Northwestern United States

See also: Pacific Northwest

The dark red states are almost always included, while the striped states are usually considered part of the Northwestern United States as well.

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

The Northwestern United States is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho—and usually 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.

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

Like the southwestern United States, the Northwest definition has moved westward over time. The 19th century Northwest (usually termed the "Old Northwest") comprised the Northwest Territory and gradually migrated across the Midwest to its current definition. The current area includes the old Oregon Territory (created in 1848–Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and areas in Montana west of the Continental Divide). The region is similar to Federal Region X, which comprises Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.

It is home to over 14.2 million citizens. Some of the fastest growing cities in this region and in the nation include Seattle, Spokane, Bellevue, Tacoma, Vancouver, Kennewick, Pasco, Yakima, Portland, Eugene, Salem, Boise, Missoula, and Billings.

Population

Together, these states have a combined population of 14,273,965. The largest cities and metropolitan areas in the Northwest are:

Rank	City	State	Population	Metro Population
1	Seattle	Washington	608,660	3,439,809
2	Portland	Oregon	583,776	2,226,009
3	Spokane	Washington	208,916	535,724
4	Boise	Idaho	205,671	616,561
5	Tacoma	Washington	198,397	3,439,809
6	Vancouver	Washington	161,791	2,226,009
7	Eugene	Oregon	156,185	351,715
8	Salem	Oregon	154,637	390,738
9	Bellevue	Washington	122,363	3,439,809
10	Gresham	Oregon	105,594	2,226,009

The Northwestern states in presidential elections

Presidential electoral votes in the Northwestern States since 1952
Year	Idaho	Montana	Oregon	Washington	Wyoming
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

Further reading

• 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)