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Del Norte County, California

Del Norte County, California

Del Norte County is California's northwesternmost county, located on the Pacific coast south of Oregon. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 27,507. The county seat is Crescent City, the county's only incorporated city. The county is bordered by the state of Oregon to the north. Del Norte County is noted for its redwood forests and the wild Smith River National Recreation Area.

History

Del Norte County was founded in 1857, from part of the territory of Klamath County. Klamath County itself ceased to exist in 1875. The name of the county signifies "the north" and the county derived its name from its geographical position in the extreme northwest corner of the state.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 3,185 km² (1,230 mi²). 2,610 km² (1,008 mi²) of it is land and 575 km² (222 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 18.05% water.

Demographics

As of the census2 of 2000, there are 27,507 people, 9,170 households, and 6,290 families residing in the county. The population density is 11/km² (27/mi²). There are 10,434 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (10/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 78.86% White, 4.30% Black or African American, 6.43% Native American, 2.32% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 3.92% from other races, and 4.08% from two or more races. 13.92% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 9,170 households out of which 33.50% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.00% are married couples living together, 13.60% have a female householder with no husband present, and 31.40% are non-families. 25.30% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.10% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.58 and the average family size is 3.08. In the county the population is spread out with 25.10% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 32.20% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 12.50% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 123.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 130.30 males. The median income for a household in the county is $29,642, and the median income for a family is $36,056. Males have a median income of $40,072 versus $22,212 for females. The per capita income for the county is $14,573. 20.20% of the population and 16.40% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 26.70% of those under the age of 18 and 8.20% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Cities and towns


- Bertsch-Oceanview
- Crescent City
- Crescent City North
- Klamath

External links


- [http://www.co.del-norte.ca.us County of Del Norte website]
- [http://www.Untraveledroad.com/USA/California/DelNorte.htm Photographic virtual tour of Del Norte County.] Category:California counties

List of California counties

The U.S. state of California is divided into 58 counties. Counties are responsible for local services and law enforcement for areas within their borders that are not within incorporated cites, as well as providing local-level courts.

First establishment of California counties

On January 4, 1850, the California constitutional committee recommended the formation of 18 counties. They were Benicia, Butte, Fremont, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Mount Diablo, Oro, Redding, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Sutter. On April 22, the counties of Branciforte, Calaveras, Coloma, Colusi, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Trinity, and Yuba were added. Benicia was renamed Solano, Coloma to El Dorado, Fremont to Yola, Mt. Diablo to Contra Costa, San Jose to Santa Clara, Oro to Tuolumne, and Redding to Shasta. One of the first state legislative acts regarding counties was to rename Branciforte County to Santa Cruz, Colusi to Colusa, and Yola to Yolo. The last Californian county to have been established is Imperial County, California in 1907.

List of California counties

The present number of counties was achieved over time by subdivision of many of the larger counties into smaller ones. The 1850 counties are marked with an asterisk (
- ). Imperial County, California
- Alameda
- Alpine
- Amador
- Butte
-
- Calaveras
-
- Colusa
-
- Contra Costa
-
- Del Norte
- El Dorado
-
- Fresno
- Glenn
- Humboldt
- Imperial
- Inyo
- Kern
- Kings
- Lake
- Lassen
- Los Angeles
-
- Madera
- Marin
-
- Mariposa
-
- Mendocino
-
- Merced
- Modoc
- Mono
- Monterey
-
- Napa
-
- Nevada
- Orange
- Placer
- Plumas
- Riverside
- Sacramento
-
- San Benito
- San Bernardino
- San Diego
-
- San Francisco
-
- San Joaquin
-
- San Luis Obispo
-
- San Mateo
- Santa Barbara
-
- Santa Clara
-
- Santa Cruz
-
- Shasta
-
- Sierra
- Siskiyou
- Solano
-
- Sonoma
-
- Stanislaus
- Sutter
-
- Tehama
- Trinity
-
- Tulare
- Tuolumne
-
- Ventura
- Yolo
-
- Yuba
-

Counties which no longer exist


- Klamath County was created in 1851 from the northern half of Trinity County, but in 1874 it was divided between Humboldt and Siskiyou counties.
- Pautah County was created in 1852 out of territory which, the state of California assumed, was to be ceded to it by the United States Congress from territory in what is now the state of Nevada. When the cession never occurred, the state legislature officially abolished the never-created county in 1859.

