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BEAVER STATE AREA: 251,419 sq km (97,073 sq mi). POPULATION: 3,086,000. CAPITAL: Salem, pop. 112,100. ECONOMY: Industry: lumber and wood products, tourism, food processing, paper products, machinery, scientific instruments. Agriculture: cattle, vegetables, nursery stock, fruits and nuts, dairy products, wheat. PCI: $20,420. ADMISSION: 1859 as 33rd state.
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The end of the road for wagon trains bound westward over the Oregon Trail, the Pacific Northwest became more accessible after completion of a transcontinental railroad line to Portland in 1883. Today location on the Pacific Rim is one of Oregon’s greatest assets: Most of its international trade is with Asia, and Portland serves as a large distribution
center for Japanese autos.
Hydroelectricity generated by dams on the Columbia River has powered industry since World War II. Heavily forested, the state produces 15 percent of America’s softwood lumber and plywood. Fruits and vegetables grow in the Willamette Valley, wheat east of the Cascades. Natural resources are managed carefully, and Oregon’s land-use and recycling laws set standards for the nation.
Text source: National Geographic Atlas of the World Revised Sixth Edition, 1995
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