- Eastern Washington
:"For the university, see
Eastern Washington University ."Eastern Washington is aregion of the United States defined as the part ofWashington east of theCascade Mountains . It is notable for, among other things:*
Central Washington University
*TheColumbia River and theGrand Coulee Dam
*Eastern Washington University
*Gonzaga University
*Hanford Nuclear Reservation
*ThePalouse : very fertile farmland; among its products arelentils andwheat
*Snake River
*Washington State University
*Whitman College
*Whitworth College
*TheYakima Valley : also very fertile farmland; among its products areapples ,hops ,wine grapes ,pear s, andcherries
*The amazing channeled scablands terrain created by theMissoula Floods , including features such asMoses Coulee ,Grand Coulee ,Dry Falls , Drumheller Channels,Wallula Gap ,Palouse Falls , andSims Corner Eskers and Kames Eastern Washington contains part or all of severalAmerican Viticultural Area s, includingYakima Valley ,Red Mountain AVA ,Columbia Valley AVA Horse Heaven Hills AVA ,Rattlesnake Hills AVA ,Walla Walla Valley AVA andWahluke Slope AVA .There have been sporadic movements to create a
51st state out of Eastern Washington by splitting the current state down the Cascades, but proposals have rarely progressed out of the state legislature's committees. Recent proposals were made in1996 ,1999 , and2005 . Proposed names for the new state have included "Lincoln", and "Columbia", or simply "Eastern Washington". Many of these proposals were to include theIdaho Panhandle . See:State of Lincoln for more information.Compared to
Western Washington , Eastern Washington has roughly twice the land area and one-third the population. According to theU.S. Census Bureau the population estimate as of 2004 was 1,371,802, less populous than King County alone. The population growth rate between the two is roughly the same. Of Washington's nine Congressional districts, Eastern Washington is nearly exactly comprised of two (the 4th and 5th), aside from a small portion of the 4th in Skamania County. In the 2004 election, this region voted 59% for RepublicanDino Rossi , while the Western half voted 53% for DemocratChristine Gregoire .Eastern Washington is composed of Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima Counties.
Cities of note
*Cheney - home to Eastern Washington University
*Clarkston
*Colfax
*Dayton
*Ellensburg - home to Central Washington University
*Ephrata
*Moses Lake
*Pullman - home to Washington State University
*Spokane - largest city, home to Whitworth University and also Gonzaga University
*Spokane Valley
*Tri-Cities - Which consists of Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco
*Walla Walla
*Wenatchee
*YakimaSee also
*
Inland Empire (Pacific Northwest)
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