Washington, state, United States: Geography
Geography
The state comprises three major geographic zones. In the east, most of interior Washington is made up of the Columbia Plateau and the valleys of the Columbia River and its tributaries. Central Washington is dominated, and the state is divided, by the north-south Cascade Range. To the west of the Cascades lie coastal lowlands in the Puget Trough, Puget Sound and its many arms, and to their west the Coast Ranges, which in part form the backbone of the Olympic Peninsula.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- Postwar Change and New Industry
- The Early Twentieth Century
- Gold, Immigration, and Statehood
- Native American Resistance and Territorial Status
- Early Settlement and Boundary Disputes
- European Exploration
- Government and Higher Education
- Economy
- Places of Interest and Cities
- The West and the Pacific Coast
- The Cascades
- The Interior
- Geography
- Facts and Figures
- Bibliography
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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