94 Interesting Facts About Washington State

Washington sits in the far northwest corner of the contiguous United States, where mountains, forests, islands, and a busy coastline shape daily life. This collection of facts about Washington State covers its location, symbols, landscape, climate, economy, famous people, and history, from ancient lava flows to recent laws.

Washington State Facts At-a-Glance

Location: North-westernmost state in the Lower 48
Capital: Olympia
Largest city: Seattle
Nickname: The Evergreen State
Statehood: 1889, the 42nd state
Highest point: Mt. Rainier, 14,410 feet
Glaciers: Over 3,000, most in the contiguous US
National parks: Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic

Location, Borders, and Size

1. Washington state is in the northwestern United States and Pacific Northwest region (aka Cascadia), which also includes Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia in Canada. Alaska, Yukon, and northern California are also sometimes included.
2. Washington is the north-westernmost state in the contiguous US (the Lower 48 States).
3. Washington is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the north by British Columbia, to the east by Idaho, and to the south by Oregon.
4. A tiny piece of Washington State called Point Roberts can only be accessed by land from Canada (making it a “pene-exclave”). It’s at the southern tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula south of Vancouver. Residents were essentially isolated there when the Canada-US border closed during COVID, until a temporary ferry to the Washington coast was established.
5. The state has a total size of 71,362 mi² (184,827 km²), putting it right between South Dakota and North Dakota in terms of size.
6. If it were a country, Washington would be almost the same size as Syria and slightly larger than Cambodia.

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Population, Capital, and Major Cities

7. With a population of over 7.7 million people, Washington ranks 13^th in the country, putting it between Virginia and Arizona in terms of population.
8. Olympia is the state capital of Washington. With a population of 54,000, it is smaller than 23 other cities in the state.
9. Seattle is by far the largest city in Washington (read these fun facts about Seattle!) Given its population of 737,000 (metropolitan 4 million), it is the 18^th largest city in the US, following San Francisco in spot 17.
10. In fact, just over half of all Washington residents live in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area, or Greater Seattle Area.
11. Washington’s other largest cities include Spokane (pop. 219,000), Tacoma (216,000), and Vancouver (183,000, not to be confused with Vancouver, Canada!)
12. Vancouver, Washington sits right across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon’s largest city. The river forms much of the border between the two states.
13. There are 29 federally recognized Native American tribes in Washington.

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Names, Nicknames, and Slogans

14. WA is the official abbreviation for Washington.
15. Residents of Washington are called Washingtonians or ‘toners.
16. The state is often referred to as “Washington state” in order to distinguish it from the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.
17. The official nickname of Washington state is the Evergreen State thanks to the state’s many fir and pine (both evergreen) trees.
18. Other state nicknames include the Green Tree State and the Chinook State, as chinooks occur on both sides of the state’s Cascade Range (a mountain range running north to south from Canada through Washington and Oregon).
19. Washington’s tourism slogans have included “SayWa” (which was really unpopular), “Experience Washington,” “Washington: The State,” and seen on T-Shirts: “How do you like these apples?”
20. The unofficial state motto of Washington is “Alki” or “Al-ki”. Originally a Native American word, it means “bye and bye”, which evolved into meaning “into the future”.
21. Washington is the only state that was named after a president.

State Symbols and Flag

22. The official state fruit is the apple, as the state produces more than 50% of the country’s apples. [Learn more: 43 Juicy Facts About Apples: Orchard Origins]
23. The official state vegetable is the Walla Walla sweet onion, named after Walla Walla country, Washington.
24. The state has two official mammals, the orca and the Olympic marmot, native to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
25. Like Mississippi and the Canadian province Alberta, Washington’s official stone is petrified wood.
26. Washington’s state flag is dark green, with the state seal (featuring George Washington) in the center. The seal includes the date 1889, when Washington became a state.

Recommended Read: 43 Juicy Facts About Apples: Orchard Origins

Regions, Islands, and Forests

27. Washington can be divided into six geographic land areas: the Rocky Mountains in the far east, the Columbia Plateau, the Cascade Mountains, the Coastal Range, the Olympic Mountains, and the Puget Sound Lowlands.
28. The state is also divided more generally by the Cascades into Eastern and Western Washington. With 80% of the state’s population living in the west of the mountains, Western Washington is the most densely populated.
29. There are around 200 major islands belonging to Washington, mostly in Puget Sound, the complex inlet that creates the Olympic Peninsula and separates Washington State from Vancouver Island.
30. The largest island is Fidalgo Island, while the San Juan Islands include four other major islands.
31. 52% of the state’s total land area is covered by forests, mostly to the west of the North Cascades.

