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Oregon ( )〔 is a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Oregon is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by Washington, on the south by California, on the east by Idaho, and on the southeast by Nevada. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary, and the Snake River delineates much of the eastern boundary. It is one of only three states of the contiguous United States to have a coastline on the Pacific Ocean, and the proximity to the ocean heavily influences its mild winter climate for the latitude. Oregon was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before Western traders, explorers, and settlers arrived. An autonomous government was formed in the Oregon Country in 1843, the Oregon Territory was created in 1848, and Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14, 1859. Today, Oregon is the ninth largest and 26th most populous U.S. state. The capital of Oregon is Salem, the second most populous of its cities, with 160,614 residents (2013 estimate). With 609,456 residents (2013 estimate), Portland is the largest city in Oregon and ranks 29th in the U.S. Its metro population of 2,314,554 (2013 estimate) is 24th. The Willamette Valley in western Oregon is the state's most densely populated area, home to eight of the ten most populous cities. Oregon's landscape is diverse, with a windswept Pacific coastline; a volcano-studded Cascade Range; abundant bodies of water in and west of the Cascades; dense evergreen, mixed, and deciduous forests at lower elevations; and a high desert sprawling across much of its east all the way to the Great Basin. The tall conifers, mainly Douglas fir, along Oregon's rainy west coast contrast with the lighter-timbered and fire-prone pine and juniper forests covering portions to the east. Abundant alders in the west fix nitrogen for the conifers. Stretching east from central Oregon are semi-arid shrublands, prairies, deserts, steppes, and meadows. At , Mount Hood is the state's highest point, and Crater Lake National Park is Oregon's only national park. ==Etymology== (詳細はRobert Rogers to the Kingdom of Great Britain. The term referred to the then-mythical River of the West (the Columbia River). By 1778 the spelling had shifted to ''Oregon''.〔(Oregon Almanac )〕 In his 1765 petition, 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...〔(Where does the name "Oregon" come from? ) from the online edition of the ''Oregon Blue Book''.〕 One theory is the name comes from the French word ''ouragan'' ("windstorm" or "hurricane"), which was applied to the River of the West based on Native American tales of powerful chinook winds of the lower Columbia River, or perhaps from firsthand French experience with the chinook winds of the Great Plains. At the time, the River of the West was thought to rise in western Minnesota and flow west through the Great Plains. Joaquin Miller explained in ''Sunset'' magazine, in 1904, how Oregon's name was derived: The name, Oregon, is rounded down phonetically, from ''Aure il agua''—Oragua, Or-a-gon, Oregon—given probably by the same Portuguese navigator that named the Farallones after his first officer, and it literally, in a large way, means cascades: 'Hear the waters.' You should steam up the Columbia and hear and feel the waters falling out of the clouds of Mount Hood to understand entirely the full meaning of the name ''Aure il agua'', Oregon.〔(Miller, Joaquin (1904). "The Sea of Silence", ''Sunset'', 396(13):5. )〕 Another 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 18th century, on which the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin) River was spelled "Ouaricon-sint," broken on two lines with the -sint below, so there appeared to be a river flowing to the west named "Ouaricon." According to the Oregon Tourism Commission (doing business as Travel Oregon), present-day Oregonians 〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Oregon )〕 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 to members of the media as a reminder of how to pronounce the name of his home state.〔Banks, Don (April 21, 2002). ("Harrington confident about Detroit QB challenge." ) ''Sports Illustrated''.〕 The stickers are sold by the University of Oregon Bookstore.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://spiritduck.uoduckstore.com/Yellow_Green_ORYGUN_Block_Letter_Outside_Decal_p/76386407024.htm )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Oregon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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