The State of Washington occupies 66,582 square miles (176,600 square kilometers) between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Idaho border on the east. The state borders Canada on the north, and Oregon on the south along the Columbia River.

Washington ranks as the 20th largest state and features drastically varied climates between the western and eastern parts of the state divided by the Cascade Mountain Range. The state is a major exporter of manufactured goods, foodstuffs, raw materials, and hydroelectricity, and it is a popular tourist destination.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Washington has been home to numerous Native American tribes. Animal and human bones 13,000 years old have been found across Washington and evidence of human habitation in the Olympic Peninsula dates back to approximately 9,000 BCE.

The first European record of a landing on the Washington coast was in 1774 by Spaniard Juan Pérez. One year later, Spanish Captain Don Bruno de Heceta on board the Santiago, landed near the mouth of the Quinault River and claimed the coastal lands north to the Russian possessions. In 1778, the British explorer Captain James Cook sighted Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In November 1805 Lewis and Clark followed the Snake River and Columbia River to arrive at the Pacific Ocean near present-day Long Beach. The Hudson’s Bay Company established major forts and trading stations in the early 1800s, followed by American fur traders, missionaries and settlers.

In 1848, the Oregon Territory, composed of present-day Washington, Oregon, and Idaho as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming, was established. Washington Territory, which included Washington and pieces of Idaho and Montana, was formed from Oregon Territory in 1853. In 1872, an arbitration process settled the boundary dispute from the Pig War, a confrontation in 1859 between American and British authorities over the boundary between the United States and British North America, and established the US-Canada border through the San Juan Islands along the 49th parallel. Washington became the 42nd state in the United States on November 11, 1889.