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 3 July 1890 as the 43rd state.

According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2007 the population for Idaho was 1,499,402. The state's postal abbreviation is ID. Idaho's nickname is the Gem State because of its abundance of natural resources. The state motto is Esto Perpetua (Latin for "Let it be forever").

Geography

Map of Idaho

Idaho Population Density Map

Sixty percent of Idaho's land is held by the National Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, and it leads the nation in forest service land as a percentage of total area.^[1].^[2]

Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed in the Owyhee Mountains about southwest of Boise, Idaho.

Crooked Creek in Gospel Hump Wilderness, Idaho

The Palouse region of North Idaho.

A scenic part of the Snake River in Idaho Falls.

Sunset over the Snake River Plain near Chubbuck.

Idaho's highest point is Borah Peak, , in the Lost River Range north of Mackay. Idaho's lowest point, , 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. (A legislative oddity ( § 264) theoretically places this region in the Pacific Time Zone, but this error is not widely known and is universally ignored.) Areas north of the Salmon River, including Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, Lewiston, and Sandpoint are in the Pacific Time Zone and revolve commercially and culturally around Spokane, Washington

Climate

Idaho has much variation in its climate. Although the state's western border is located 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.

Climate in Idaho can be hot, although extended periods over 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.

Lakes

• Alturas Lake
• Bear Lake (Idaho-Utah)
• Hayden Lake
• Henry's Lake
• Lake Cascade
• Lake Coeur d'Alene
• Lake Lowell
• Lake Walcott
• Payette Lake (McCall)
• Pend Oreille
• Petit Lake
• Priest Lake
• Redfish Lake
• Sawtooth Lake
• Stanley Lake
• Warm Lake

Lake Coeur d'Alene in North Idaho.

History

Humans may have been present in the Idaho area as long as 14,500 years ago. Excavations at Wilson Butte Cave near Twin Falls in 1959 revealed evidence of human activity, including arrowheads, that rank among the oldest dated artifacts in North America. Native American tribes predominant in the area included the Nez Perce in the north and the Northern and Western Shoshone in the south.

Idaho, as part of the Oregon Country, was claimed by both the United States and United Kingdom until the United States gained undisputed jurisdiction in 1846. Between then and the creation of the Idaho Territory in 1863, parts of the present-day state were included in the Oregon, Washington, and Dakota Territories. The new territory included most of present-day Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The first organized communities, within the present borders of Idaho, were established in 1860.^[3][4]

After some tribulation as a territory, including the chaotic transfer of the territorial capital from Lewiston to Boise, disenfranchisement of the large Mormon minority and a federal attempt to split the territory between Washington Territory and the state of Nevada, Idaho achieved statehood in 1890. The economy of the state, which had been primarily supported by metal mining, shifted towards agriculture and tourism.

In recent years, Idaho has expanded its commercial base as a tourism and agricultural state to include science and technology industries. Science and technology have become the largest single economic center (over 25% of the state's total revenue) within the state and are greater than agriculture, forestry and mining combined.^[5]

The Idaho State Historical Society preserves and promotes Idaho?s cultural heritage.

Origin of name

Idaho is the only state that was possibly named as the result of a hoax (the so-called "Idahoax") although this is disputed. 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 himselfhttp://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761565515/Idaho.htmlhttp://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/permalink/did_idaho_get_its_name_as_a_result_of_a_hoax/. 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. It 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".

"IDAHO in the Pacific Northwest". Barber -Martin. 1956. Caxton Printers Ltd. Library of Congress 55-5192.

Chief Joseph Seltice, of the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Nation, posits another possible origin of the name. In his history of the tribe, Saga of the Coeur d'Alene Indians, he writes:

Some sources claim that the name "Idaho" comes from an Indian word, "Ee-dah-how," meaning "Gem of the Mountains." This expression may have come from some other Tribe, and it would have a different meaning for them than it would for the Coeur d'Alenes.
As the Coeur d'Alenes understood the word "Idaho," it would be more correctly pronounced "Ah-d'Hoo." It means "greetings by surprise," indicating friendship, but surprise.
The first syllable conveys to the mind, "All are welcome, from wherever you come; but keep the friendly peace. We welcome you with out-stretched arms, and this entitles us to permanent friendship."
The last syllable is a surprise and exclamation point. The expression means that all are welcome, "though we are surprised to see so many different strangers. The first dawn of day welcomes you as the sun rises." This expression was used by many of the Coeur d'Alenes on the Bitterroot Mountains to greet all who come.
So to all who read these words: "Welcome, with open arms! We're just surprised that there are so many of you!"

