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West Coast of the United States
 
 
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The "West Coast", "Western Seaboard", or "Pacific Coastline" are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. It most often comprises California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 and Washington
Washington

Washington is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute....
. Arizona
Arizona

The State of Arizona is a U.S. state located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona....
 and Nevada
Nevada

Nevada is a U.S. state located in the Western United States of the United States of America. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas, Nevada....
, while not coastal states, are often included due to their proximity to the Pacific Coast and their economic and cultural ties to California (such as Arizona's two largest universities which are members of the Pacific-10 Conference).

Although not part of the contiguous United States
Contiguous United States

The term contiguous United States refers to the 48 contiguous U.S. states located on the North American continent south of the border with Canada, plus the Washington, D.C.....
, Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
 and Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
 do border the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 and could be included in the "West Coast".






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Us Map Pacific
The "West Coast", "Western Seaboard", or "Pacific Coastline" are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. It most often comprises California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 and Washington
Washington

Washington is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute....
. Arizona
Arizona

The State of Arizona is a U.S. state located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona....
 and Nevada
Nevada

Nevada is a U.S. state located in the Western United States of the United States of America. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas, Nevada....
, while not coastal states, are often included due to their proximity to the Pacific Coast and their economic and cultural ties to California (such as Arizona's two largest universities which are members of the Pacific-10 Conference).

Although not part of the contiguous United States
Contiguous United States

The term contiguous United States refers to the 48 contiguous U.S. states located on the North American continent south of the border with Canada, plus the Washington, D.C.....
, Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
 and Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
 do border the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 and could be included in the "West Coast". As of 2007, the estimated population of the West Coast ranged from approximately 50–60 million, depending on which states are included in the estimate.

The West Coast is sometimes simply referred to as "the Coast," an older term thought to have arisen in the Northeastern United States
Northeastern United States

The Northeast is a region of the United States. According to the definition used by the United States Census Bureau, the Northeast region consists of nine states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
. Based on its reputation for being more politically left-wing than some other parts of the United States the term "Left Coast
Left Coast

Left Coast is a political expression implying that the West Coast of the United States of the United States is politics left-wing politics. The implication is that the states of California, Oregon, and Washington vote more often for the United States Democratic Party than the other states in the Western United States....
" is sometimes used.

Major coastal cities on the West Coast include San Diego, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles

Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
, San Francisco, Seattle, Anchorage and Honolulu. Major non-coastal cities include Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital and largest city in the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,552,259 residents, and is the anchor of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area with 4,179,427 residents....
, Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, Nevada, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment....
, Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States United States, near the confluence of the Willamette River and Columbia River rivers in the state of Oregon....
, Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the Capital of the United States U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County, California. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive California Central Valley, it is the seventh-largest city in California.....
 and Fresno, California
Fresno, California

Fresno is a city in California, USA, the county seat of Fresno County, California, and the second largest inland city in the state, after San Jose, California....
.

The history of the West Coast
History of the west coast of North America

The human history of the west coast of North America is believed to stretch back to the arrival of the earliest people over the Bering Strait, or alternately along a now-submerged coastal plain, through the development of significant pre-Columbian cultures and population densities, to the arrival of the European ethnic groups explorers and...
 includes the arrival of the first humans some 10,000 years ago, and the the presence of Spanish, British, Mexican, Russian and American, explorers and settlers.