Central Washington Explained

Central Washington should not be confused with Downtown, Washington, D.C..

Central Washington
Settlement Type:	Region
Subdivision Type:	Country
Subdivision Name:	United States
Subdivision Type1:	State
Subdivision Name1:	Washington
Coordinates:	47.5°N -120°W
Population Density Km2:	auto

Central Washington is a region of the U.S. state of Washington between the western and eastern parts of the state extending from the border with the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the border with the U.S. state of Oregon in the south. Generally, the western edge is the Cascade Range and the eastern edge is in the vicinity of the 119th meridian west.

Central Washington is also further divided into North Central and South Central. Washington State Department of Transportation uses these groupings as part of their district office divisions.

• North Central Washington, or NCW, is defined as including Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan counties. The Washington State Department of Transportation and the North Central Region Library includes Grant County^[1] In addition, the library system and the Heritage Museum includes Ferry County.^{[2] [3]} Wenatchee is the largest city in this region.
• South Central Washington includes Benton, Kittitas, Klickitat, and Yakima Counties, in addition to all counties south of the Snake River, in the Department of Transportation use of the term.^[4] Yakima is the largest city in this region. If Benton and Franklin counties are included, then the Tri-Cities are both the largest urban area and the center of the largest metro area in this region.

Counties

Central Washington is made up of the following counties:

• Benton
• Chelan
• Douglas
• Grant
• Kittitas
• Klickitat
• Okanogan
• Yakima

Cities of note

• Chelan
• East Wenatchee
• Ellensburg
• Ephrata
• Moses Lake
• Omak
• Tri-Cities
• Wenatchee
• Yakima
• Quincy

Colleges and universities

• Central Washington University in Ellensburg
• Washington State University Tri-Cities in Richland
• Heritage University in Toppenish
• Columbia Basin College in Pasco
• Wenatchee Valley College in Wenatchee
• Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake
• Yakima Valley College in Yakima

Notable mountain ranges

• Cascade Range
• Chiwaukum Mountains
• Stuart Range
• Wenatchee Mountains

External links

• North Central Washington photos and information

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dept of Transportation North Central District . 2009-08-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170720001053/http://wsdot.wa.gov/regions/northcentral . 2017-07-20 . dead .
2. http://www.ncrl.org/locations.htm North Central Regional Library - Locations
3. http://www.washingtonruralheritage.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/ncrl North Central Washington Heritage
4. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/regions/SouthCentral/ Washington State DOT South Central district