Oregon ( ) is a
state in the
Pacific Northwest region of the
United States. It is located on the
Pacific coast, with
Washington to the north,
California to the south,
Nevada on the southeast and
Idaho to the east. The
Columbia and
Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern boundaries respectively. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers; the
Oregon Territory was created in 1848, and Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14, 1859.
Salem is the state's capital and third-most-populous city;
Portland is the most populous. Portland is the 30th-largest U.S. city, with a population of 575,930 (2008 estimate) and a metro population of 2,175,133 (2007 estimate), the 23rd-largest U.S. metro area.
The
valley of the
Willamette River in western Oregon is the most densely populated and agriculturally productive region of the state, and is home to eight of the ten most populous cities. Oregon's 2000 population was about 3.5 million, a 20.3% increase over 1990; it is estimated to have reached 3.8 million by 2008.
Oregon's largest for-profit private employer is
Intel, located in the
Silicon Forest area on Portland's west side. The state has 199 public school districts, with
Portland Public Schools as the largest. There are 17 community colleges, and seven publicly financed colleges in the
Oregon University System.
Oregon State University in
Corvallis and the
University of Oregon in
Eugene are the two flagship universities of the state, while
Portland State University has the largest enrollment.
Major highways include
Interstate 5 which runs the entire north-south length of the state,
Interstate 84 that runs east-west,
U.S. Route 97 that crosses the middle of the state,
U.S. Route 101 that travels the entire coastline, and
U.S. Route 20 and
U.S. Route 26 that run east-west, among many other highways.
Portland International Airport is the busiest commercial airport in the state and is operated as part of the
Port of Portland, the state's busiest port. Rail service includes
Union Pacific Railroad and
BNSF Railway freight service,
Amtrak passenger service, as well as light rail and street car routes in the Portland metro area.
Oregon enjoys a diverse landscape including a scenic and windswept
Pacific coastline, the volcanoes of a rugged and glaciated
Cascade Mountain Range,
dense evergreen forests, and
high desert across much of the eastern portion of the state. The towering
Douglas firs and
redwoods along the rainy
Western Oregon coast provide a dramatic contrast with the lower density and fire prone
pine tree and
juniper forests covering portions of the
Eastern half of the state. The eastern portion of the state also includes semi-arid
scrublands, prairies, deserts, and meadows. These drier areas stretch east from
Central Oregon.
Mount Hood is the highest point in the state at .
Crater Lake National Park is the only national park in Oregon. Oregon is the United States' leader in
forest fires; in 2007 Oregon had over 1,000 forest fires.
History
Humans have inhabited the area that is now Oregon for at least 15,000 years. In recorded history, mentions of the land date to as early as the 16th century. During the 18th and 19th centuries European powers and later the United States quarreled over possession of the region until 1846 when the U.S. and Great Britain finalized the division of the region. Oregon became a state in 1859 and is now home to over 3.5 million residents.
Earliest inhabitation
Human habitation of the
Pacific Northwest began at least 15,000 years ago, with the oldest evidence of habitation in Oregon found at
Fort Rock Cave and the
Paisley Caves in
Lake County. Archaeologist
Luther Cressman dated material from Fort Rock to 13,200 years ago. By 8000 B.C. there were settlements throughout the state, with populations concentrated along the lower Columbia River, in the western valleys, and around coastal estuaries.
European exploration
By the 16th century Oregon was home to many
Native American groups, including the
Bannock,
Chasta,
Chinook,
Kalapuya,
Klamath,
Molalla,
Nez Perce,
Takelma, and
Umpqua.
The first European explorers were Spanish, during the late 17th century. Further exploration from Alta California took place during the 18th century. British
James Cook explored the coast in 1778 in search of the
Northwest Passage.
During U.S. westward expansion
The
Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through the region also in search of the Northwest Passage. They built their winter fort at
Fort Clatsop, near the mouth of the
Columbia River. Overland exploration was also conducted by British explorer
David Thompson.
In 1811, David Thompson, of the
North West Company, became the first European to navigate the entire length of the Columbia River. Stopping on the way, at the junction of the
Snake River, he posted a claim to the region for Great Britain and the North West Company. Upon returning to
Montreal, he publicized the abundance of fur-bearing animals in the area.
