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Idaho

State nickname: Gem State

Other U.S. States
Capital Boise
Largest city Boise
Governor Dirk Kempthorne (R)
Official languages none
Area 216,632 km² (14th)
- Land 214,499 km²
- Water 2,133 km² (0.98%)
Population (2000)
- Population 1,293,953 (39th)
- Density 6.04 /km² (44th)
Admission into Union
- Date July 3, 1890
- Order 43rd
Time zone Pacific: UTC-8/-7 (northern)
Mountain: UTC-7/-6 (southern)
Latitude 42° N to 49° N
Longitude 111° W to 117° W
Width 491 km
Length 771 km
Elevation
- Highest point 3,859 m
- Mean 1,524 m
- Lowest point 216 m
Abbreviations
- USPS ID
- ISO 3166-2 US-ID
Web site www.idaho.gov
Idaho is a state located in the northwestern United States. Its capital is Boise and the U.S. postal abbreviation is ID.

Contents [hide]
1 Name
2 History
3 Law and government
3.1 State government
3.2 Federal government
4 Geography
4.1 Lakes
4.2 Parks
5 Economy
6 Demographics
6.1 Religion
7 Important cities and towns
8 Education
8.1 Colleges and universities
9 Professional sports teams
10 Miscellaneous information
10.1 Major highways
10.2 Well-known Idahoans
11 See also
12 External links

[edit]
Name
Idaho is perhaps the only state to be named as the result of a hoax. When a name was being selected for new territory, eccentric lobbyist George M. Willing suggested "Idaho," an Indian term he claimed meant "gem of the mountains." It was later revealed Willing had made up the name himself, and the original Idaho territory was re-named Colorado because of it. Eventually the controversy was forgotten, and modern-day Idaho was given the made-up name when the Idaho Territory was formally created in 1863.

[edit]
History
The Lewis and Clark expedition entered present-day Idaho on August 12, 1805, at the Lemhi Pass. At that time, approximately 8,000 Native Americans lived in the region.

Idaho was subsequently part of Oregon Territory and later Washington Territory, fur trading and missionary work attracting the first settlers to the region. While thousands passed through Idaho during the California gold rush of 1849, few people settled there. The first organized town in Idaho was Franklin, settled in 1860 by Mormon pioneers. When organized as a territory in 1863, Idaho's total population was under 17,000.

On March 4, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act creating Idaho Territory. The political stability of the territorial period encouraged settlement. Almost immediately, a public school system was created, stage coach lines were established and a newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, began publication. In 1865, Boise replaced Lewiston as capital. The 1861 discovery of gold in Idaho and the completion of the transcontinental railway in 1869 brought many new people to the territory, including Chinese laborers who came to work the mines. When President Benjamin Harrison signed the law admitting Idaho as a U.S. state on July 3, 1890, the population was 88,548. An interesting fact is that Idaho almost never became a state - in 1887, President Grover Cleveland refused to sign a bill that would have combined southern Idaho with Nevada and northern Idaho with the Washington Territory. Sectionalism in early Idaho was abated by moving the University of Idaho from its planned location in Eagle Rock (near Idaho Falls) to Moscow in northern Idaho. Idaho still operates under its original (1889) state constitution.

As Idaho approached statehood, mining and other extractive industries became increasingly important to her economy. By the 1890s, for example, Idaho exported more lead than any other state. Although Idaho's dependence on mining has decreased, the state remains a top producer of silver and lead. Today, Idaho's industrial economy is growing, as plants are built to process the state's rich agricultural and natural resources. Since in the late 1970s Boise has emerged as a center of semiconductor manufacturing. Boise is the home of Micron Technology Inc., the only U.S. manufacturer of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips. Hewlett-Packard has operated a large plant in Boise, in southwestern Idaho, since the 1970s, devoted primarily to LaserJet printers.[1]

A troubling recent development in the Idaho panhandle region has been the location therein of a few right-wing extremist and "survivalist" political groups, most notably one holding Neo-Nazi views, the Aryan Nations. These groups are most heavily concentrated in the northern part of the state, particularly in the vicinity of Coeur d'Alene, a resort town. Although Idaho is a conservative state politically, the vast majority of its residents reject such hateful ideologies. Boise recently installed an impressive stone Human Rights Memorial featuring quotations from Anne Frank and many other writers extolling human freedom and equality.

In 2002 the Aryan Nations compound, which had been located in Hayden Lake, Idaho, was confiscated as a result of a court case, and the organization moved out of state.

The USS Idaho was named in honor of this state.

[edit]
Law and government
[edit]
State government
The current Governor of Idaho is Dirk Kempthorne (Republican), re-elected in 2002.

See: List of Idaho Governors

The constitution of Idaho provides for 3 branches of government: the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Idaho has a bicameral legislature, elected from 35 legislative districts, each represented by one Senator and two Representatives.

