Washington is the 18th largest state, with an area of 71,362 square miles (184,827 km), and the 13th most populous state, with more than 7.4 million people. Approximately 60 percent of Washington 's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry along Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean consisting of numerous islands, deep fjords, and bays carved out by glaciers. The remainder of the state consists of: deep temperate rainforests in the west; mountain ranges in the west, central, northeast, and far southeast; and a semi-arid basin region in the east, central, and south, given over to intensive agriculture. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, after California. Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the state 's highest elevation, at almost 14,411 feet (4,392 m), and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States.
how big is washington state in square miles
71,362 square miles