Also in 1811,
New Yorker John Jacob Astor financed the establishment of
Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River as a western outpost to his
Pacific Fur Company;
this was the first permanent European settlement in Oregon.
thumb|Map of Oregon Country.
In the
War of 1812, the
British gained control of all of the Pacific Fur Company posts. The
Treaty of 1818 established joint British and American occupancy of the region west of the
Rocky Mountains to the
Pacific Ocean. By the 1820s and 1830s, the
Hudson's Bay Company dominated the Pacific Northwest from its
Columbia District headquarters at
Fort Vancouver (built in 1825 by the District's Chief Factor
John McLoughlin across the Columbia from present-day Portland).
In 1841, the master trapper and entrepreneur
Ewing Young died leaving considerable wealth and no apparent heir, and no system to
probate his estate. A meeting followed Young's funeral at which a probate government was proposed. Doctor
Ira Babcock of
Jason Lee's
Methodist Mission was elected Supreme Judge. Babcock chaired two meetings in 1842 at
Champoeg (half way between Lee's mission and
Oregon City) to discuss
wolves and other animals of contemporary concern. These meetings were precursors to an
all-citizen meeting in 1843, which instituted a provisional government headed by an
executive committee made up of
David Hill,
Alanson Beers, and
Joseph Gale. This government was the first acting public government of the
Oregon Country before annexation by the government of the United States.
Also in 1841,
Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, reversed the Hudson's Bay Company's longstanding policy of discouraging settlement because it interfered with the lucrative fur trade. He directed that some 200
Red River Colony settlers be relocated to HBC farms near Fort Vancouver, (the
James Sinclair expedition), in an attempt to hold Columbia District.
Starting in 1842–1843, the
Oregon Trail brought many new American settlers to Oregon Country. For some time, it seemed that Britain and the United States would go to war for a third time in 75 years (see
Oregon boundary dispute), but the border was defined peacefully in 1846 by the
Oregon Treaty. The border between the United States and
British North America was set at the
49th parallel. The
Oregon Territory was officially organized in 1848.
Settlement increased because of the
Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, in conjunction with the
forced relocation of the native population to
Indian reservations in Oregon.
After statehood
The state was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1859. Founded as a refuge from the disputes over slavery that were tearing apart other places in the United States, such as Kansas, Oregon had a "whites only" clause in its state Constitution at the time of its admission; the only state thus admitted.
At the outbreak of the
American Civil War, regular U.S. troops were withdrawn and sent east. Volunteer cavalry were recruited in California and sent north to Oregon to keep peace and protect the populace. The
First Oregon Cavalry served until June 1865.
In the 1880s, the proliferation of railroads assisted in marketing of the state's
lumber and
wheat, as well as the more rapid growth of its cities.
20th and 21st centuries
In 1902, Oregon introduced a system of
direct legislation by the state’s citizens by way of
initiative and
referendum, known as the
Oregon System. Oregon state ballots often include politically conservative proposals side-by-side with politically liberal ones, illustrating the wide spectrum of political thought in the state.
Industrial expansion began in earnest following the construction of the
Bonneville Dam in 1933–1937 on the Columbia River.
Hydroelectric power, food, and lumber provided by Oregon helped fuel the development of the West, although the periodic fluctuations in the U.S. building industry have hurt the state's
economy on multiple occasions.
Name
The origin of the name "Oregon" is unknown. One theory is that the name comes from the
French word "ouragan" (hurricane).
French explorers called the
Columbia River "Hurricane River" (le fleuve aux ouragans), because of the strong winds of the Columbia Gorge. According to the
Oregon Blue Book, the source for the earliest written use of the word was Major Robert Rogers, an English army officer. In his 1765 proposal for a journey, Rogers wrote:
The rout . . . is from the Great Lakes towards the Head of the Mississippi, and from thence to the River called by the Indians Ouragon. . . .
thumb|Oregon [[welcome sign at
Hells Canyon.]]