[edit]
Federal government
United States Senators:

Larry E. Craig (Republican)
Mike Crapo (Republican)
House of Representatives: Idaho has two House Representatives

1st District: C.L. "Butch" Otter (Republican)
2nd District: Mike Simpson (Republican)
Idaho is a strongly Republican state and has not supported a Democrat for president since 1964. Even in that year, Lyndon Johnson only defeated Barry Goldwater by less than two percentage points. In 2004, George W. Bush won easily there, by a margin of 38 percentage points and 68.4% of the vote. Only Blaine County, which contains ski resort Sun Valley, voted for the Democrats.

[edit]
Geography

Map of Idaho
Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed in the Owyhee Mountains about 50 miles southwest of Boise, Idaho.See: List of Idaho counties

Idaho borders Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming and the Canadian province of British Columbia (the Idaho-BC border is 48 miles long). Idaho has a rugged landscape with some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the country. Idaho is a Rocky Mountains state with exciting scenery and enormous natural resources. Idaho has towering, snow-capped mountain ranges, swirling white rapids, peaceful lakes and steep canyons. The churning waters of Snake River rush through Hells Canyon, which is deeper than the Grand Canyon. Shoshone Falls plunges down rugged cliffs from a height greater than that of Niagara Falls.

The major rivers in Idaho are the Snake River, the Clearwater River and the Salmon River. Other significant rivers include the Boise River and the Payette River.

Idaho's highest point is Borah Peak in the Lost River Mountains north of Mackay. Idaho's lowest point is in Lewiston, where the Clearwater River joins the Snake River and continues into Washington.

[edit]
Lakes
Coeur d'Alene
Priest Lake
Payette Lake (McCall)
Pend Oreille
Lake Lowell
Henery's Lake
Sawtooth National Recreational Area
Redfish Lake
Alturas Lake
Petit Lake
Sawtooth Lake

[edit]
Parks
Balanced Rock
City of Rocks
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Farragut State Park
Harriman State Park
Hells Canyon
Massacre Rocks State Park
Yellowstone National Park

[edit]
Economy
The state's gross product for 2003 was $40 billion. The Per Capita Income for 2003 was $25,902.

Idaho is an important agricultural state, producing nearly one third of the potatoes grown in the United States. Other important agricultral products are beans, lentils, sugar beets, cattle, dairy products, wheat, and barley.

Important industries in Idaho are food processing, lumber and wood products, machinery, chemical products, paper products, electronics manufacturing, silver and other mining, and tourism. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a government lab for nuclear energy research, is also an important part of the eastern Idaho economy.

[edit]
Demographics
Historical populations
Census
year Population

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1870 14,999
1880 32,610
1890 88,548
1900 161,772
1910 325,594
1920 431,866
1930 445,032
1940 524,873
1950 588,637
1960 667,191
1970 712,567
1980 943,935
1990 1,006,749
2000 1,293,953
As of 2004, the population of Idaho was estimated to be 1,393,262. There were 81,000 foreign-born in the state (comprising 5.6% of the state population), of which 19,000 were illegal aliens (illegal aliens comprised about one-fourth of the foreign-born population and 1.4% of state population).

Since 1990, Idaho's population has increased 386,000 (38%).

Race
The racial makeup of Idaho:

88% White
7.9% Hispanic
1.4% Native American
0.9% Asian
0.4% Black
2% Mixed race
The five largest reported ancestries in the state are: German (18.9%), English (18.1%), Irish (10%), American (8.4%), Norwegian (3.6%).

[edit]
Religion
South-Eastern Idaho is primarily Mormon, while the Northern and South-Western regions of Idaho are traditional Christian (Protestants and Catholics).

As with many other western states, the percentage of Idaho's population identifying themselves as "non-religious" (an umbrella term which is sometimes synonymous with or includes elements of atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, freethought, humanism, secular humanism, heresy, logical positivism, and apathy) is higher than the rest of the country.

The current religious affiliations of the people of Idaho are shown in the table below:

Christian – 80%
Protestant – 50%
Baptist – 10%
Methodist – 10%
Lutheran – 3%
Presbyterian – 3%
Other Protestant or general Protestant – 24%
Mormon – 14%
Catholic – 15%
Other Religions – <1%
Non-Religious – 20%
[edit]
Important cities and towns
Population > 100,000 (urbanized area)

Boise
(state capital)
Population > 10,000 (urbanized area)

Blackfoot
Burley
Coeur d'Alene
Idaho Falls
Lewiston
Meridian
Moscow
Mountain Home
Nampa
Pocatello
Post Falls
Rexburg
Twin Falls
Smaller Towns and Cities

Sun Valley - major year-round resort with world-class skiing
Island Park - snowmobiling, summer recreation
Driggs - skiing (Grand Targhee)
St. Anthony - sand dunes
Kuna
McCall - major tourist hub
Rathdrum
Hayden
Kellogg
Wallace
Mullan
St. Maries
Sandpoint
Malad City

[edit]
Education
[edit]
Colleges and universities
Albertson College of Idaho
Boise State University
Brigham Young University-Idaho
Idaho State University
Lewis-Clark State College
Northwest Nazarene University
University of Idaho
North Idaho College
College of Southern Idaho

[edit]
Professional sports teams
The Minor League baseball teams are:

Boise Hawks
Idaho Falls Chukars
Other minor league sports teams: