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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Newberry Caldera, with Paulina Lake, East Lake, and Big Obsidian Flow.

Newberry Volcano is a large, active, shield-shaped stratovolcano located about 20 miles (32 km) south of Bend, Oregon, United States, 35 miles (56 km) east of the major crest of the Cascade Range, within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Its highest point is Paulina Peak. Newberry is the largest volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with an area of 1,200 square miles (3,100 km²) when its lava flows are taken into account. From north to south, the volcano has a length of 75 miles (121 km), with a width of 27 miles (43 km) and a total volume of approximately 120 cubic miles (500 km³). It was named for the geologist and surgeon John Strong Newberry, who explored central Oregon for the Pacific Railroad Surveys in 1855.

The volcano contains a large caldera, 4 by 5 miles (6.4 km × 8.0 km) in diameter, known as the Newberry Caldera. Within the caldera are two lakes: Paulina Lake and East Lake. The volcano and its vicinity include many pyroclastic cones, lava flows and lava domes; Newberry has more than 400 vents, the most of any volcano in the contiguous United States. Glaciers may have once been present at the volcano, though this remains contested. The area has a dry climate with low precipitation levels and little surface runoff. (Full article...)

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Knight in 2010

Philip Hampson Knight (born February 24, 1938) is an American billionaire business magnate who is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc., a global sports equipment and apparel company. He was previously its chairman and CEO. As of December 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth at $45.0 billion. He is also the owner of the stop motion film production company Laika. Knight is a graduate of the University of Oregon and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was part of the track and field club under coach Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon with whom he would later co-found Nike.

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

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... that LaVonne Griffin-Valade, the Oregon Secretary of State, has published four crime fiction novels?
... that the only remaining artifact in the ghost town of Fremont, Oregon, is a juniper stump notched with steps that women travelers used to mount horses in a modest fashion?
... that during World War I, Roy W. Ritner was elected unopposed to the Oregon State Senate while serving with the American Red Cross in France?
... that Washington state TV station KTRX went on the air in January 1958—and failed to make it to the end of the year?
... 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 Interstate 182 was created as a compromise for the states of Washington and Oregon?