One account, endorsed as the "most plausible explanation" in the book
Oregon Geographic Names, was advanced by
George R. Stewart in a 1944 article in
American Speech. According to Stewart, the name came from an engraver's error in a French map published in the early 1700s, on which the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin) River was spelled "Ouaricon-sint", broken on two lines with the -sint below, so that there appeared to be a river flowing to the west named "Ouaricon".
According to the Oregon Tourism Commission (also known as Travel Oregon), present-day Oregonians ()
pronounce the state's name as "OR-UH-GUN never OR-EE-GONE".
After being drafted by the
Detroit Lions in 2002, former
Oregon Ducks quarterback
Joey Harrington distributed "ORYGUN" stickers (sold by the University of Oregon Bookstore, which credits the spelling as a joke "meant for Oregonians everywhere who get a kick out of this hilarious mispronunciation of our state.") to members of the media as a reminder of how to pronounce his home state.
Geography
Oregon's geography may be split roughly into seven areas:
The mountainous regions of western Oregon, home to four of the
most prominent mountain peaks of the United States including
Mount Hood, were formed by the volcanic activity of
Juan de Fuca Plate, a
tectonic plate that poses a continued threat of
volcanic activity and
earthquakes in the region. The most recent major activity was the
1700 Cascadia earthquake;
Washington's
Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, an event which was visible from Oregon.
The
Columbia River, which constitutes much of the northern border of Oregon, also played a major role in the region's geological evolution, as well as its economic and cultural development. The Columbia is one of
North America's largest rivers, and the only river to cut through the Cascades. About 15,000 years ago, the Columbia repeatedly flooded much of Oregon during the
Missoula Floods; the modern fertility of the Willamette Valley is largely a result of those floods. Plentiful salmon made parts of the river, such as
Celilo Falls, hubs of economic activity for thousands of years. In the 20th century, numerous
hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Columbia, with major impacts on salmon, transportation and commerce, electric power, and flood control.
Today, Oregon's landscape varies from
rainforest in the Coast Range to barren desert in the southeast, which still meets the technical definition of a
frontier.
Oregon is north to south at longest distance, and east to west at longest distance. In terms of land and water area, Oregon is the ninth largest state, covering . The highest point in Oregon is the summit of Mount Hood, at , and its lowest point is
sea level of the
Pacific Ocean along the Oregon coast.
Its mean elevation is .
Crater Lake National Park is the state's only national park and the site of
Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the U.S. at . Oregon claims the
D River is the shortest
river in the world,
though the American state of
Montana makes the same claim of its
Roe River.
Oregon is also home to
Mill Ends Park (in Portland),
the smallest park in the world at .
Oregon is home to what is considered the largest single organism in the world, an
Armillaria ostoyae fungus beneath the
Malheur National Forest of
eastern Oregon.
Image:Trilliumlake.jpg|Mount Hood, with Trillium Lake in the foreground.
Image:Crater lake oregon.jpg|An aerial view of Crater Lake in Oregon.
Image:OregonCoastEcola Edit.jpg|Southern view of the Oregon coast from Ecola State Park, with Haystack Rock in the distance.
File:Boise2008 164.JPG|Sunset over Malheur Butte, an extinct volcanic cinder cone near Ontario, Oregon.
File:Portland panorama3.jpg|Portland.
File:Oregon population map 2000.png|Map of Oregon's population density.
File:Public-Lands-Western-US.png|Nearly half of Oregon's land is held by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
Major cities
Oregon's population is largely concentrated in the
Willamette Valley, which stretches from
Eugene in the south (home of the
University of Oregon, second largest city in Oregon) through
Corvallis (home of
Oregon State University) and
Salem (the
capital, third largest) to
Portland (Oregon's largest city).
, at the mouth of the Columbia River, was the first permanent English-speaking settlement west of
Rockies in what is now the
United States.
Oregon City, at the end of the
Oregon Trail, was the
Oregon Territory's first incorporated city, and was its first capital from 1848 until 1852, when the capital was moved to Salem.
Bend, near the geographic center of the state, is one of the ten fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. In the southern part of the state,
Medford is a rapidly growing metro area, which is home to The
Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, the third-busiest airport in the state. Further to the south, near the California-Oregon border, is the community of
Ashland, home of the
Tony Award-winning
Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Climate
Oregon's climate—especially in the western part of the state—is heavily influenced by the
Pacific Ocean. The climate is generally mild, but periods of extreme hot and cold can affect parts of the state.
