Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the forty-second state in 1889. The United States Census Bureau estimated the state's population was 6,549,224 as of 2008.
Nearly sixty percent of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry, and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of deep rain forests in the west, mountain ranges in the center and far southeast, and eastern semi-deserts given over to intensive agriculture.
The state was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. It is the only U.S. state named after a president. Washington is often called Washington state or the State of Washington to distinguish it from the District of Columbia. However, Washingtonians (and many residents of neighboring states) normally refer to the state simply as "Washington" while usually referring to the nation's capital as "Washington D.C." or simply "D.C."
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