History of county creations and modifications


- 1853 - Alameda, from parts of Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties
- 1864 - Alpine, from parts of Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties
- 1854 - Amador, from parts of Calaveras and El Dorado. Part of the county's territory went to Alpine County in 1864
- Butte - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Plumas County in 1854 and to Tehama in 1856
- Calaveras - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Amador County in 1854 and to Alpine in 1864
- Colusa - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Tehama County in 1856 and to Glenn in 1891
- Contra Costa - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Alameda County in 1853
- 1857 - Del Norte, from parts of Klamath County
- El Dorado - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Amador County in 1854 and to Alpine County in 1864
- 1856 - Fresno, from parts of Mariposa, Merced and Tulare. Part of the county's territory went to Mono County in 1861 and to Madera in 1893
- 1891 - Glenn, from parts of Colusa
- 1853 - Humboldt, from parts of Trinity
- 1907 - Imperial, from parts of San Diego. The most recent county formed.
- 1866 - Inyo, from parts of Mono and Tulare
- 1866 - Kern, from parts of Los Angeles and Tulare
- 1893 - Kings, from parts of Tulare
- 1851 - Klamath, from parts of Trinity. Part of the county's territory went to Del Norte in 1857
- 1861 - Lake, from parts of Napa
- 1864 - Lassen, from parts of Plumas and Shasta
- Los Angeles - One of the original counties. Parts of the county's territory went to San Bernardino County 1853, Kern in 1866 and Orange in 1889
- 1893 - Madera, from parts of Fresno
- Marin - One of the original counties
- Mariposa - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Tulare County in 1852, Merced in 1855, Fresno in 1856 and Mono in 1861. Mariposa County was the largest of the state's original counties, but territory that was once part of Mariposa is now in the counties of 12 other counties -- Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Merced, Mono, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, and Tulare.
- Mendocino - One of the original counties.
- 1855 - Merced, from parts of Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Fresno in 1856
- 1855 - Modoc, from parts of Siskiyou
- 1861 - Mono, from parts of Calaveras, Fresno and Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Inyo in 1866
- Monterey - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to San Benito in 1874
- Napa - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Lake in 1861
- 1851 - Nevada, from parts of Yuba County
- 1889 - Orange, from parts of Los Angeles County
- 1851 - Placer, from parts of Sutter and Yuba Counties
- 1854 - Plumas, from parts of Butte County. Part of the county's territory went to Lassen in 1864
- Sacramento - One of the original counties
- 1874 - San Benito, from parts of Monterey County
- 1853 - San Bernardino, from parts of Los Angeles County. Part of the county's territory went to Riverside in 1893
- San Diego - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Riverside in 1893 and to Imperial in 1907
- San Francisco - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to San Mateo in 1856
- San Joaquin - One of the original counties
- San Luis Obispo - One of the original counties
- 1856 - San Mateo, from part of San Francisco County
- Santa Barbara - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Ventura in 1872
- Santa Clara - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Alameda in 1853
- Santa Cruz - One of the original counties
- Shasta - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Siskiyou in 1852, to Tehama in 1856 and to Lassen in 1864
- 1852 - Sierra, from part of Yuba County
- 1852 - Siskiyou, from parts of Shasta and Klamath. Part of the county's territory went to Modoc in 1855
- Solano - One of the original counties
- Sonoma - One of the original counties.
- 1854 - Stanislaus, from part of Tuolumne
- Sutter - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Placer in 1851
- 1856 - Tehama, from parts of Butte, Colusa and Shasta
- Trinity - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Klamath in 1852 and to Humboldt in 1853
- 1852 - Tulare, from part of Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Fresno in 1856, to Kern in 1866, to Inyo in 1866 and to Kings in 1893
- Tuolumne - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Stanislaus in 1854 and to Alpine in 1864
- 1872 - Ventura, from part of Santa Barbara
- Yolo - One of the original counties
- Yuba - One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Placer in 1851, to Nevada in 1851 and to Sierra in 1852

See also


- List of California county name etymologies
- Lists of school districts in California by county

External links


- [http://www.csac.counties.org/ California State Association of Counties]
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/california_map.html State map showing the county names and linking to county data] California, counties in ja:カリフォルニア州の郡一覧

Pacific Ocean

:For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan) is the world's largest body of water. It encompasses a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179.7 million km² (69.4 million sq miles). Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 miles) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the icy margins of Antarctica's Ross Sea in the south (although the Antarctic regions of the Pacific are sometimes described as part of the circumpolar Southern Ocean)the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 miles) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia. The western limit of the ocean is often placed at the Strait of Malacca. The lowest point on earth—the Mariana Trench—lies some 10,911 m (35,797 ft) below sea level. The Pacific contains about 25,000 islands (more than the total number in the rest of the world's oceans combined), the majority of which are found south of the equator. (See: Pacific Islands.) Along the Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Tasman Sea, and Yellow Sea. The Straits of Malacca joins the Pacific and the Indian Oceans on the west, and the Straits of Magellan links the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. As the Pacific straddles the ±180° longitude where East becomes West, the Asian side of the ocean (where latitudes are E) is correctly referred to as East Pacific and the opposite side (eastwards) where latitudes are W is the West Pacific. To retain the popular "left is western" and "right is eastern" means of reference, the Western Pacific is thus the East Pacific and the Eastern Pacific the West Pacific. The International Date Line follows the ±180° longitude to the greater part of its North-South demarcation but veers far eastwards around Kiribati (Caroline Island, which, not coincidentally, was renamed Millennium Island) and westwards round the Aleutian Islands as can be seen on the map at International Date Line. For most of Ferdinand Magellan's voyage from the Straits of Magellan to the Philippines, the Portuguese explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful. However, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many typhoons and hurricanes batter the islands of the Pacific and the lands around the Pacific rim are full of volcanoes and often rocked by earthquakes. Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and wiped out whole towns. Tsunami

Ocean bottom

The ocean floor of the central Pacific basin is relatively uniform, an abyssal plain with a mean depth of about 4270 m (14,000 ft). The major irregularities in the basin are the extremely steep-sided, flat-topped submarine peaks known as seamounts. The western part of the floor consists of mountain arcs that rise above the sea as island groups, such as the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, and deep oceanic trenches, such as the Mariana Trench, the Philippine Trench, and the Tonga Trench. Most of the trenches lie adjacent to the outer margins of the wide western Pacific continental shelf. Along the eastern margin of the Pacific Basin is the East Pacific Rise, which is a part of the worldwide mid-oceanic ridge. About 3000 km (1800 miles) across, the rise stands about 3 km (2 miles) above the adjacent ocean floor. Because a relatively small land area drains into the Pacific, and because of the ocean's immense size, most sediments are authigenic or pelagic in origin. Authigenic sediments include montmorillonite and phillipsite. Pelagic sediments derived from seawater include pelagic red clays and the skeletal remains of sea life. Terrigenous sediments eroded from land masses are confined to narrow marginal bands close to land.

Elevation extremes


- lowest point: -10,924 m (-35,840 ft). at the bottom of the Mariana Trench
- highest point: 0 m (0 ft), sea level.