Precipitation in the state varies widely: the deserts of eastern Oregon, such as the
Alvord Desert (in the
rain shadow of
Steens Mountain), get as little as 200 mm (8 inches) annually, while some western coastal slopes approach 5000 mm (200 inches) annually. Oregon's population centers, which lie mostly in the western part of the state, are generally moist and mild, while the lightly populated
high deserts of Central and Eastern Oregon are much drier.
Law and government
thumb|The flags of the [[Flag of the United States|United States and
Oregon flown side-by-side in
downtown Portland.]]
The
Oregon Country functioned as an independent
republic with a three-person executive office and a chief executive until August 13, 1848, when Oregon was annexed by the
United States, at which time a territorial government was established. Oregon maintained a territorial government until February 14, 1859, when it was granted
statehood.
State government
Oregon state government has a
separation of powers similar to the
federal government. It has three branches, called departments by the
state's constitution:
Governors in Oregon serve four year terms and are limited to two consecutive terms, but an unlimited number of total terms. Oregon has no
lieutenant governor; in the event that the office of governor is vacated, Article V, Section 8a of the
Oregon Constitution specifies that the
Secretary of State is first in line for succession.
The other statewide officers are
Treasurer,
Attorney General,
Superintendent, and
Labor Commissioner. The
biennial Oregon Legislative Assembly consists of a thirty-member
Senate and a sixty-member
House. The state supreme court has seven elected justices, currently including the only two openly gay state supreme court justices in the nation. They choose one of their own to serve a six-year term as Chief Justice. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the
Supreme Court of the United States.
The debate over whether to move to annual sessions is a long-standing battle in Oregon politics, but the voters have resisted the move from citizen legislators to professional lawmakers. Because Oregon's state budget is written in two year increments and, having no sales tax, its revenue is based largely on income taxes, it is often significantly over- or under-budget. Recent legislatures have had to be called into special session repeatedly to address revenue shortfalls resulting from economic downturns, bringing to a head the need for more frequent legislative sessions.
thumb|right|Oregon State Capitolthumb|right|Party registration in Oregon, 1950–2006.
The state maintains formal relationships with the nine
federally recognized tribes in Oregon:
Oregonians have voted for the
Democratic Presidential candidate in every election since 1988. In 2004 and 2006, Democrats won control of the state Senate and then the House. Since the late 1990s, Oregon has been represented by four Democrats and one
Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, and, until 2009, by one U.S. Senator from each party. In 2009, Democrat
Jeff Merkley became the second Democratic senator, joining
Ron Wyden. Democratic Governor
Ted Kulongoski defeated Republicans in 2002 and 2006, defeating conservative
Kevin Mannix and the more moderate
Ron Saxton respectively.
The base of Democratic support is largely concentrated in the urban centers of the
Willamette Valley. In both 2000 and 2004, the Democratic Presidential candidate won Oregon, but did so with majorities in only eight of Oregon's 36 counties. The eastern two-thirds of the state beyond the Cascade Mountains often votes Republican; in 2000 and 2004,
George W. Bush carried every county east of the Cascades. However, the region's sparse population means that the more populous counties in the Willamette Valley usually carry the day in statewide elections.
Oregon's politics are largely similar to those of neighboring
Washington, for instance in the contrast between urban and rural issues.
In the 2004 general election, Oregon voters passed ballot measures
banning same-sex marriage, and
restricting land use regulation. In the
2006 general election, voters restricted the use of
eminent domain and extended the state's discount prescription drug coverage.
The distribution, sales and consumption of
alcoholic beverages are regulated in the state by the
Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Thus, Oregon is an
Alcoholic beverage control state. While wine and beer are available in most grocery stores, comparatively few stores sell hard liquor.
Federal government
Like all
U.S. states, Oregon is represented by two
U.S. Senators. Since the
1980 census Oregon has had five
Congressional districts.
After Oregon was admitted to the Union, it began with a single member in the House of Representatives (
La Fayette Grover, who served in the
35th United States Congress for less than a month).
