Oregon General Information
GENERAL
Abbreviated as OR on ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG, Oregon is a state in the western United States on the Pacific Ocean bordering California, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada.
Nickname
Beaver State
Capital
Salem
Biggest town
Portland
Area
Rank (within the US): 9th out of 50 states
Total: 255,026 km²
Land: 248,849 km²
Water (%): 6,177 km² (2.4%)
Residents
Rank (within the US): 28th out of 50 states
Total (2000): 3,421,399
Density: 13.4 / km²
State membership
Place: 33rd
Since: February 14, 1859
GEOGRAPHY
Time zone: Pacific: UTC -8 / -7
Mountain: UTC -7 / -6
Latitude: 42 ° N to 46 ° 15’N
Longitude 116 ° 45’W to 124 ° 30’W
Width: 420 km
Length: 580 km
Highest position: 3,426 m
Average location: 1,005 m
Lowest position: 0 m
The northern border is the Columbia, the eastern the Snake River. The two mountain ranges running in north-south direction, the Coastal Range and the Cascade Mountain Range, form the two peaks that enclose the Willamette Valley. The highest point is Mount Hood. This is one of the most fertile and agriculturally productive areas on earth. Because of the extensive forest cover, environmental protection is a top priority in Oregon.
HISTORY
Oregon was originally home to a variety of Indian tribes such as the Bannocks, Chinooks, Klamaths, and Nez Perces. James Cook discovered the coast in 1778 while searching for the Northwest Passage. The Lewis and Clark expedition traveled through this area on the direction of Thomas Jefferson to explore it for the Louisiana Purchase. They set up their winter camps at Fort Clatsop near the Columbia. The exploration by Lewis and Clark (1805-1806) and that of the British David Thompson (1811) showed that there was no fur or mink in the area.
In 1811, New York investor John Jacob Astor built Fort Astoria at the Columbia Estuary to establish a trading post for the Pacific Fur Company. Fort Astoria was the first permanent white settlement in Oregon. In the war of 1812, the British took possession of all trading posts. In the 1820s and 1830s the area was ruled by the British Hudson Bay Company. John McLoughlin, the company’s appointed procurator for the region, built Fort Vancouver in 1825.
More settlers reached Oregon in 1842–43. Another war loomed between the United States and Great Britain, whose control over the area was thereby pushed back. The region experienced an upswing for the first time in the 1880s, after the railway lines enormously favored the trade in wood and wheat.
Industrial expansion began late with the construction of the Bonneville Dam in 1943 to dam the Columbia.
POLITICS
The governor of Oregon ruled for four years. In addition to a Senate with thirty seats, there is a House of Representatives with sixty seats. Oregon sends two senators and six MPs to the House of Representatives.
POPULATION
The population was 3,421,399 in 2000 in Oregon.
CLIMATE
Western Oregon is notorious for its rain; east of the cascades the climate is rather arid.
Oregon Counties and County Seats
According to Countryaah, there are a total of 36 counties in the state of Oregon.
- Baker County (County Seat: Baker City)
- Benton County (County Seat: Corvallis)
- Clackamas County (County Seat: Oregon City)
- Clatsop County (County Seat: Astoria)
- Columbia County (County Seat: St. Helens)
- Coos County (County Seat: Coquille)
- Crook County (County Seat: Prineville)
- Curry County (County Seat: Gold Beach)
- Deschutes County (County Seat: Bend)
- Douglas County (County Seat: Roseburg)
- Gilliam County (County Seat: Condon)
- Grant County (County Seat: Canyon City)
- Harney County (County Seat: Burns)
- Hood River County (County Seat: Hood River)
- Jackson County (County Seat: Medford)
- Jefferson County (County Seat: Madras)
- Josephine County (County Seat: Grants Pass)
- Klamath County (County Seat: Klamath Falls)
- Lake County (County Seat: Lakeview)
- Lane County (County Seat: Eugene)
- Lincoln County (County Seat: Newport)
- Linn County (County Seat: Albany)
- Malheur County (County Seat: Vale)
- Marion County (County Seat: Salem)
- Morrow County (County Seat: Heppner)
- Multnomah County (County Seat: Portland)
- Polk County (County Seat: Dallas)
- Sherman County (County Seat: Moro)
- Tillamook County (County Seat: Tillamook)
- Umatilla County (County Seat: Pendleton)
- Union County (County Seat: La Grande)
- Wallowa County (County Seat: Enterprise)
- Wasco County (County Seat: The Dalles)
- Washington County (County Seat: Hillsboro)
- Wheeler County (County Seat: Fossil)
- Yamhill County (County Seat: McMinnville)