Water characteristics

Water temperatures in the Pacific vary from freezing in the poleward areas to about 29°C (84°F) near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally. Water near the equator is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. Poleward of the temperate latitudes salinity is also low, because little evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The surface circulation of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific Gyre) and anti-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The North Equatorial Current, driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds, turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current. Turning eastward at about 45°N, the Kuroshio forks and some waters move northward as the Aleutian Current, while the rest turn southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms the base of an anti-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea. Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current. The South Equatorial Current, flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea, turns east at about 50°S, and joins the main westerly circulation of the Southern Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current. As it approaches the Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current.

Climate

Only the interiors of the large land masses of Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand escape the pervasive climatic influence of the Pacific. Within the area of the Pacific, five distinctively different climatic regions exist: the mid-latitude westerlies, the trades, the monsoon region, the typhoon region, and the doldrums. Mid-latitude westerly air streams occur in both northerly and southerly latitudes, bringing marked seasonal differences in temperature. Closer to the equator, where most of the islands lie, steadily blowing trade winds allow for relatively constant temperatures throughout the year of 21-27°C (70-81°F). The monsoon region lies in the far western Pacific between Japan and Australia. Characteristic of this climatic region are winds that blow from the continental interior to the ocean in winter and in the opposite direction in summer. Consequently, a marked seasonality of cloudiness and rainfall occurs. Typhoons often cause extensive damage in the west and southwest Pacific. The greatest typhoon frequency exists within the triangle from southern Japan to the central Philippines to eastern Micronesia. Although more poorly defined than the other climatic regions, two major doldrum areas lie within the ocean, one located off the western shores of Central America and the other within the equatorial waters of the western Pacific. Both areas are noted for their high humidity, considerable cloudiness, light fluctuating winds, and frequent calms.

Geology

The Andesite Line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. It separates the deeper, basic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of acidic igneous rock on its margins. The Andesite Line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc, along the eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand. The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Albatross Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand—all eastward extensions of the continental blocks of Australia and Asia—lie outside the Andesite Line. Within the closed loop of the Andesite Line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Central Pacific Basin. It is here that basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the Andesite Line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and the Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism.

Landmasses

The largest landmass entirely within the Pacific Ocean is the island of New Guinea— the second largest in the world. Almost all of the smaller islands of the Pacific lie between 30°N and 30°S, extending from South-east Asia to Easter Island; the rest of the Pacific Basin is almost entirely submerged. The great triangle of Polynesia, connecting Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand, encompasses the island arcs and clusters of the Cook, Marquesas, Samoa, Society, Tokelau, Tonga, and Tuamotu islands. North of the equator and west of the international date line are the numerous small islands of Micronesia, including the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the Mariana Islands. In the southwestern corner of the Pacific lie the islands of Melanesia, dominated by New Guinea. Other important island groups of Melanesia include the Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs, and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside the Andesite Line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. These islands are structurally associated with the nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. The third and fourth types of islands are both the result of coralline island building. Coral reefs are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia.

History and economy

See the Oceania article for information on one set of the Pacific Island states listed below here. Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times, most notably those of Polynesians from Tahiti to Hawaii and New Zealand. The ocean was sighted by Europeans early in the 16th century, first by Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1513) and then by Ferdinand Magellan, who crossed the Pacific during his circumnavigation (1519-1522). In 1564 conquistadors crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi who sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. For the remainder of the 16th century Spanish influence was paramount, with ships sailing from Spain to the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Solomons. The Manila Galleons linked Manila and Acapulco. During the 17th century the Dutch, sailing around southern Africa, dominated discovery and trade; Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered (1642) Tasmania and New Zealand. The 18th century marked a burst of exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, the French in Polynesia, and the British in the three voyages of James Cook (to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest). Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by Great Britain and France, followed by the United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of the HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard; the HMS Challenger during the 1870s; the U.S.S. Tuscarora (1873-76); and the German Gazelle (1874-1876). Although the United States took the Philippines in 1898, Japan controlled the western Pacific by 1914, and occupied many other islands during World War II. By the end of that war the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. Seventeen independent states are located in the Pacific: Australia, Fiji, Japan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Republic of China (Taiwan), Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Eleven of these nations have achieved full independence since 1960. The Northern Mariana Islands are self-governing with external affairs handled by the United States, and Cook Islands and Niue are in similar relationships with New Zealand. Also within the Pacific are the U.S. state of Hawaii and several island territories and possessions of Australia, Chile, Ecuador, France, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The exploitation of the Pacific's mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean's great depths. In shallow waters of the continental shelves off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, petroleum and natural gas are extracted, and pearls are harvested along the coasts of Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines, although in sharply declining volume. The Pacific's greatest asset is its fish. The shoreline waters of the continents and the more temperate islands yield herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, and tuna, as well as shellfish. In 1986, the member nations of the South Pacific Forum declared the area a nuclear-free zone in an effort to halt nuclear testing and prevent the dumping of nuclear waste there.