Mountains, Volcanoes, and Glaciers

32. Mt. Rainier, a statovolcano, is the highest point in Washington at 14,410 feet (4,392.17 meters) above sea level. It’s named after a man named Peter Rainier, not because it has lots of rain, although its slope is one of the snowiest places on Earth.
33. Mount St. Helens, one of the 10 volcanoes in Washington state (5 of which are active). When it erupted on May 18, 1980, it was the deadliest, most famous, and most remembered volcanic eruption in US history. It is roughly halfway between Seattle and Portland.
34. Yet another famous volcano in Washington is Mount Baker, which is clearly visible from Vancouver Island and Vancouver City in Canada, as well as Seattle and Tacoma.
35. Mount Baker is home to 1 of 20 ski resorts in the state of Washington.
36. Washington is the contiguous US’ most glaciated state, with over 3,000 glaciers. Only Alaska has more. In fact, the state has more glaciers than the other 47 contiguous states combined.
37. From 17 to 6 million years ago, lava erupted from fissures and covered much of Washington state in a layer hundreds of thousands of feet deep.

Parks and Protected Lands

38. Washington is home to 3 national parks: Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks.
39. The white capped mountain peaks of Olympic National Park are also visible from Seattle, looking across Puget Sound, so it looks like a wall of mountains beyond the sea. Olympic is also the state’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site.
40. Washington has over 140 state parks. It is in the top-10 states in terms of protected land, with around 4% of its land belonging to state or national parks.
41. Washington is home to 24 national historic landmarks. These include a lot of boats (a schooner, tugboat, snagboat, steamboat, fireboat, a shipyard, and a port) a plutonium production reactor, a dam, Mount Rainier, and more.

Recommended Read: 25 Fun Facts About Olympic National Park: Wild Beauty

Weather, Climate, and Natural Disasters

42. Natural disasters that have struck Washington include severe storms, droughts, volcanoes, floods, earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, and tsunamis.
43. Western Washington has mild and often rainy weather. Meanwhile, Eastern Washington can experience up to 300 days of sunshine per year, with hotter summers and colder winters.
44. On June 29, 2021, Hanford experienced the state’s highest temperature ever recorded, 120°F (48.9°C). On December 30, 1968, Mazama and Winthrop experienced the state’s lowest temperature ever recorded at -48°F (-44.44°C).
45. During the ice age, huge dams where created from meltwaters. When they would burst, the water would cover the state.
46. In 1700, the Cascadia Earthquake caused a tsunami across the ocean in Japan.

Agriculture, Taxes, and Wine

47. Besides apples, Washington is known for its production of raspberries, cherries, and spearmint oil.
48. Washington is the 2^nd largest wine-producing state, after California. It has nearly 1000 wineries, and two hours more sunshine per day than California in the growing season.
49. Washington doesn’t levy a personal income tax, making it one of nine states not to do so (the others are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming).

Seattle Landmarks and Bridges

50. Panama Hotel in Seattle has the last remaining Japanese bathhouse in the United States.
51. Seattle’s Space Needle is recognizable by people from around the world. The observation tower has become a symbol of the state and the Pacific Northwest in general. The structure has a height of 605 ft (184 m) and it was built for the 1962 World’s Fair, which was hosted by the city.
52. There are very few permanent floating bridges in the world. Four of them are found in Washington state: Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (the world’s longest, across Lake Washington), Homer M Hadley Bridge, Murrow Memorial Bridge, and Hood Canal Bridge.
53. Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain was founded in Seattle. Its logo, the Siren, represents the city’s closeness to the sea. The original store is found at Pike Place Market.
54. Pike Place Market, a huge seafood market, is also famous for its fishmongers who throw fish to each other, and for its huge wall of gum.

