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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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The Fraser River, from the grounds of Westminster Abbey, above Hatzic in Mission, British Columbia, looking upstream (E)

The Fraser River (/ˈfreɪzər/) is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for 1,375 kilometres (854 mi), into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual discharge at its mouth is 112 cubic kilometres (27 cu mi) or 3,550 cubic metres per second (125,000 cu ft/s), and each year it discharges about 20 million tons of sediment into the ocean. (Full article...)

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The only known photograph of Seattle (c. 1864)

Seattle (c. 1780~86 – June 7, 1866; Lushootseed: siʔaɬ, IPA: [ˈsiʔaːɬ]; usually styled as Chief Seattle) was a leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with Doc Maynard. The city of Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington, was named after him. A widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of Native Americans' land rights had been attributed to him. (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 1Lumen Field, home of Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 2The Coquihalla River in the Canadian Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 3May 1915 Lassen Peak eruption column (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 4Notable volcanoes in the US portion of the Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 5West side view of Mount Shuksan in summer as seen from Artist Point in Washington (from Cascade Range)
Image 6The North Cascades are heavily eroded by glaciers (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 7The Pacific Northwest from space (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 8The Columbia Gorge marks where the Columbia River splits the Cascade Range between the states of Washington and Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 9The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (from Cascade Range)
Image 10Map of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 11Map of the Anahim Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 12A map of the Snake River Plain, showing its smooth topography (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 13The immense floods created channels that are presently dry, such as the Drumheller Channels (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 14U.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 15Map 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 16Mountain goat on Wallaby Peak in the North Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 17The Cascades range (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 18Image 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 19Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail overview map (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 20The Golden Hinde on Vancouver Island was formed by erosion carving into basalt. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 21Pacific Northwest Trail at Blanchard Mountain in Washington (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 22Geology of the Cascade Range-related plate tectonics. (from Cascade Range)
Image 23Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18, 1980 (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 24State Route 302 after the Nisqually earthquake (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 25The Pacific Northwest from outer space. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 26The Boundary Trail section of the PNT in Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 27Oval-leaf blueberry on Mount Pilchuck (from Cascade Range)
Image 28Public 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 29HMS Discovery was the lead ship used by George Vancouver (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 30None 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 31A man in Portland, Oregon with Cascadian flag on International Workers' Day, 2012 (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 33The Coast Mountains are heavily eroded by glaciers, including Mount Waddington (far background, center). (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 34Mount Edziza, a large shield volcano in northwestern British Columbia (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 35Lava Butte, Oregon, erupted roughly 5000 years BCE (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 36The Columbia River basalts cover portions of three states (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 37Mount Hood is the tallest point in the U.S. state of Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 38Magnetic 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)

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... that Joan Phillip offered to give any MLAs who were rude to her a whack with her Saskatoon berry stick?
... that it has been a goal of Oregon state senator Bill Hansell to get the potato officially designated as the state vegetable?
... that future state senator William T. Vinton was sent to jail for contempt of court when he refused to sign a city paving contract, but was later vindicated by an Oregon Supreme Court decision?
... that women- and minority-owned businesses built the Frequent Express high-capacity bus line in Portland, Oregon?
... that Saint Rose Catholic Church was moved from the ghost town of Fleetwood, Oregon, to the Fort Rock Valley Historical Homestead Museum in 1988?
... 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?