What is the capital of Washington?

Olympia is the capital of Washington state, located at the southern end of Puget Sound about 60 miles southwest of Seattle and 30 miles west of Tacoma. Olympia has been the capital since 1853, when it was designated the territorial capital of the new Washington Territory created from the northern part of the Oregon Territory by Congress on March 2, 1853. Washington remained a territory until November 11, 1889, when it was admitted as the 42nd state, with Olympia continuing as the state capital.

Olympia is named for the nearby Olympic Mountains, which are visible across Puget Sound to the northwest. The Washington State Capitol, also called the Legislative Building, was completed in 1928 and features one of the tallest stone domes in the country at 287 feet. The dome's design was inspired by the U.S. Capitol but exceeds it in height. The capitol campus also includes the Temple of Justice (housing the Washington Supreme Court), the Insurance Building, the Cherberg Building, and other state offices.

Olympia's population is about 56,000, with a metropolitan area of about 295,000 people including the surrounding cities of Lacey and Tumwater (the oldest continuously inhabited American settlement on Puget Sound, founded 1845). The state government employs the largest share of the local workforce. The Evergreen State College, a public liberal arts college founded in 1967 with about 2,500 students, is known for its progressive educational approach without traditional grades. Saint Martin's University in Lacey is a private Catholic university.

Washington's geography includes the Cascade Range running north to south through the state, dividing the wet temperate western half from the drier eastern half. Mount Rainier (14,411 feet, the highest peak in the Cascades and one of the most dangerous active volcanoes in the country), Mount St. Helens (which erupted catastrophically on May 18, 1980), and Mount Adams are visible from the Olympia area on clear days. Puget Sound is a complex inland sea connecting to the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Major Washington cities include Seattle (the largest at about 750,000 city, 4 million metro), Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver (across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon), and Bellevue. The state's economy includes major sectors in technology (Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing), aerospace, agriculture (especially apples, wheat, and wine), forestry, fishing, and tourism. Mount Olympus on the Olympic Peninsula is the namesake of the city. The state was named after George Washington and remains the only state named after a U.S. president.