Companies and Inventions from Washington

55. The airplane manufacturer Boeing was started in Seattle, Washington in 1916. Today it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, but its Washington facilities employ more people than anywhere else.
56. The roots of Microsoft also began in Seattle, where Bill Gates and Paul Allen grew up and started working together. After officially founding the company in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1975, they moved the company back to Bellevue, Washington in 1979.
57. Jeff Bezos started Amazon from his garage in Bellevue, Washington. It officially founded the company there in 1994.
58. The world-famous parcel delivery service UPS started in Seattle in 1907.
59. The first Costco Warehouse opened in Seattle in 1983.
60. Other brand names you might recognize from Washington are the restaurant chain Red Robin, Oberto (famous for its jerky and other meats), Almond Roca, and Seattle’s Best (actually owned by Starbucks).
61. A few random items invented in Washington include the bass guitar, those little plastic clips that keep bread bags sealed, slinky dogs, pickleball, and the board games Pictionary and Cranium.

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Famous Washingtonians and Music

62. Some of the most famous Washingtonians include Bill Gates, television host Bob Barker, actor Rainn Wilson, politician Frank Murkowski,
63. Famous musicians and bands from Washington include Jimi Hendrix, Bing Crosby, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Kenny G, Postal Service, Modest Mouse, and The Presidents of the United States of America.
64. Seattle, Washington was the birthplace of grunge music, producing acts like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Foo Fighters, Mother Love Bone, and Temple of the Dog.
65. Born and educated in Washington, scientist Linda Buck received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2004.
66. Bonnie Dunbar of Washington was an astronaut who was part of 5 space shuttle missions, including the first mission to dock with the Russian Mir space station.
67. Washington has 6 major universities and colleges offering 4-year degrees, with the largest being the University of Washington in Seattle and Washington State University in Pullman.

Ancient Washington and First Peoples

68. Kennewick Man, one of the most famous human skeletal remains in the US, was found in Washington. It dates to around 9000 years ago.
69. The Washington region was originally inhabited by Native American tribes including the Spokane, Chinook, Makah, Cayuse, Quinault, Snohomish, Yakama, Nez Percé, and Quileute.

European Exploration and Territorial Claims

70. Sir Francis Drake sighted the coast of Washington in 1579 and claimed the region for England.
71. Bruno de Heceta was the first European to land on the coast and see the Columbia River in 1775.
72. In 1778, James Cook sailed past Washington during his 3^rd voyage and sighted Cape Flattery at the northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula. Still, he didn’t realize the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates Washington from Vancouver Island, was just beyond that point.
73. In 1791, the San Juan Islands were named by Francisco de Eliza as he explored them. San Juan was the Viceroy of Mexico at the time. A year later, George Vancouver arrived.
74. In 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore its newly acquired territories arrived in Washington state.
75. In the early 1800s, the area of modern-day Washington was part of the Oregon boundary dispute between England and the US.

Settlement, Territory, and Statehood

76. Logging began in Washington in 1826.
77. The British Hudson’s Bay Company founded Fort Vancouver (present day Vancouver WA) in 1841, but after the 1846 Oregon Treaty, they ceded the area of Washington to the US.
78. In 1851, American pioneers arrived at what is now the Seattle area and founded the first settlement there. It would be incorporated as a city in 1869.
79. In 1853, the Washington Territory was established to distinguish the area north of the Columbia River from that to the south (Oregon). Olympia was its capital.
80. Gold and silver were discovered in Okanogan in the 1860s.
81. In 1889, Washington became the 42^nd state to join the Union.

Industry, Wartime, and World’s Fairs

82. In 1893, the Seattle Police Department hired a female officer for the first time.
83. By 1905, Washington was the top lumber-producing state in the country.
84. Women gained the right to vote in Washington in 1910.
85. In the 1941, the Grand Coulee Dam, largest in the world at the time, was constructed on the Columbia River.
86. During WWII, Boeing became a significant aircraft carrier, while Hanford Works atomic energy plant in Eastern Washington played a role in developing the atomic bomb.
87. Seattle’s Space Needle opened in 1961, including the world’s first revolving restaurant.
88. The Seattle World’s Fair took place in 1962.
89. In 1974, Spokane became the smallest city to host the World’s Fair.

Modern Washington: 1980 to Today

90. In 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted, killing 57 and destroying hundreds of homes. Ash covered nearby states and BC in Canada, turning day into night.
91. In 1999 and 2000, Washington set a record for the highest percentage of women to be elected to the state legislature at 40.8%.
92. In 2003, Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, confessed to murdering 48 women in Washington.
93. Washington citizens voted for the legalization of same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana use on 6 November 2012.
94. Starting Jan 1, 2026, Washington will adopt the highest state minimum wage in the nation at $17.13/hour, reflecting its 2025 policy trajectory toward higher wage standards.

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