Demographics

As of 2005, Idaho has an estimated population of 1,429,096, which is an increase of 33,956, or 2.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 135,140, or 10.4%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 58,884 people (that is 111,131 births minus 52,247 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 75,795 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 14,522 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 61,273 people.

This makes Idaho the sixth fastest-growing state after Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and Utah. From 2004 to 2005, Idaho grew the third-fastest, surpassed only by Nevada and Arizona.

Nampa, the state's second largest city, has experienced particularly strong growth in recent years. According to census estimates Nampa has grown 22.1% to nearly 65,000 residents between 2000 and 2003. As of 2007, the population in Nampa was estimated at 84,000. Growth of 5% or more over the same period has also been observed in Caldwell, Coeur d'Alene, Meridian, Post Falls and Twin Falls.http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/16000.html

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

The Boise Metropolitan Area (officially known as the Boise City-Nampa, ID Metropolitan Statistical Area) is Idaho's largest metropolitan area. Other metropolitan areas in order of size are Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Lewiston.

As of 2006, six official micropolitan statistical areas are based in Idaho. Twin Falls is the largest of these.

The center of population of Idaho is located in Custer County, in the town of Stanley.http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/statecenters.txt The largest reported ancestries in the state are: German (18.9%), English (18.1%), Irish (10%), American (8.4%), Norwegian (3.6%), Swedish (3.5%).

Religion

A church in Idaho City.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Idaho Falls Temple.

According to the 15th annual Idaho Public Policy study (http://sspa.boisestate.edu/ssrc/archive/2004-annualsurvey15.pdf, 2004) by the Social Science Research Center at BSU, the religious affiliations of Idahoans break down roughly as follows.

• Protestant – 29.3%
• LDS (Mormon) – 22.8%
• Catholic – 14.3%
• Christian – 13.6%
• None – 12.7%
• Other – 7.2%

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 311,425; the Roman Catholic Church with 130,847; the Assemblies of God with 18,745; and the United Methodist Church with 17,683; ^[6]

Economy

Idaho State Quarter

American Falls Dam

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 world's largest factory for barrel cheese, the raw product for processed cheese is located in Gooding, Idaho. It has a capacity of 120,000 metric tons per year of barrel cheese and belongs to the Glanbia group.^[7] The Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a government lab for nuclear energy research, is also an important part of the eastern Idaho economy. Idaho also is home to three facilities of Anheuser-Busch which provide a large part of the malt for breweries located across the nation.

Today, the largest industry in Idaho is the science and technology sector. It accounts for over 25% of the State's total revenue and 70%+ of the State's exports (in dollars). Idaho's industrial economy is growing, with high-tech products leading the way. Since the late 1970s, Boise has emerged as a center for 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, which is devoted primarily to LaserJet printers production.http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar04.html Dell, Inc. operates a major customer support call center in Twin Falls. AMI Semiconductor, whose worldwide headquarter locates in Pocatello, is a widely recognized innovator in state-of-the-art integrated mixed-signal semiconductor products, mixed-signal foundry services and structured digital products. Coldwater Creek, a women's clothing retailer, is headquartered in Sandpoint.

The state personal income tax ranges from 1.6% to 7.8% in eight income brackets. Idahoans may apply for state tax credits for taxes paid to other states, as well as for donations to Idaho state educational entities and some nonprofit youth and rehabilitation facilities.

The state sales tax is 6%. Sales tax applies to the sale, rental or lease of tangible personal property and some services. Food is taxed, but prescription drugs are not. Hotel, motel, and campground accommodations are taxed at a higher rate (7% to 11%). Some jurisdictions impose local option sales tax.

Idaho has a state gambling lottery which contributed $333.5 million in payments to all Idaho public schools and Idaho higher education from 1990 - 2006.^[8]

Transportation

Major highways

Idaho welcome sign.

Interstate 15.

US Highway 95.

Major airports include the Boise Airport, and the Spokane International Airport, which serves northern Idaho. Other airports with scheduled service are the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport serving the Palouse; the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Airport, serving the Lewis-Clark Valley and north central Idaho; The Magic Valley Regional Airport in Twin Falls; the Idaho Falls Regional Airport; and the Pocatello Regional Airport.

Idaho is served by two transcontinental railroads. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) connects North Idaho with Seattle, Portland and Spokane to the west, and Minneapolis and Chicago to the east. The BNSF travels through Kootenai, Bonner and Boundary Counties. The Union Pacific Railroad crosses southern Idaho travelling between Portland and Ogden, Utah and serves Boise, Nampa, Twin Falls, and Pocatello. Amtrak's Empire Builder crosses northern Idaho, with its only stop being in Sandpoint. There has been a push recently to return Amtrak service to southern Idaho as well.