Ports and harbours


- Acapulco (Mexico)
- Anchorage (United States)
- Auckland (New Zealand)
- Brisbane (Australia)
- Callao (Peru)
- Hong Kong (Hong Kong (China (PRC)))
- Honolulu (United States)
- Kobe (Japan)
- Long Beach (United States)
- Los Angeles (United States)
- Panama City (Panama)
- Portland (Oregon) (United States)
- Prince Rupert (Canada)
- San Diego (United States)
- San Francisco (United States)
- Sapporo (Japan)
- Seattle (United States)
- Shanghai (China (PRC))
- Sydney (Australia)
- Taipei (China (ROC))
- Vancouver (Canada)
- Victoria (Canada)
- Vladivostok (Russia)
- Yokohama (Japan)

Bibliography


- Barkley, R.A., Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean (1969)
- Cameron, I., Lost Paradise (1987)
- Couper, A., Development in the Pacific Islands (1988)
- Crump, D.J., ed., Blue Horizons (1980)
- Gilbert, John, Charting the Vast Pacific (1971)
- Lower, J. Arthur, Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500-1978 (1978)
- Oliver, D.L., The Pacific Islands, 3nd ed. (1989)
- Ridgell, R., Pacific Nations and Territories, 2nd ed. (1988)
- Soule, Gardner, The Greatest Depths (1970)
- Spate, O.H., Paradise Found and Lost (1988)
- Terrell, J.E., Prehistory in the Pacific Islands (1986). :Based on public domain text from US Naval Oceanographer

External links


- [http://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/ewb/ EPIC Pacific Ocean Data Collection] Viewable on-line collection of observational data
- [http://dapper.pmel.noaa.gov/dchart/ NOAA In-situ Ocean Data Viewer] Plot and download ocean observations
- [http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/ Map South Pacific]
- [http://www.oscar.noaa.gov/datadisplay/ NOAA Ocean Surface Current Analyses - Realtime (OSCAR)] Near-realtime Pacific Ocean Surface Currents derived from satellite altimeter and scatterometer data
- [http://floats.pmel.noaa.gov/floats/ NOAA PMEL Argo profiling floats] Realtime Pacific Ocean data
- [http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/jsdisplay/ NOAA TAO El Nino data] Realtime Pacific Ocean El NIno buoy data
- [http://www.southpacific.org/ South Pacific Organizer] Category:Oceans
- zh-min-nan:Thài-pêng-iûⁿ ko:태평양 ja:太平洋 simple:Pacific Ocean th:มหาสมุทรแปซิฟิก

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States bordering the Pacific Ocean, California, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Its northern border lies along the Columbia River and the east along the Snake River. Two north-south mountain ranges - the Coastal Range and the Cascade Mountain Range - form the two boundaries of the Willamette Valley, one of the most fertile and agriculturally productive regions in the world. Oregon is well known for the vast forests that cover the western third of the state and a few enclaves of Eastern Oregon. It is less known for the semiarid scrublands, prairies, and deserts that cover approximately half the state in eastern and north-central Oregon. The state's name is properly pronounced . The pronunciation is also common, but considered incorrect by residents, who have been known to sport T-shirts and bumper stickers spelling the name "Orygun" in order to educate visitors. Its population in 2000 was 3,421,399, a 20.4% increase over 1990; as of July 2004, the population had grown to an estimated 3,594,586.

History

Oregon's earliest residents were several Native American tribes, including the Bannock, Chinook, Klamath, and Nez Percé. James Cook explored the coast in 1778 in search of the Northwest Passage. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through the region during their expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase. They built their winter fort at Fort Clatsop, near the mouth of the Columbia River. Exploration by Lewis and Clark (1805-1806) and Britain's David Thompson (1811) publicized the abundance of fur in the area. In 1811, New York financier John Jacob Astor established Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River with the intention of starting a chain of Pacific Fur Company trading posts along the river. Fort Astoria was the first permanent white settlement in Oregon. In the War of 1812, the British gained control of all of the Pacific Fur Company posts. By the 1820s and 1830s, the British Hudson's Bay Company dominated the Pacific Northwest. John McLoughlin, who was appointed the Company's Chief Factor of the Columbia District, built Fort Vancouver in 1825. In 1841 the master trapper and entrepreneur Ewing Young died with considerable wealth, 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 Lees Mission and Oregon City, to discuss wolves and other vermin. These meetings were precursors to an all citizen meeting in 1843, which instituted a provisional government headed by an executive council - made up of David Hill, Alanson Beers, and Joseph Gale. The Oregon Trail infused the region with new settlers, starting in 1842–43, after the U.S. agreed to jointly settle the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom. The border was resolved in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty after a period where it seemed that the United States and the United Kingdom would go to war for a third time in 75 years. In 1844, the Democrat James Polk ran for President on the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight," referring to the northern border of the Oregon Country at latitude 54°40′. Cooler heads prevailed, and the boundary between the United States and British North America was set at the 49th parallel. The Oregon Territory was officially organized in 1848. Settlement increased due to the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, in conjunction with the forced relocation of the native population to Indian Reservations in Oregon. The state was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1859. In the 1880s, railroads enabled marketing of the state's lumber and wheat, as well as the more rapid growth of its cities. Industrial expansion began in earnest following the construction of the Bonneville Dam in 1943 on the Columbia River. The power, food, and lumber provided by Oregon have helped fuel the development of the west, and the periodic fluctuations in the nation's building industry has hurt the state's economy on multiple occasions. The state has a long history of polarizing conflicts: Native Americans vs. British fur trappers, British vs. settlers from the U.S., ranchers vs. farmers, wealthy growing cities vs. established but poor rural areas, loggers vs. environmentalists, white supremacists vs. anti-racists, supporters of social spending vs. anti-tax activists, and native Oregonians vs. Californians (or outsiders in general). Oregonians also have a long history of secessionist ideas, ranging from varying parts of the population on all sides of the political spectrum attempting to form other states and even other countries. (See: State of Jefferson, State of Klamath, State of Shasta and Cascadia.) Oregon state ballots often include politically conservative proposals (e.g. anti-gay, pro-religious measures) side-by-side with politically liberal ones (e.g. drug decriminalization), illustrating the wide spectrum of political thought in the state.

