Idaho, ID

The State of Idaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city, and capital, is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans." Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state.

According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2004, Idaho had an estimated population of 1,393,262. The state's postal abbreviation is ID. Idaho is nicknamed the Gem State because of its abundance of natural resources. The state motto is Esto Perpetua (Latin for "Let it be perpetual").

Geography

Idaho borders the states of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming and the Canadian province of British Columbia (the Idaho-BC border is 48 miles (77 km) long).

The landscape is rugged with some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the United States. It is a Rocky Mountain state with abundant natural resources and scenic areas.

The state has snow-capped mountain ranges, rapids, placid lakes and steep canyons. The waters of Snake River rush through Hells Canyon, the deepest canyon in the United States. 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.

The Port of Lewiston is the farthest inland seaport in the Pacific Northwest. Idaho's highest point is Borah Peak, 12,662 ft (3,859 m), in the Lost River Range north of Mackay. Idaho's lowest point, 745 ft (227 m), is in Lewiston, where the Clearwater River joins the Snake River and continues into Washington.

Southern Idaho, including the Boise metropolitan area, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and Twin Falls are in the Mountain Time Zone. Areas north of the Salmon River, including Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, and Lewiston, are in the Pacific Time Zone.

Origin of name

Idaho is the only state that was likely named as the result of a hoax (the so called "Idahoax").

In the early 1860s, when the United States Congress was considering organizing a new territory in the Rocky Mountains, eccentric lobbyist George M. Willing suggested the name "Idaho," which he claimed was derived from a Shoshone language term meaning "the sun comes from the mountains" or "gem of the mountains." Willing later claimed that he had made up the name himself.

Congress ultimately decided to name the area Colorado Territory when it was created in February 1861. However, the name "Idaho" did not go away.

The same year Congress created Colorado Territory, a county called Idaho County was created in eastern Washington Territory.

The county was named after a steamship named Idaho, which was launched on the Columbia River in 1860.

t is unclear whether the steamship was named before or after Willing's claim was revealed. Regardless, a portion of Washington Territory, including Idaho County, was used to create Idaho Territory in 1863.

Despite this lack of evidence for the origin of the name, many textbooks well into the 20th century repeated as fact Willing's account that the name "Idaho" derived from the Shoshone term "ee-da-how".

An excerpt from an Idaho History Textbook: "Idaho" is a Shoshoni Indian exclamation. The word consists of three parts. The first is "Ee", which in English conveys the idea of "coming down". The second is "dah" which is the Shoshoni stem or root for both "sun" and "mountain".

The third syllable, "how", denotes the exclamation and stands for just the same thing in Indian that the exclamation mark (!) does in the English language.

The Shoshoni word is "Ee-dah-how", and the Indian thought thus conveyed when translated into English means, "Behold! the sun coming down the mountain".

Climate

Idaho has much variation in its climate. Although the state's western border is located 300 miles (480 km) from the Pacific Ocean, the maritime influence is still felt in Idaho, especially in the winter when cloud cover, humidity, and precipitation are at their highest points.

This influence has a moderating effect in the winter where temperatures are not as low as would otherwise be expected for a northern state with a mostly elevated altitude.

The maritime influence is lowest in the southeastern part of the state where the precipitation patterns are often reversed, with wetter summers and drier winters, and seasonal temperature differences more extreme, showing a more continental climate.

Summers in Idaho can be hot, although extended periods over 100 °F for the maximum temperature are rare.

Hot summer days are tempered by the low relative humidity and cooler evenings during summer months since, for most of the state, the highest diurnal difference in temperature is often in the summer.

Winters can be cold, although extended periods of bitter cold weather below zero are unusual.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Idaho".