Congressional apportionment led to the addition of new members following the censuses of
1890,
1910,
1940, and 1980. A
detailed list of the past and present Congressional delegations from Oregon is available.
The
United States District Court for the District of Oregon hears Federal cases in the state. The court has courthouses in
Portland,
Eugene, Medford, and Pendleton. Also in Portland is the federal bankruptcy court, with a second branch in Eugene. Oregon (among other western states and territories) is in the
9th Court of Appeals. One of the court's meeting places is at the
Pioneer Courthouse in downtown Portland, a National Historic Landmark built in 1869.
Politics
The state has been thought of as politically split by the
Cascade Range, with western Oregon being
liberal and
Eastern Oregon being
conservative. In a 2008 analysis of the
2004 presidential election, political analyst found that according to the application of a
Likert scale, Oregon boasted both the most liberal voters and the most conservative voters, making it the most politically polarized state in the country. The two current U.S senators from Oregon are
Ron Wyden (D), and
Jeff Merkley (D). The office of governorship is held by
Ted Kulongoski (D) who was re-elected to a second term.
During Oregon's history it has adopted many electoral reforms proposed during the
Progressive Era, through the efforts of
William S. U'Ren and his
Direct Legislation League. Under his leadership, the state overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in 1902 that created the
initiative and
referendum processes for citizens to directly introduce or approve proposed laws or amendments to the state constitution, making Oregon the first state to adopt such a system. Today, roughly half of U.S. states do so.
In following years, the
primary election to select party candidates was adopted in 1904, and in 1908 the
Oregon Constitution was amended to include recall of public officials. More recent amendments include the nation's first
doctor-assisted suicide law, called the
Death with Dignity law (which was challenged, unsuccessfully, in 2005 by the
Bush administration in a case heard by the
U.S. Supreme Court),
legalization of
medical cannabis, and among the nation's strongest
anti-
urban sprawl and pro-environment laws. More recently,
2004's Measure 37 reflects a backlash against such land use laws. However, a further ballot measure in 2007,
Measure 49, curtailed many of the provisions of 37.
Of the
measures placed on the ballot since 1902, the people have passed 99 of the 288 initiatives and 25 of the 61 referendums on the ballot, though not all of them survived challenges in courts (see
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, for an example). During the same period, the legislature has referred 363 measures to the people, of which 206 have passed.
Oregon pioneered the American use of
postal voting, beginning with experimentation authorized by the
Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1981 and culminating with a
1998 ballot measure mandating that all counties conduct elections by mail. It remains the only state where
voting by mail is the only method of voting.
In the
U.S. Electoral College, Oregon casts seven votes. Oregon has supported Democratic candidates in the last six elections. Democrat
Barack Obama won the state in 2008 by a margin of sixteen percentage points, with over 56% of the popular vote.
Economy
thumb|A Halsey storing grass seed, one of the state's largest crops/" class="wiki">grain elevator in
Halsey storing grass seed, one of the state's largest crops
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Oregon in 2008 was $161.6 billion, it is United States's 26th wealthiest state by GDP. The states per capita personal income in 2008 was $38801.
Land in the Willamette Valley owes its fertility to the
Missoula Floods, which deposited lake sediment from
Glacial Lake Missoula in western Montana onto the valley floor.
This soil is the source of a wealth of agricultural products, including
potatoes,
peppermint,
hops,
apples and other
fruits.
Oregon is also one of four major world
hazelnut growing regions, and produces 95% of the domestic hazelnuts in the United States. While the history of the
wine production in Oregon can be traced to before
Prohibition, it became a
significant industry beginning in the 1970s. In 2005, Oregon ranked third among U.S. states with 303 wineries. Due to regional similarities in climate and soil, the grapes planted in Oregon are often the same varieties found in the French regions of
Alsace and
Burgundy. In the northeastern region of the state, particularly around
Pendleton, both irrigated and dry land
wheat is grown. Oregon farmers and ranchers also produce
cattle, sheep,
dairy products, eggs and poultry.