The origin of "Oregon"

The origin of the state's name is something of a mystery. The earliest known use of this proper noun was in a 1765 petition by Major Robert Rogers to the Kingdom of Great Britain. The petition referred to Ouragon and asked for money to finance an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Why Rogers used the name has led to many theories, which include:
- George R. Stewart argued in a 1944 article in American Speech that the name came from an engraver's error in a French map published in the early 1700s, naming the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin River). This theory was endorsed in Oregon Geographic Names as "the most plausible explanation."
- In 2001, Scott Byram, (currently the archaeologist for the Coquille Indian Tribe), and David G. Lewis published an article in the Oregon Historical Quarterly argued that the name Oregon came from the word oolighan, referring to grease made from fish, which the Native Americans of the region traded in. Those trade routes brought the term eastward. [http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/06/06/f1.ed.col.byram.0606.html]
- In a 2004 article for the Oregon Historical Quarterly, professor Thomas Love and Smithsonian linguist Ives Goddard argue that Rogers chose the word based on exposure to either of the Algonquian words wauregan and olighin, both meaning "good and beautiful". Olighin was one of the early names for the Ohio River, shown on a 1680s map of the explorations of René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. Rogers is likely to have heard the terms because of his frequent encounters with Mohegans in the late 1750s. Less supported theories are based on it having a Spanish etymology. The theory that it comes from oregano, was dismissed years ago by Henry W. Scott, an early editor of Oregonian. He wrote that it was "a mere conjecture absolutely without support. More than this, it is completely disproved by all that is known of the name." Others have speculated that the name is related to the kingdom of Aragon. In 1778, Jonathan Carver used Oregon to label the Great River of the West in his book Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America. The poet William Cullen Bryant took the name from Carver's book and used it in his poem "Thanatopsis" to refer to the recent discoveries of the Lewis and Clark Expedition; this use helped establish it in modern use.

Geography

Lewis and Clark Expedition Oregon's geography may be split roughly into six areas:
- the Coast Range,
- the Willamette Valley,
- the Cascade Mountains
- the Klamath Mountains,
- the Columbia Plateau, and
- the Basin and Range Region. Basin The state varies from rain forest in the Columbia Gorge to barren desert in the southeast, which still meets the technical definition of a frontier. Oregon is about 360 miles (580 km) long and 261 miles (420 km) wide. In terms of land and water area, Oregon is the ninth largest state, covering 98,386 square miles (254,819 km²). Its highest point is the summit of Mount Hood, at 11,239 ft (3,428 m). As a West Coast state, its lowest point is sea level. Its mean elevation is 3,300 ft (1 km). Crater Lake National Park is Oregon's only national park.

Law and government

State government

national park Oregon state government has a separation of powers similar to the federal government. It has three branches, called departments by the state's constitution:
- a legislative department (the Oregon Legislative Assembly),
- an executive department which includes an "administrative department" and has Oregon's governor serving as chief executive, and
- a judicial department, headed by the Oregon Supreme Court. Governors in Oregon serve four-year terms and are term limited to two consecutive terms, but an unlimited number of total terms. The Secretary of State serves as Lieutenant Governor for statutory purposes. The other constitutional officers are Treasurer, Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Labor Commissioner. The Legislative Assembly consists of a thirty-member Senate and sixty-member House. Senators serve four-year terms, and Representatives two. The state supreme court has seven elected justices, including the only openly gay state supreme court justice in the nation, Rives Kistler. 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 United States Supreme Court. Oregon is one of the few states whose legislature is biennial. The debate over whether or not 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 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 eceonomic downturns, bringing to a head the need for more frequent legislative sessions. The state maintains formal relationships with the nine federally-recognized tribal governments in Oregon:
- Burns Paiute Tribe
- Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians
- Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
- Confederated Tribes of Siletz
- Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
- Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
- Coquille Tribe
- Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians
- Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon Oregon adopted many electoral reforms proposed during the Progressive Era, due to 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. 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 progressive innovations include the nation's only doctor-assisted suicide law, called the Death with Dignity law (which was challenged in 2005 by the Bush administration in the U.S. Supreme Court, in contrast to the Republicans' traditional support of states' rights), legalization of medical marijuana, and among the nation's strongest anti-sprawl and pro-environment laws. Of the measures placed on the ballot since 1902, the people have passed 99 of the 288 initiatives and 25 of the 61 referenda on the ballot, though not all of them survived challenges in courts (see Pierce v. Society of Sisters, for example). During the same period, the legislature has referred 363 measures to the people, of which 206 have passed. Oregon has been a pioneer in the use of vote-by-mail:
- 1981 The Oregon Legislature approves experimentation with vote-by-mail for local elections.
- 1987 Vote-by-mail becomes permanent, with the majority of Oregon's counties making use of it.
- 1995 Oregon becomes the first state to conduct a federal primary election totally by mail.
- 1996 Ron Wyden, Bob Packwood's replacement, is elected by mail with a 66% turnout.
- 1998 Through a voter initiative, Oregonians confirm their overwhelming support for vote-by-mail.
- 2000 Oregon becomes the first state in the nation to conduct a presidential election entirely by mail. About 80% of registered voters participated. Oregon is currently seen as a moderate Democratic-leaning Blue State which has voted for the party in every election since 1988. The politics of the state are largely similiar to those of neighboring Washington. The distribution, sales and consumption of alcoholic beverages are regulated in the state by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Entering the Union at a time when the status of "Negroes" was very much in question, and wishing to stay out of the looming conflict between the so-called "Union" and "Confederate" States, Oregon banned Negroes from moving into the State in the vote to adopt its Constitution (1858). This ban was not officially lifted until 1925; in 2002, additional language now considered racist was struck from the Oregon Constitution by the voters of Oregon.

