coquihalla River in the Canadian Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 30The Golden Hinde on Vancouver Island was formed by erosion carving into basalt. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 31Map 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 32Lassen Peak in the California Cascades. Southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range and part of Lassen Volcanic National Park (from Cascade Range)
Image 33State Route 302 after the Nisqually earthquake (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 34West side view of Mount Shuksan in summer as seen from Artist Point in Washington (from Cascade Range)
Image 35The North Cascades are heavily eroded by glaciers (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 36The Coast Mountains are heavily eroded by glaciers, including Mount Waddington (far background, center). (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 37None 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)

Did you know - load new batch

... that the closest modern fern relatives to Dennstaedtia christophelii of the Pacific Northwest are tropical species from South America?
... 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 John C. Carson built the first sidewalk in Portland, Oregon?
... that Cathy Whims has opened several restaurants in Portland, Oregon, including the Nostrana, which has been described as "Portland's capital of the Negroni"?
... that in 1858, when Congress delayed its decision on Oregon statehood, Nathaniel H. Gates became the last Speaker of Oregon’s Territorial House of Representatives?
... that Jack Morris, who set Oregon Ducks football records in single-season scoring and consecutive successful conversions, also won three state titles in hurdling?