Vast forests have historically made Oregon one of the nation's major
timber production and
logging states, but forest fires (such as the
Tillamook Burn), over-harvesting, and lawsuits over the proper management of the extensive federal forest holdings have reduced the amount of timber produced. According to the
Oregon Forest Resources Institute, between 1989 and 2001 the amount of timber harvested from federal lands dropped some 96%, from 4,333 million to 173 million
board feet (10,000,000 to 408,000 m
3), although harvest levels on private land have remained relatively constant. Even the shift in recent years towards finished goods such as paper and building materials has not slowed the decline of the timber industry in the state. The effects of this decline have included
Weyerhaeuser's acquisition of Portland-based
Willamette Industries in January 2002, the relocation of
Louisiana-Pacific's corporate headquarters from Portland to
Nashville, and the decline of former lumber
company towns such as
Gilchrist. Despite these changes, Oregon still leads the United States in
softwood lumber production; in 2001, 6,056 million board feet (14,000,000 m
3) was produced in Oregon, compared to 4,257 million board feet (10,050,000 m
3) in Washington, 2,731 million board feet (6,444,000 m
3) in California, 2,413 million board feet (5,694,000 m
3) in
Georgia, and 2,327 million board feet (5,491,000 m
3) in
Mississippi. The effect of the forest industry crunch is still extensive unemployment in rural Oregon and is a bone of contention between rural and urban Oregon.
Oregon occasionally hosts
film shoots. Movies wholly or partially filmed in Oregon include:
Rooster Cogburn,
The Goonies,
National Lampoon's Animal House,
Stand By Me,
Kindergarten Cop,
Overboard,
The River Wild,
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
Paint Your Wagon,
The Hunted,
Sometimes a Great Notion,
Elephant,
Bandits,
The Ring,
The Ring Two,
Quarterback Princess,
Mr. Brooks,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III,
Short Circuit,
Come See the Paradise,
The Shining,
Drugstore Cowboy,
My Own Private Idaho,
The Postman,
Homeward Bound,
Free Willy,
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home,
1941,
Swordfish,
Twilight,
Untraceable, and
Wendy and Lucy. Oregon native
Matt Groening, creator of
The Simpsons, has incorporated many references from his hometown of Portland into the TV series. Oregon's scenic coastal and mountain highways are frequently seen in automobile commercials.
In late 2008,
Hells Canyon and Oregon's badlands were a set location for an episode of
Man vs. Wild.
High technology industries and services have been a major employer since the 1970s.
Tektronix was the largest private employer in Oregon until the late 1980s.
Intel's creation and expansion of several facilities in eastern
Washington County continued the growth that Tektronix had started. Intel, the state's largest for-profit private employer, operates four large facilities, with Ronler Acres, Jones Farm and Hawthorn Farm all located in
Hillsboro. The spinoffs and startups that were produced by these two companies led to the establishment in that area of the so-called
Silicon Forest. The recession and
dot-com bust of 2001 hit the region hard; many high technology employers reduced the number of their employees or went out of business.
Open Source Development Labs made news in 2004 when they hired
Linus Torvalds, developer of the
Linux kernel. Recently,
biotechnology giant
Genentech purchased several acres of land in Hillsboro in an effort to expand its production capabilities.
Oregon is also the home of large corporations in other industries. The world headquarters of
Nike, Inc. are located near
Beaverton.
Medford is home to two of the largest mail order companies in the country:
Harry and David Operations Corp. which sells gift items under several brands, and
Musician's Friend, an international catalog and Internet retailer of
musical instruments and related products. Medford is also home to the national headquarters of the
Fortune 1000 company,
Lithia Motors. Portland is home to one of the West's largest trade book
publishing houses,
Graphic Arts Center Publishing.
Oregon has one of the largest
salmon-fishing industries in the world, although ocean fisheries have reduced the river fisheries in recent years.
Tourism is also strong in the state; Oregon's evergreen mountain forests, waterfalls, pristine lakes (including
Crater Lake National Park), and scenic beaches draw visitors year round. The
Oregon Shakespeare Festival, held in
Ashland, is a tourist draw which complements the southern region of the state's scenic beauty and opportunity for outdoor activities.
thumb|200px|Oregon ranks 4th nationally in craft breweries per capita.Oregon is home to
many breweries and Portland has the largest number of breweries of any city in the world.