Federal government

Oregon is represented at the federal level by two senators and five representatives, which translates into seven electoral votes. Overall, Oregon leans toward the Democratic Party. It has supported Democratic candidates in the last five elections. John Kerry narrowly won the state in 2004 by a margin of 4 percentage points with 51.4% of the vote. Republicans dominate the eastern, central, and southern regions of the state, as well as the southwest and the southern outer suburbs of Portland. Essentially the Willamette Valley is dominated by Democrats while the rest of Oregon is dominated by Republicans. This divide is due to very real cultural and economic differences often with ties to land use issues. The Democratic Party of Oregon is pro-environmental and seen as supportive of urban opinions, while the Republican Party of Oregon is seen as pro-rancher and pro-logger and supportive of rural opinions.

Economy

The Willamette Valley is very fertile and, coupled with Oregon's famous rain, gives the state a wealth of agricultural products. Apples and other fruits, cattle, dairy products, potatoes, and peppermint are all valuable products. 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 and Oregon is home to at least four wine appellations. Due to regional similarities of climate and soil, the grapes planted in Oregon are often the same varieties found in the French region of Alsace. 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, timber harvested from federal lands dropped some 96% from 1989 from 4,333 million to 173 million board feet (10,000,000 to 408,000 m³) in 2001. While the 1980s saw an unsustainable amount of timber harvested, the drop in timber harvested is still significant, as the total amount of timber harvested in 2001 is less than half of that in the late 1970s. Even the shift in recent years towards finished goods such as paper and building materials has not slowed the decline of the timber industry. Examples include Weyerhaeuser's acquisition of Willamette Industries in January, 2002, the announcement by Louisiana Pacific in September, 2003 that they will relocate their corporate headquarters from Portland to Nashville, and the experiences of small lumber towns like Gilchrist. Despite these changes, Oregon still leads the United States in softwood lumber production; in 2001, according to the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, 6,056 million board feet (14,000,000 m³) was produced in Oregon, against 4,5257 mbf. in Washington, 2,731 in California, 2,413 in Georgia, and 2,327 in Mississippi. The effect of the forest industry crunch is still massive unemployment in rural Oregon and is a bone of contention between rural and urban Oregon. 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 plants in eastern Washington County continued the growth that Tektronix had started. The spinoffs and startups that were produced by these two companies led to the establishment of the Portland metropolitan area as the Silicon Forest. The recession and dot-com bust of 2001 in the Silicon Valley has led to similar results in the Silicon Forest; many high technology employers have either reduced the number of their employees or gone out of business. OSDL made news in 2004 when they hired Linus Torvalds, developer of the Linux kernel. Oregon also is the home of non-technology-based companies such as shoemaker Nike, whose world headquarters is located in Beaverton. Oregon had 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 near its Californian border which complements the area's scenic beauty and opportunity for outdoor activities. Oregon is home to a number of smaller breweries.

Demographics

As of 2004, Oregon's population was estimated to be 3,594,586. This includes 309,700 foreign-born (accounting for 8.7% of the state population) and an estimated 90,000 illegal aliens (2.5% of the state population). The state's population increased by 752,000 between 1990 and 2004, an increase of 26.5% Race
The racial makeup of the state:
- 83.5% White
- 8.0% Hispanic
- 1.6% Black
- 3.0% Asian
- 1.3% Native American (U.S. Census)
- 3.1% Mixed race 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 British ancestry, with a high proportion of German-Americans in the northwest. There are large numbers of Mexicans in Malheur and Jefferson counties. 6.5% of Oregon's population were reported as under 5, 24.7% under 18, and 12.8% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.4% of the population.

Religion

The religious affiliations of the people of Oregon are:
- Christian – 75%
  - Protestant – 55%
    - Baptist – 6%
    - Lutheran – 6%
    - Methodist – 4%
    - Presbyterian – 3%
    - Episcopal – 2%
    - Pentecostal – 2%
    - Church of Christ – 2%
    - Other Protestant or general Protestant – 30%
  - Roman Catholic – 15%
  - Mormon – 4%
  - Other Christian – 1%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 24% Although most people from Oregon still identify themselves (at least nominally) as Christians, Oregon has the lowest church membership of all 50 states. While some parts of the USA have church membership rates as high as 80%, it runs only about 12% in Oregon. Nearly one in four Oregonians identify themselves as non-religious, giving Oregon one of the highest percentages of non-religious people in the nation. "Non-religious" is an umbrella term which is sometimes synonymous with or includes elements of atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, freethought, humanism, secular humanism, heresy, logical positivism, and even apathy.

2000-2003 population trends

Estimates released September 2004 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, and Eugene; Hispanic population growth is across the state.

Major cities and towns

September 2004 The capital is Salem and the largest city is Portland. Eugene, home of the University of Oregon is the second largest city, followed closely by Salem. Oregon City was the first incorporated city west of the Rockies and later, the first capital of the Oregon Territory, from 1848 to 1852, when the territory capital was moved to Salem, Oregon. It was also the end of the Oregon Trail and the site of the first public library established west of the Rocky Mountains, stocked with only 300 volumes.

Education

Colleges and universities


- Concordia University, Portland
- Corban College
- Eastern Oregon University
- Eugene Bible College
- George Fox University
- Gutenberg College
- Lewis & Clark College
- Linfield College
- Marylhurst University
- Mount Angel Seminary
- Multnomah Bible College and Seminary
- National College of Naturopathic Medicine
- Northwest Christian College
- Oregon Health and Science University
- Oregon Institute of Technology
- Oregon State University
- Pacific Northwest College of Art
- Pacific University
- Portland State University
- Reed College
- Southern Oregon University
- University of Oregon
- University of Portland
- Warner Pacific College
- Western Baptist College
- Western Oregon University
- Western States Chiropractic College
- Willamette University

Community colleges


- Blue Mountain Community College
- Central Oregon Community College
- Clackamas Community College
- Chemeketa Community College
- Klamath Community College
-
- Lane Community College
- Linn-Benton Community College
- Mount Hood Community College
- Portland Community College
- Rogue Community College
- Southwestern Oregon Community College
- Treasure Valley Community College
- Umpqua Community College