The Port of Lewiston is the furthest inland Pacific port on the west coast. A series of dams and locks on the Snake River and Columbia River facilitate barge travel from here to Portland, where goods are loaded on ocean-going vessels.

North U.S. Highway 2 U.S. Highway 12
North/South U.S. Highway 95 U.S. Highway 93 Interstate 15 Southwest Interstate 184	West/East U.S. Highway 20 U.S. Highway 26 U.S. Highway 30 Interstate 84 Interstate 86 Interstate 90

Law and government

State capitol building in Boise

State government

The constitution of Idaho provides for three 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. Idaho still operates under its original (1889) state constitution.

Since 1946 statewide elected constitutional officers have been elected to four-year terms. They include: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Controller (Auditor before 1994), Treasurer, Attorney General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Last contested in 1966, Inspector of Mines was an original elected constitutional office. Afterwards it was an appointed position and ultimately done away with entirely in 1974.

Idaho's government has an alcohol monopoly.

Executive Branch

The governor of Idaho serves a four-year term, and is elected during what is nationally referred to as midterm elections. As such, the governor is not elected in the same election year as the president of the United States. The current governor is Republican C. L. "Butch" Otter, who was elected in 2006.

Legislative Branch

Idaho's legislature is part-time. However, the session may be extended if necessary, and often is. Because of this, Idaho's legislators are considered "citizen legislators", meaning that their position as a legislator is not their main occupation.

Terms for both the Senate and House of Representatives are two years. Legislative elections occur every even numbered year.

The Idaho Legislature has been continuously controlled by the Republican Party since the late 1950s, although Democratic legislators are routinely elected from Boise, Pocatello, Blaine County and the northern Panhandle.

See also List of Idaho senators and representatives

Politics

After the Civil War, many Southern Democrats moved to Idaho Territory. As a result, the early territorial legislatures were solidly Democrat-controlled. In contrast, most of the territorial governors were appointed by Republican Presidents and were Republicans themselves. This led to sometimes bitter clashes between the two parties. In the 1880s, Republicans became more prominent in local politics.

Since statehood, the Republican Party has usually been the dominant party in Idaho, as there was a polar shift in social and political stance between the two parties, when the Democrats became more liberal and the Republicans more conservative. In the 1890s and early 1900s, the Populist Party enjoyed prominence while the Democratic Party maintained a brief dominance in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Since World War II, most statewide elected officials have been Republicans.

Idaho Congressional delegations have also been generally Republican since its statehood. Several Idaho Democrats have had electoral success in the House over the years, but the Senate delegation has been a Republican stronghold for decades. Several Idaho Republicans, including current Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo, have won reelection to the Senate, but only Frank Church has won reelection as a Democrat. Church was the last Idaho Democrat to win a U.S. Senate race in 1974. No Democrat has won a U.S. House race in Idaho since Larry LaRocco in 1992.

In modern times, Idaho has been a reliably Republican state in presidential politics as well. It has not supported a Democrat for president since 1964. Even in that election, Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater by less than two percentage points. In 2004, George W. Bush carried Idaho by a margin of 38 percentage points and 68.4% of the vote, winning in 43 of 44 counties. Only Blaine County, which contains the Sun Valley ski resort, supported John Kerry, who owns a home in the area.

In the 2006 elections, Republicans led by Governor-elect C. L. "Butch" Otter won all of the state's constitutional offices and retained both of the state's seats in the United States House of Representatives. However, Democrats picked up several seats in the Idaho Legislature, notably in the Boise area. http://www.ncsl.org/ncsldb/elect98/profile.cfm?yearsel=2006&statesel=ID

Important cities and towns

Population > 50,000 (urbanized area) Boise (state capital) - Home of Boise State University Idaho Falls - Location of the main offices of the Idaho National Laboratory Nampa - Home of Northwest Nazarene University Pocatello - Home of Idaho State University Meridian - Suburb of Boise Population > 30,000 (urbanized area) Caldwell - Home of the College of Idaho Coeur d'Alene - Home of North Idaho College, major tourist hub Lewiston - Home of Lewis-Clark State College Twin Falls - Home of College of Southern Idaho, BASE jumping Population > 10,000 (urbanized area) Blackfoot - Home of Idaho Potato Museum Burley Eagle - Suburb of Boise Garden City Hayden -Suburb of Coeur d'Alene Kellogg - skiing ( Silver Mountain Ski Resort) Kuna - Suburb of Boise Moscow - Home of the University of Idaho Mountain Home Post Falls- One of Idaho's fastest growing cities doubling in size from 1993-2008. Rexburg - Home of Brigham Young University-Idaho

