FHA Loans in Washington

About This State and its People, Places, and Industries

Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the forty-second state in 1889. The United States Census Bureau estimated the state's population was 6,664,195 in 2009.

Nearly 60% of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry, and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of deep rain forests in the west, mountain ranges in the center, northeast and far southeast, and eastern semi-deserts given over to intensive agriculture.

Washington was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States, and is the only U.S. state named after a president. Washington is commonly called Washington State or occasionally the State of Washington to distinguish it from the U.S. capital (and because its proper name is the State of Washington). However, Washingtonians (residents of Washington) and many residents of neighboring states normally refer to the state simply as "Washington", while usually referring to the nation's capital as "Washington, D.C." or simply "D.C."
According to the U.S. Census, as of 2009, Washington has a historical estimated population of 6,664,195, which is an increase of 770,074, or 13.1%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase of 221,958 people (that is, 503,819 births minus 281,861 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 287,759 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 157,950 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 129,809 people. Washington ranks first in the Pacific Northwest region in terms of population, followed by Oregon, and Idaho.

The center of population of Washington in the year 2000 was located in an unpopulated part of rural eastern King County, southeast of North Bend and northeast of Enumclaw.

As of the Census 2000, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area's population was 3,043,878, approximately half the state's total population. 6.7% of Washington's population was reported as under 5, 25.7% under 18, and 11.2% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.2% of the population.

The 2007 total gross state product for Washington was $311.5 billion, placing it 14th in the nation. The per capita personal income in 2009 was $41,751, 12th in the nation. Significant business within the state include the design and manufacture of jet aircraft (Boeing), computer software development (Microsoft, Amazon.com, Nintendo of America, Valve Corporation), electronics, biotechnology, aluminum production, lumber and wood products (Weyerhaeuser), mining, and tourism. The state has significant amounts of hydroelectric power generation.
Significant amounts of trade with Asia pass through the ports of the Puget Sound. Fortune magazine survey of the top 20 Most Admired Companies in the US has 4 Washington based companies in it, Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco and Nordstrom.

Washington is one of eighteen states which has a government monopoly on sales of alcoholic beverages, although beer and wine with less than 20% alcohol by volume can be purchased in convenience stores and supermarkets. Liqueurs (even if under 20% alcohol by volume) and spirits can only be purchased in state-run or privately-owned-state-contracted liquor stores.

Among its resident billionaires, Washington boasts Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, who, with a net worth of $40 billion, was ranked the wealthiest man in the world as of February 2009, according to Forbes magazine. Other Washington state billionaires include Paul Allen (Microsoft), Steve Ballmer (Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Craig McCaw (McCaw Cellular Communications), James Jannard (Oakley), Howard Schultz (Starbucks), and Charles Simonyi (Microsoft). As of January 2010, the state's unemployment rate is 9.3%.

Washington hosts a professional football team the Seattle Seahawks and a professional baseball team the Seattle Mariners.

Choose Your City >>>

• Aberdeen
• Adna
• Anacortes
• Appleton
• Arlington
• Asotin
• Auburn
• Bainbridge Island
• Battle Ground
• Belevue
• Belfair
• Bellevue
• Bellingham
• Black Diamond
• Blaine
• Bonney Lake
• Bothell
• Bremerton
• Brier
• Brush Prairie
• Buckley
• Burbank
• Burien
• Burley
• Burlington
• Camano
• Camano Island
• Camas
• Cascade Park
• Cashmere
• Centralia
• Chattaroy
• Chehalis
• Cheney
• Chimacum
• Clarkston
• Cle Elum
• Clinton
• Clyde Hill
• Colville
• Cosmopolis
• Coville
• Covington
• Davenport
• Deming
• Des Moines
• Dupont
• Duvall
• East Wenatchee
• Edgewood
• Edmond
• Edmonds
• Elk
• Ellensburg
• Elma
• Enumclaw
• Ephrata
• Everett
• Everette
• Federal Way
• Ferndale
• Fife
• Fircrest
• Fox Island

• Friday Harbor
• Gig Harbor
• Graham
• Grandview
• Granite Falls
• Greenacres
• Hansville
• Hobart
• Issaquah
• Kalama
• Kelso
• Kenmore
• Kennewick
• Kent
• Kingston
• Kirkland
• La Center
• Lacey
• Lake Forest Park
• Lake Stevens
• Lake Tapps
• Lakebay
• Lakewood
• Langley
• Leavenworth
• Liberty Lake
• Longview
• Loon Lake
• Lummi Island
• Lyman
• Lynden
• Lynnbood
• Lynnwood
• Maple Valley
• Maple Vally
• Marysville
• Mccleary
• Mead
• Medical Lake
• Mercer Island
• Mill Creek
• Milton
• Moclips
• Monitor
• Monroe
• Moses Lake
• Mount Vernon
• Mountlake Terrace
• Mt Vernon
• Mt. Vernon
• Mukilteo
• Naches
• Newcastle
• Newman Lake
• Newport
• North Bend
• North Bonneville
• Oak Harbor
• Ocean Shores
• Olalla
• Olympia
• Orting
• Othello
• Otis Orchards

• Pasco
• Port Hadlock
• Port Ludlow
• Port Orchard
• Port Prchard
• Port Townsend
• Poulsbo
• Pullman
• Puyallup
• Ravensdale
• Raymond
• Redmond
• Renton
• Richland
• Ridgefield
• Ritzville
• Rochester
• Roslyn
• Sammamish
• Seahurst
• Seatac
• Seattle
• Selah
• Sequim
• Shelton
• Shoreline
• Shorline
• Silvana
• Silverdale
• Snohomish
• Snoqualmie
• Soap Lake
• South Colby
• Spanaway
• Spokane
• Spokane Valley
• Stanwood
• Summer
• Sumner
• Tacoma
• Thurston County
• Tonasket
• Toppenish
• Touchete
• Tukwila
• University Pl
• University Place
• Univesity Place
• Van Couver
• Vancouver
• Vancover
• Vashon
• Walla Walla
• Wauna
• Wenatchee
• West Richland
• Westport
• White Salmon
• Winthrop
• Woodinville
• Wookinville
• Yakima
• Yelm

---

---