Professional sports teams


- Portland Trailblazers of the National Basketball Association
- Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League
- Portland Timbers of the USL First Division
- Portland Lumberjax of the National Lacrosse League
- Farm clubs of Major League Baseball:
  - Eugene Emeralds, a single-A club in the Northwest League
  - Portland Beavers, a triple-A club in the Pacific Coast League
  - Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, a single-A club in the Northwest League

Broadcasting


- List of television stations in Oregon
- List of radio stations in Oregon
- Oregon Public Broadcasting
- Jefferson Public Radio

State symbols

:State flower: Oregon grape (since 1899) :State song: Oregon, My Oregon (written in 1920 and adopted in 1927) :State bird: Western meadowlark (chosen by the state's children in 1927) :State tree: Douglas-fir (since 1939) :State fish: Chinook salmon (since 1961) :State rock: Thunderegg (like a geode but formed in a rhyolitic lava flow; since 1965) :State animal: Beaver (since 1969) :State dance: Square Dance (Adopted in 1977) :State insect: Oregon Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio oregonius; since 1979) :State gemstone: Oregon sunstone, a type of feldspar (since 1987) :State nut: Hazelnut (since 1989) :State seashell: Oregon hairy triton (Fusitriton oregonensis, a gastropod in the cymatiidae family; since 1991) :State mushroom: Pacific Golden Chanterelle (since 1999) :State beverage: Milk (since 1997) :State Fruit: Oregon Pear (since 2005)

Trivia


- Before Oregon officially became a U.S. territory in 1848, the provisional government briefly encouraged the minting of $5 and $10 dollar "Beaver Coins" in order to make up for the lack of U.S. currency. Thus Oregon has the distinction of being one of the few U.S. areas to mint its own currency.
- Oregon is the only state in the United States with a flag that features a different obverse and reverse. It is one of the few official flags in the world that do so. The "front" of the flag shows the state seal, while the "back" features a small beaver, in honor of the official state animal.
- Oregon has the smallest park in the world: Mill Ends Park in Portland, Oregon.
- Oregon has no sales tax.
- Abbreviations for the state include OR (postal), Ore., and Oreg.
- Oregon is one of two states that prohibits self-service at its gas stations. The other is New Jersey.
- Movies wholly or partially filmed in Oregon include Animal House, Kindergarten Cop, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Hunted, Sometimes a Great Notion, The Goonies, Elephant, Bandits, The Ring 2,The Shining, and Drugstore Cowboy.
- Oregon claims the D River is the shortest river in the world, while the American state of Montana makes the same claim of the Roe River. The Guinness Book of Records officially declared that the two rivers are the same length and can both claim the honor.
- The Kingsmen, who made the song Louie, Louie famous, are from Portland. There was an unsuccessful effort to make Louie, Louie Oregon's official state song.[http://www.louielouie.net/05-louie-faq.htm]
- In 1970 the Oregon Highway Division (now Oregon Department of Transportation) exploded a dead beached whale on a beach just outside Lane County. The results were not as expected and KATU Channel 2 news reporter Paul Linnman captured the results on film of the exploding whale.
- Herbert Hoover lived with his uncle in Newberg, Oregon for six years after his parents died.
- Simpsons creator Matt Groening grew up in Portland's affluent Northwest district and attended Lincoln High School. Portland references from the show include character names Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby, and Terwilliger (all streets in Portland), as well as the proximity of a scenic gorge (presumably the Columbia River Gorge) and nuclear power plant (Trojan Nuclear Power Plant).

See also


- Wikitravel Entry
- Music of Oregon

References

External links


- [http://www.oregon.gov/ State of Oregon website]
- [http://bluebook.state.or.us/ Oregon Blue Book], the online version of the state's official directory and fact book
- [http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/ Oregon History Project]
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41000.html U.S. Census Bureau]
- [http://www.usnewspapers.org/state/oregon Oregon Newspapers]

Commercial websites


- http://www.oregonlive.com
- http://www.traveloregon.com/index.cfm
- http://www.oregoncitylink.com
- http://www.johann-sandra.com/oregondir.htm
- http://www.stateoforegon.com
- http://www.all-oregon.com
- [http://www.el.com/to/oregon/ Welcome to Oregon], from Essentix, Inc. of Portland
- [http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/or_geography.htm Oregon geography page], from NSTATE, LLC, a Wolfeboro, New Hampshire company
- [http://www.HavenWorks.com/oregon Oregon portal], from HavenWorks.com of Davenport, Iowa
- [http://www.terragalleria.com/america/north-west/oregon/ Photos of Oregon - Terra Galleria]
- [http://www.lighthouse123.com/id41.htm Oregon Lighthouses], from David Goforth
- [http://www.oregonwines.com/ Oregon Wines], from Canvas Dreams of Beaverton, Oregon
- [http://www.ohwy.com/or/o/oregontr.htm Oregon Trail] Category:States of the American West . Category:States of the United States ko:오리건 주 ja:オレゴン州

2000

This article is about the year 2000. For other uses of 2000, see 2000 (number) or 2000 (breakdancing move). 2000 (MM) is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. Popular culture also holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium. By strict interpretation of the Gregorian Calendar, however, this distinction falls to the year 2001. This is due to the fact that the first century began with the year 1, and there does not exist a year zero. The first century (or first 100 years AD) was from January 1, in the year one (1 AD) through December 31, in the year one-hundred (100 AD). The second century began on January 1, in the year one-hundred and one (101 AD). The year 2000 is also marked as:
- The International Year for a Culture of Peace.
- The World Mathematical Year. See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Events