Smaller Towns and Cities American Falls - historical town, first town to be entirely relocated Arco - first city to be lit by electricity generated from a nuclear power plant City of Rocks - First rockclimbing station in Idaho Driggs - skiing (Grand Targhee) Eden Emmett Greenleaf - passed a law recommending that residents own a firearm Fruitland Hazelton Island Park - snowmobiling, world-class fishing Jerome Malad City McCall - major tourist hub Middleton Montpelier Mullan New Plymouth - first planned community in Idaho, third west of the Rocky Mountains Notus Paris, Idaho - County seat of Bear Lake County Payette - county seat of Payette County Plummer Rupert- County Seat of Minidoka County Rigby - television birthplace Salmon, Idaho Sandpoint - Major year round tourist town with Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort and Lake Pend Oreille. Soda Springs - US's only captive geyser St. Anthony - sand dunes and several lava tubes St. Maries Stanley, Idaho Sun Valley - major year-round resort with world-class skiing Wallace - birthplace of Lana Turner Worley

Boise, capital and largest city in Idaho. Coeur d'Alene Pocatello Post Falls Idaho Falls

National Parks

City of Rocks National Reserve

Craters of the Moon National Monument

• California National Historic Trail
• City of Rocks National Reserve
• Craters of the Moon National Monument
• Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• Minidoka Internment National Monument
• Nez Perce National Historical Park
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Yellowstone National Park

National Recreation Areas

• Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
• Sawtooth National Recreation Area

National Wildlife Refuges

• Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Camas National Wildlife Refuge
• Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge
• Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge
• Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge

National Conservation Areas

• Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area

State Parks

Bear Lake State Park Box Canyon State Park Bruneau Dunes State Park Castle Rocks State Park City of Rocks State Park Coeur d'Alene Parkway Dworshak State Park Eagle Island State Park Farragut State Park Harriman State Park Hells Canyon Hells Gate State Park Henrys Lake State Park Heyburn State Park

Lake Cascade State Park Lake Walcott State Park Lucky Peak State Park Malad Gorge State Park Massacre Rocks State Park Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park Niagara Springs State Park Old Mission State Park Ponderosa State Park Priest Lake State Park Round Lake State Park Three Island Crossing State Park Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes Winchester Lake State Park Yankee Fork State Park Bear Lake State Park.

Education

Colleges and universities

Idaho State University in Pocatello.

University of Idaho in Moscow.

The Idaho State Board of Education oversees three comprehensive universities. The University of Idaho in Moscow was the first university in the state (founded in 1889). A land-grant institution, the UI is the state's flagship university. Idaho State University in Pocatello opened in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho and was granted university status in 1963. Boise State University is the most recent school to attain university status in Idaho. The school opened in 1932 as Boise Junior College and became Boise State University in 1974. Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston is the only public, non-university 4 year college in Idaho.

Idaho has three regional community colleges: North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene; College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls; and The College of Western Idaho in Nampa, which is set to open in 2009.

Private institutions in Idaho are Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, which is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; The College of Idaho in Caldwell, which still maintains a loose affiliation with the Presbyterian Church; Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa; and New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, of reformed Christian theological background.

Boise State University Brigham Young University-Idaho The College of Idaho College of Southern Idaho Idaho State University

Lewis-Clark State College New Saint Andrews College North Idaho College Northwest Nazarene University University of Idaho

Sports

Boise is the host to the largest 5 K run for women, the St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration.

Official State Emblems

• State Bird: Mountain Bluebird
• State Dance: Square Dance
• State Fish: Cutthroat Trout
• State Flower: Syringa (Philadelphus lewisii)
• State Fossil: Hagerman Horse (Equus simplicidens)
• State Fruit: Huckleberry
• State Gem: Idaho star garnet
• State Horse: Appaloosa
• State Motto: "Esto perpetua"^[9]
• State Insect: Monarch butterfly
• State Raptor: Peregrine falcon
• State Song: Here We Have Idaho
• State Tree: Western White Pine
• State Soil: Threebear (soil)

Notable Idahoans

See also

• List of Idaho-related topics

References

External links

• State of Idaho government website
• Energy Profile for Idaho
• Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation
• Idaho Newspapers
• Idaho State Databases - Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Idaho state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.
• Idaho State Facts
• Log Cabins in America: The Finnish Experience, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
• The History of Idaho
• U.S. Census Bureau
• USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Idaho
• Visit Idaho site

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