Portland reportedly has more strip clubs per capita than Las Vegas or San Francisco.
Oregon's
gross state product is $132.66 billion as of 2006, making it the 27th largest GSP in the nation.
Taxes and budgets
Oregon's
biennial state budget, $42.4 billion as of 2007, comprises General Funds, Federal Funds, Lottery Funds, and Other Funds. Personal
income taxes account for 88% of the General Fund's projected funds. The Lottery Fund, which has grown steadily since the lottery was approved in 1984, exceeded expectations in the 2007 fiscal years, at $604 million.
Oregon is one of
only five states that have no
sales tax. Oregon voters have been resolute in their opposition to a sales tax, voting proposals down each of the nine times they have been presented. The last vote, for 1993's Measure 1, was defeated by a 72–24% margin.
The state also has a minimum corporate tax of only $10 per year, amounting to 5.6% of the General Fund in the 2005–2007 biennium; data about which businesses pay the minimum is not available to the public. As a result, the state relies almost entirely on
property and income taxes for its revenue. Oregon has the fifth highest personal income tax per person in the nation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Oregon ranked 41st out of the 50 states in taxes per person in 2005.
The average paid of $1,791.45 is higher than only nine other states.
Some local governments levy sales taxes on services: the city of Ashland, for example, collects a 5% sales tax on prepared food.
Oregon is one of six states with a revenue limit. The "kicker law" stipulates that when income tax collections exceed state economists' estimates by 2 percent or more, all of the excess must be returned to taxpayers. Since the inception of the law in 1979, refunds have been issued for seven of the eleven biennia. In 2000, Ballot Measure 86 converted the "kicker" law from statute to the Oregon Constitution, and changed some of its provisions.
Federal payments to county governments, which were granted to replace timber revenue when logging in National Forests was restricted in the 1990s, have been under threat of suspension for several years. This issue dominates the future revenue of rural counties, which have come to rely on the payments in providing essential services.
55% of state revenues are spent on public education, 23% on human services (child protective services, Medicaid, and senior services), 17% on public safety, and 5% on other services. Demographics
thumb|Source: Population Research Centerthumb|County population cartogram of Oregon.
As of 2005, Oregon has an estimated population of 3,641,056, which is an increase of 49,693, or 1.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 219,620, or 6.4%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 75,196 people (that is 236,557 births minus 161,361 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 150,084 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 72,263 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 77,821 people.
The center of population of Oregon is located in Linn County, in the city of Lyons. More than 42% of the state's population lives in the Portland metropolitan area.
As of 2004, Oregon's population included 309,700 foreign-born residents (accounting for 8.7% of the state population)
thumb|Oregon population by decade, 1850–2000 (source: Census data)thumb|Population Growth by County, 2000–2007. Green counties grew faster than the national average, while purple counties grew more slowly or, in a few cases, lost population.
The largest reported ancestry groups in Oregon are: German (20.5%), English (13.2%), Irish (11.9%), American (6.2%), and Mexican (5.5%). Most Oregon counties are inhabited principally by residents of European ancestry. Concentrations of Mexican Americans are highest in Malheur and Jefferson counties.
The majority of the diversity in Oregon is in the Portland metropolitan area.
Oregon ranks 16th highest for population that is "white alone," with 86.1% in 2006.[ Accessed 8 March 2008.] Over two-thirds of Oregon's African-American population lives in Portland.
6.5% of Oregon's population were reported as less than 5 years old, 24.7% under 18, and 12.8% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.4% of the population.Religion
The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 348,239; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 104,312 (144,808 year-end 2007) ; and the Assemblies of God with 49,357.
Of the U.S. states, Oregon has the fourth largest percentage of people identifying themselves as "non-religious", at 21 percent, after Colorado, Washington, and Vermont. However, 75–79% of Oregonians identify themselves as being Christian , and some hold deeply conservative convictions. During much of the 1990s a group of conservative Christians formed the Oregon Citizens Alliance, and unsuccessfully tried to pass legislation to prevent "gay sensitivity training" in public schools and legal benefits for homosexual couples.
