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Idaho
- What is Idaho?
- Where is Idaho located in the United States?
- What is the capital city of Idaho?
- What are some important physical features or landmarks in Idaho?
- What are the main industries or resources in Idaho?
- What is the history of Idaho becoming a state and how has its population changed over time?
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Idaho,constituentstate of theUnited States of America. It ranks 14th among the 50 U.S. states in terms of total area. Its boundaries—with theCanadian province ofBritish Columbia to the north and the U.S. states ofMontana andWyoming to the east,Utah andNevada to the south, andOregon andWashington to the west—are both historical and geographic in derivation. The boundary withBritish Columbia follows the 49th parallel of northlatitude, while the border withUtah andNevada follows the 42nd parallel; both lines were established by treaty—the northern between the United States and Britain in 1846 and the southern between the United States andSpain in 1819. The border with Montana follows theContinental Divide, while the border with Wyoming incorporates a small slice ofYellowstone National Park. Idaho’s border with Oregon and Washington is a 480-mile (770-km) straight stretch except between the Idaho cities of Weiser andLewiston, whereHells Canyon of theSnake River serves as a natural boundary.Boise is the state capital.
Idaho, admitted as the 43rd state of the union on July 3, 1890, is one of the Mountain states, but it is often classified as part of thePacific Northwest, a region unified by theContinental Divide as an eastern boundary and by theColumbia Riverdrainage basin, which covers virtually the entire area. The name Idaho is thought to bederived from aShoshone phrase meaning “gem of the mountains.”
- Capital:
- Boise
- Population1:
- (2020) 1,839,106; (2024 est.) 2,001,619
- Governor:
- Brad Little (Republican)
- Date Of Admission:
- July 3, 1890
- U.S. Senators:
- Mike Crapo (Republican)
- James E. Risch (Republican)
- State Nickname:
- Gem State
- State Motto:
- "Esto Perpetua (Let It Be Perpetual)"
- State Bird2:
- mountain bluebird
- peregrine falcon
- State Flower:
- Lewis’ mock orange (‘syringa’)
- State Song:
- “Here We Have Idaho”
- Seats In U.S. House Of Representatives:
- 2 (of 435)
- Time Zone:
- Pacific (GMT − 8 hours)
- Mountain (GMT − 7 hours)
- Total Area (Sq Km):
- 216,443
- Total Area (Sq Mi):
- 83,569
- Excluding military abroad.
- The peregrine falcon is the state raptor.
Idaho is shaped much like a logger’s boot, thereby accidentally reflecting the state’s rugged forested and mountainous terrain in which logging and mining play major roles. The residents of Idaho enjoy some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the United States, including about 3,900 square miles (10,000 square km) of wilderness and primitive land in which roads and vehicles are seldom to be found. Since its development in 1936Sun Valley has become an internationally known area for winter sports. Idaho also has large supplies of groundwater. Hot springs are found in many parts of the state and are used to heat some homes and buildings in Boise, whose name (Frenchboisé, “wooded”) reflects its settlement as an oasis for explorers who once crossed the desolate Snake River Plains. A frontier character is still evident in theindividualism of voting that makes the crossing of party lines a frequent occurrence in an otherwise fairlyconservativeclimate. Area 83,569 square miles (216,443 square km). Population (2020) 1,839,106; (2024 est.) 2,001,619.
Land
Diversity of the naturalenvironment is characteristic of Idaho’s landscape, creating a sectionalism that is reflected in the state’scommunity life, politics, economy, and cultural development, as well as in the varieties of its soils and animal and plant life. Elevation is often a more important factor in controlling Idaho’s climate than is latitude. The northern areas of the state are lower in elevation on the average than are much of the central and southern areas. Prevailing westerly winds from thePacific Ocean blanket most of the state, especially the northern and southwestern regions. A drier, colder, continental climate is more noticeable in the southeastern counties, but Idaho has a milder climate than most of the states located in the same latitudes east of the Continental Divide.
Relief and drainage
Parts of four major physiographic provinces are included within Idaho: theNorthernRocky Mountains, the Middle Rocky Mountains, the ColumbiaBasin, and theBasin and Range Province. The Northern Rockies extend from the Canadian border to south-central Idaho and occupy nearly half the state’s area. Peaks reaching elevations between 10,000 and 12,000 feet (3,000 and 3,700 meters) are common in central Idaho. At 12,662 feet (3,859 meters) in the Lost River Range,Borah Peak is the state’s highest point. Other notable ranges in this part of the state include the Sawtooth, Pioneer, Continental Divide, Beaverhead, andBitterroot. Peak elevations generally decrease northward to about 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) at the Canadian border.
TheMiddle Rocky Mountains occupy a narrow strip along the Idaho-Wyoming border. The areacomprises several ranges that trend north-south and northwest-southeast and rise to between 7,000 and 10,000 feet (2,100 and 3,000 meters). Grass- and sagebrush-coveredplateaus and valleys and a few small lakes are found between the ranges.
The Basin and Range Province extends into southeastern Idaho as a roughly triangular-shaped desert with its base along the Idaho-Utah border. A series of low north–south-trending block-faulted ranges separate small gravel-floored basins.
The remainder of the state is included within the Columbia Basin, which in Idaho is occupied entirely by the aridSnake River plateau. The Snake River follows the plateau in a broadcrescent across southern and western Idaho. Next to the Northern Rocky Mountains, it is the major natural feature of the state. It rises in the southeastern part of the state, with tributaries in Yellowstone National Park, and flows from east to west through “sagebrush Idaho.” With huge reclamation projects, the river valley contains most of Idaho’s irrigated farmland. The course of the Snake River includesHells Canyon—at 7,900 feet (2,400 meters)North America’s deepest gorge—and 212-foot- (65-metre-) highShoshone Falls. Its valley is a geologically complex sequence of lakes, lava beds, mesas, buttes, canyons, and desertscape, symbolized by the barren craters and cones of theCraters of the Moon National Monument.
Idaho has some 2,000 lakes, and water is the state’s greatest single resource. A major portion of its industry, agriculture, and population lies along the Snake River, whichfurnishes water in abundance for one of the country’s largest irrigated areas and developedhydroelectric power sources.