January


- January 1 - Millennium celebrations take place throughout the world. Y2K passes without the serious, widespread computer failures and malfunctions that had been predicted.
- January 5-January 8 - The 2000 al-Qaida Summit
- January 6 - The last remaining Pyrenean Ibex is found dead.
- January 10 - America On-line announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for $162 billion. This is the largest-ever corporate merger.
- January 11 - the armed wing of Islamic Salvation Front concludes its negotiations with the government for an amnesty and disbands in Algeria.
- January 11 - The trawler Solway Harvester sinks off the Isle of Man.
- January 14 - A United Nations tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of over 100 Bosnian Muslims in a Bosnian village.
- January 16 - In Sacramento, California a commercial truck carrying evaporated milk is driven into the state capitol building killing the driver.
- January 24 - God's Army, Karen militia group led by twins Johnny and Luther Htoo, take 700 hostages at a Thai hospital near the Burmese border.
- January 30 - St. Louis Rams 23 defeat the Tennessee Titans 16 to win the Super_Bowl_XXXIV
- January 30 - Off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169. Within a day, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes off the California coast into the Pacific Ocean, killing 88.
- January 31 - Dr. Harold Shipman in sentenced to life in prison for murder of at least 15 of his patients out of 365 suspected victims.

February


- February 4 - German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with sabotage of German railway lines.
- February 6 - Tarja Halonen is elected the first Finnish female president.
- February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published.
- February 14 - The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker entered orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

March


- March 1 - The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.
- March 2 - Hans Blix assumes the position of Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC.
- March 8 - Tokyo train disaster.
- March 9 - FBI arrests suspected purveyor of art forgeries, Ely Sakhai, in New York City.
- March 10 - The NASDAQ Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5048. ([http://dynamic.nasdaq.com/dynamic/IndexChart.asp?symbol=IXIC&desc=NASDAQ+Composite&sec=nasdaq&site=nasdaq&months=84])
- March 18 - 2000 Taiwanese presidential election: Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
- March 20 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured after gun battle that left a sheriff's deputy dead.
- March 21 - Pope John Paul II began the first office visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel.
- March 21 - US Supreme Court ruled the goverment lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, throwing out the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative.
- March 26 - Presidential elections in Russia: Vladimir Putin elected President.
- March 30 - America's Cup 2000 retained by Team New Zealand near Auckland. Prada Challenge 2000 lost 0-5 in a "best-of-9".

April

April.]]
- April 1 - Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi suffers a stroke and falls into a coma.
- April 3 - United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
- April 5 - Yoshiro Mori replaces Obuchi as prime minister of Japan.
- April 7 - Attack submarine ex-Trepang completes being recycled.
- April 16 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, Raja of Perlis dies after a reign of 55 years. He was the longest reigning monarch in the world since the death of Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein.
- April 17 - Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin becomes Raja of Perlis.
- April 22 - In a predawn raid, federal agents seize six-year old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, DC ending one of the most publicized custody battles in US history.
- April 25 - The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing Civil Unions for same-sex couples.

May


- May 3 - A rare conjunction occurs on the New Moon including all seven of the traditional celestial bodies known from ancient times up until 1781 with the discovery of Uranus. The May 2000 conjunction consisted of: the Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
- May 3 - Computer pioneer Datapoint Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- May 12 - The Tate Modern opens in London.
- May 13 - In Enschede a heavy fireworks explosion kills 20 and leaves an entire neighborhood in ruins.
- May 18 - Boo.com collapses due to lack of funds after six months.
- May 25 - Israel withdraws IDF troops from southern Lebanon after 22 years.
- May 28 - The volcano Mount Cameroon erupts.

June


- June 1 - Mark Mendlan, professional wrestler known by his ring name "Kid Gorgeous," is killed while wrestling at a show in New Hampshire.
- June 7 - U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the 4th circuit ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp.
- June 10 - The New Jersey Devils defeat the Dallas Stars 4 games to 2 to win the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 10 - The 2000 European Football Championship begins, hosted jointly by Belgium and the Netherlands.
- June 21 - Section 28, a law preventing the promotion of homosexuality is repealed by the Scottish Parliament.
- June 23 - Palace Backpackers Hostel fire in Childers, Queensland, Australia, kills 15 people.
- June 30 - During a set of the band Pearl Jam at the Roskilde Festival near Copenhagen, 9 die and 26 are injured in the crowd.

July

July
- July 2 - France beat Italy 2-1 to win the 2000 European Football Championship with a golden goal.
- July 2 - Presidential election of Mexico. Vicente Fox wins the Presidency as candidate of the rightist PAN (National Action Party).
- July 10 - In southern Nigeria, a leaking petroleum pipeline explodes killing about 250 villagers who were scavenging gasoline
- July 10 - Death of Denis O Conor Donn, died 10th July 2000, aged 88; succeded by his son, Desmond as The O Connor Donn
- July 18 - Alex Salmond resigns as the leader of the Scottish National Party
- July 25 - A Concorde carrying Air France Flight 4590 crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 5 on the ground.

August


- August 1 - The Santa Cruz Operation announced that it will sell its Server Software and Services Divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, to Caldera Systems,Inc.
- August 8 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
- August 12 - The Russian submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea, resulting in the deaths of all 118 men on board.
- August 14 - The first comic of Megatokyo goes online. This webcomic will later become one of the most popular comics on the web (in terms of page views) and spawn numerous imitators.
- August 25 - the Emulex hoax - wire services publish fraudulent bad news about Emulex
- August 27 - The Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.

September


- September 5 - Tuvalu joins the United Nations.
- September 6 - In New York City, the United Nations Millennium Summit begins with more than 180 world leaders present.
- September 6 - The last wholly Swedish-owned arms manufacturer, Bofors, is sold to American arms manufacturer