Northwestern United States

Geographical region of the United States

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The two dark red states are almost always, and the three striped states usually, included as making up the Northwestern United States.

The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Some sources include Southeast Alaska in the Northwest. The related but distinct term Pacific Northwest generally excludes areas from the Rockies eastward, whereas the term "Inland Northwest" excludes areas west of the Cascades.

The Northwestern United States is a subportion of the Western United States (which is, itself, even more ambiguous). In contrast, states included in the neighboring regions (Southwestern United States and Great Plains) and Utah are not simultaneously considered part of both regions.

Like the southwestern United States, the Northwest definition has moved westward over time. The current area includes the old Oregon Territory (created in 1848–Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and areas in Montana west of the Continental Divide).[1] The region is similar to Federal Region X, which comprises Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.

It is home to about 14.3 million people (as of 2016). Some of the fastest growing cities in this region and in the nation include Seattle, Spokane, Bellevue, Tacoma, Kennewick, Pasco, Yakima, Portland, Eugene, Salem, Boise, Idaho Falls, Missoula, Bozeman, and Billings.

## Etymology

[edit]

As the United States' westward expansion, the country's western border also shifted westward, and consequently, so did the location of the Northwestern and Southwestern United States. In the early years of the United States, newly colonized lands lying immediately west of the Allegheny Mountains were detached from Virginia and given the name Northwest Territory. During the decades that followed, the Northwest Territory covered much of the Great Lakes region east of the Mississippi River.

## Centers of population

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Seattle, the largest metropolitan area in the Northwest Portland, the second largest metropolitan area in the Northwest Boise, the third largest metropolitan area in the Northwest Spokane, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Northwest

As of 2016, the Northwestern states have a cumulative population of 14,297,316, with Oregon and Washington accounting for 77% of the entire five-state region's population. As of 2016, there are 25 metropolitan statistical areas in the Northwest with populations of 100,000 or more, none of which are in Wyoming. Since adjacent metropolitan areas often function as one combined agglomeration, the U.S. Census Bureau additionally defines nine combined statistical areas across the Northwest, eight of which having populations of 100,000 or more.

Rank  | Combined or Metropolitan

Statistical Area

| State(s)  | Population

(2020)

|
|
|

1  | Seattle–Tacoma | Washington | 4,018,598
2  | Portland–Vancouver–Salem | Oregon
Washington | 2,510,259
3  | Boise–Mountain Home–Ontario | Idaho
Oregon | 845,877
4  | Spokane–Spokane Valley–Coeur d'Alene | Washington
Idaho | 793,285
5  | Eugene-Springfield | Oregon | 382,986
6  | Medford–Grants Pass | Oregon | 221,844
7  | Kennewick–Pasco–Richland-Walla Walla | Washington | 303,501
8  | Yakima | Washington | 251,879
9  | Idaho Falls–Rexburg–Blackfoot | Idaho | 155,361
10  | Bellingham | Washington | 131,016

## Presidential elections

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(Green indicates Populist Party affiliation, peach indicates the Republican Party, blue indicates the Democratic Party, and plum indicates the Bull Moose Party.)

Presidential electoral votes in the Northwestern States since 1892[citation needed]

Year | Idaho | Montana | Oregon | Washington | Wyoming
1892 | Weaver | Harrison | Harrison | Harrison | Harrison
1896 | Bryan | Bryan | McKinley | Bryan | Bryan
1900 | Bryan | Bryan | McKinley | McKinley | McKinley
1904 | T. Roosevelt | T. Roosevelt | T. Roosevelt | T. Roosevelt | T. Roosevelt|
1908 | Taft | Taft | Taft | Taft | Taft
1912 | Wilson | Wilson | Wilson | T. Roosevelt | Wilson
1916 | Wilson | Wilson | Hughes | Wilson | Wilson
1920 | Harding | Harding | Harding | Harding | Harding
1924 | Coolidge | Coolidge | Coolidge | Coolidge | Coolidge
1928 | Hoover | Hoover | Hoover | Hoover | Hoover
1932 | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt
1936 | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt
1940 | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt
1944 | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | F. Roosevelt | Dewey
1948 | Truman | Truman | Dewey | Truman | Truman
1952 | Eisenhower | Eisenhower | Eisenhower | Eisenhower | Eisenhower
1956 | Eisenhower | Eisenhower | Eisenhower | Eisenhower | Eisenhower
1960 | Nixon | Nixon | Nixon | Nixon | Nixon
1964 | Johnson | Johnson | Johnson | Johnson | Johnson
1968 | Nixon | Nixon | Nixon | Humphrey | Nixon
1972 | Nixon | Nixon | Nixon | Nixon | Nixon
1976 | Ford | Ford | Ford | Ford | Ford
1980 | Reagan | Reagan | Reagan | Reagan | Reagan
1984 | Reagan | Reagan | Reagan | Reagan | Reagan
1988 | Bush | Bush | Dukakis | Dukakis | Bush
1992 | Bush | Clinton | Clinton | Clinton | Bush
1996 | Dole | Dole | Clinton | Clinton | Dole
2000 | Bush | Bush | Gore | Gore | Bush
2004 | Bush | Bush | Kerry | Kerry | Bush
2008 | McCain | McCain | Obama | Obama | McCain
2012 | Romney | Romney | Obama | Obama | Romney
2016 | Trump | Trump | Clinton | Clinton | Trump
2020 | Trump | Trump | Biden | Biden | Trump
2024 | Trump | Trump | Harris | Harris | Trump

## See also

[edit]

* List of online encyclopedias of U.S. states
* Northwest Territorial Imperative, a proposed White ethnostate in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and a portion of Montana), proposed by many white nationalists
* American Redoubt, a proposed political migration movement that designates Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, along with parts of Oregon and Washington, as a safe haven for conservative Christians

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Merriam-Webster (1997). Merriam-Webster's geographical dictionary. Merriam-Webster. p. 876\. ISBN 978-0-87779-546-9. Retrieved November 30, 2010.

## Further reading

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* Lavender, David. Land of Giants: The Drive to the Pacific Northwest, 1750- 1950 (1958) online
* Schwantes, Carlos. The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History (1996) online
* Warren, Sidney. Farthest Frontier: The Pacific Northwest (1949) online
* Winther, Oscar Osburn. The great northwest: a history (Greenwood Press, 1981)

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