Portal:Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest Portal

The Pacific Northwest (PNW; French: Nord-Ouest Pacifique) 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, and 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's largest metropolitan areas are Greater Seattle, Washington, with 4 million people; Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, with 3.4 million people; Greater Portland, Oregon, with 2.5 million people; the Boise, Idaho metropolitan area with 845,877 people, and the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene combined statistical area with 793,285 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...)

Selected article -

Aerial view of Downtown Spokane

Spokane (/spoʊˈkæn/ ^ⓘ spoh-KAN; Spokane: sƛ̓x̌etkʷ) is a city in and the county seat of Spokane County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, 110 miles (180 km) south of the Canada–US border, 20 miles (30 km) west of the Idaho border, and 280 miles (450 km) east of Seattle, via Interstate 90.

Spokane is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the second-most populous city in all of Washington, with a population of 228,989 at the 2020 census, while the Spokane metropolitan area has an estimated 605,000 residents. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected biography -

Kenneth Callahan (1905–1986) was an American painter and muralist who served as a catalyst for Northwest artists in the mid-20th century through his own painting, his work as assistant director and curator at the Seattle Art Museum, and his writings about contemporary art. Born in Eastern Washington and largely self-taught as an artist, Callahan was committed to an art that went beyond the merely illustrative. He enrolled at the University of Washington in 1924 but did not stay long. He traveled widely, absorbing influences from the different countries and cultures he experienced. His talent was recognized early; his work was included in the first Whitney Biennial exhibition in 1933 and he went on to a distinguished painting career. Callahan is identified as one of the Northwest Mystics – along with Guy Anderson, Morris Graves, and Mark Tobey, who shared a muted palette and strong interest in Asian aesthetics. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

Largest cities of the Pacific Northwest

City	State/Province	Population	Metropolitan Area	Urban Area
Seattle	Washington	704,000	3,905,026	3,059,393
Portland	Oregon	658,347	2,753,168	1,849,898
Vancouver	British Columbia	631,486	2,737,698	2,264,823
Surrey	British Columbia	598,530
Burnaby	British Columbia	257,926
Boise	Idaho	226,570	691,423	349,684
Spokane	Washington	222,081	573,493	486,225
Richmond	British Columbia	216,046
Tacoma	Washington	198,397
Salem	Oregon	178,309

General images -

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

Image 1HMS Discovery was the lead ship used by George Vancouver. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 2Lassen Peak in the California Cascades. Southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range and part of Lassen Volcanic National Park (from Cascade Range)
Image 3Magnetic 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 4U.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 5Public 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 6Oval-leaf blueberry on Mount Pilchuck (from Cascade Range)
Image 7May 1915 Lassen Peak eruption column (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 8A map of the Snake River Plain, showing its smooth topography (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 9Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail overview map (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 10Lava Butte, Oregon, erupted roughly 5000 years BCE (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 11Mount Edziza, a large shield volcano in northwestern British Columbia (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 12West side view of Mount Shuksan in summer as seen from Artist Point in Washington (from Cascade Range)
Image 13Lumen Field, home of Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 14The immense floods created channels that are presently dry, such as the Drumheller Channels (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 15Image 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 16Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18, 1980 (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 17Map of the Anahim Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 18The Pacific Northwest from space (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 19Geology of the Cascade Range-related plate tectonics. (from Cascade Range)
Image 20The Pacific Northwest from outer space (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 21Notable volcanoes in the US portion of the Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 22None 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 23Pacific Northwest Trail at Blanchard Mountain in Washington (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 24The Columbia Gorge marks where the Columbia River splits the Cascade Range between the states of Washington and Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 25Mount Hood is the tallest point in the U.S. state of Oregon. (from Cascade Range)
Image 26A man in Portland, Oregon with Cascadian flag on International Workers' Day, 2012 (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 27The North Cascades are heavily eroded by glaciers (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 28The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (from Cascade Range)
Image 29Mountain goat on Wallaby Peak in the North Cascades (from Cascade Range)
Image 30Map of most of the Cascadia urban megaregion, showing population density (shades of yellow/brown), highways (red), and major railways (black). Public land shown in shades of green. This map omits the southern Willamette Valley, which is typically considered part of the megaregion. (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 31The Boundary Trail section of the PNT in Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness (from Pacific Northwest Trail)
Image 32The Golden Hinde on Vancouver Island was formed by erosion carving into basalt. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 33The Cascades range (from Pacific Northwest)
Image 34Map of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt centers. (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 35The Columbia River basalts cover portions of three states (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 37State Route 302 after the Nisqually earthquake (from Geology of the Pacific Northwest)
Image 38The Coquihalla River in the Canadian Cascades (from Cascade Range)

Did you know -

... that the McMenamins Hotel Oregon UFO Festival was established in 2000 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the McMinnville UFO hoax?
... that a Washington state park drew more visitors in 2021 than Yosemite National Park?
... that in 1858, when 400 Black Americans experiencing discrimination in California resettled on Vancouver Island, clergyman Edward Cridge integrated Christ Church to welcome them?
... that Frederick Prigg and his predecessor as secretary of the Provisional Government of Oregon were both doctors who drowned in a river at Oregon City just three years apart?
... 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 the Donnie Creek fire in 2023 was the largest wildfire in British Columbia's history?

Indigenous peoples

Related portals

WikiProjects

WikiProject Cascadia
WikiProject United States
WikiProject British Columbia
WikiProject Canada

Tasks

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Tasks : See:
- WikiProject Oregon/to do
- WikiProject Idaho/to do
- WikiProject Washington/to do
- WikiProject British Columbia § To do

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