Oregon also contains the largest community of Russian Old Believers to be found in the United States. Additionally, Oregon, particularly the Portland metropolitan area, has become known as a center of non-mainstream spirituality. The Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association, reported to be the largest such institution of its kind, is headquartered in Portland, and the popular New Age film What the Bleep Do We Know!? was filmed and had its premiere in Portland. There are an estimated 6 to 10 thousand Muslims of various ethnic backgrounds in Oregon. 2000–2003 population trends
Estimates released show double-digit growth in Latino and Asian American populations since the 2000 Census. About 60% of the 138,197 new residents come from ethnic and racial minorities. Asian growth is located mostly in the metropolitan areas of Portland, Salem, Medford and Eugene; Hispanic population growth is across the state. Education
Primary and secondary
As of 2005, the state had 559,215 students in public primary and secondary schools.[ Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on March 28, 2008.] There were 199 public school districts at that time, served by 20 education service districts.[ The five largest school districts as of 2007 were: Portland Public Schools (46,262 students), Salem-Keizer School District (40,106), Beaverton School District (37,821), Hillsboro School District (20,401), and Eugene School District (18,025).] Colleges and universities
thumb|OSU's Bell Tower. Public
The Oregon University System supports seven public universities and one affiliate in the state. The University of Oregon in Eugene is Oregon's flagship liberal arts institution, and was the state's only nationally ranked university by U.S. News & World Report. Oregon State University is located in Corvallis and holds the distinction of being the state's flagship in science, engineering and agricultural research and academics. The university is also the state's highest ranking university/college in a world survey of academic merit.
The State has three regional universities: Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Southern Oregon University in Ashland, and Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. Portland State University is Oregon's largest. The Oregon Institute of Technology has its campus in Klamath Falls. The affiliate Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) comprises a medical, dental, and nursing school in Portland and a science and engineering school in Hillsboro.
Oregon has historically struggled to fund higher education. Recently, Oregon has cut its higher education budget over 2002–2006 and now Oregon ranks 46th in the country in state spending per student. However, 2007 legislation forced tuition increases to cap at 3% per year, and funded the OUS far beyond the requested governor's budget.
The state also supports 17 community colleges. Private
Oregon is home to a wide variety of private colleges. The University of Portland and Marylhurst University are Catholic institutions in the Portland area. Reed College, Concordia University, Lewis & Clark College, Multnomah Bible College, Portland Bible College, Warner Pacific College, Cascade College, the National College of Natural Medicine and Western Seminary, a theological graduate school, are also in Portland. Pacific University is in the Portland suburb of Forest Grove.
There are also private colleges further south in the Willamette Valley. McMinnville has Linfield College, while nearby Newberg is home to George Fox University. Salem is home to two private schools, Willamette University (the state's oldest, established during the provisional period) and Corban College. Also located near Salem is Mount Angel Seminary, one of America's largest Roman Catholic seminaries. Eugene is home to three private colleges: Northwest Christian University, Eugene Bible College, and Gutenberg College. Sports
thumb|The [[Rose Garden (arena)|Rose Garden, home of the Portland Trail Blazers]]
The only major professional sports team in Oregon is the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the team was one of the most successful teams in the NBA in terms of both win-loss record and attendance. In the early 2000s, the team's popularity declined due to personnel and financial issues, but revived after the departure of controversial players and the acquisition of new players such as Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Oden.
The Blazers play in the Rose Garden in Portland's Lloyd District, which is also home to the Portland LumberJax of the National Lacrosse League and the Portland Winterhawks of the junior-league Western Hockey League.
Portland has two minor-league sports teams who play at PGE Park: The Portland Timbers of the USL First Division are a very popular soccer team, and the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.
Eugene and Salem also have minor-league baseball teams. The Eugene Emeralds and the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes both play in the Single-A Northwest League.
The Oregon State Beavers and the University of Oregon Ducks football teams of the Pacific-10 Conference meet annually in the Civil War, one of the oldest college football rivalries in the United States, dating back to 1894. Both schools have had recent success in other sports as well: Oregon State won back-to-back college baseball championships in 2006 and 2007, and the University of Oregon won back-to-back NCAA men's cross country championships in 2007 and 2008. Sister states
See also
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