Beautiful Idaho

Idaho is one of the Rocky Mountain states in the Northwest United States. It is bordered by Montana and Wyoming (E), Utah and Nevada (S), Oregon and Washington (W), and the Canadian province of British Columbia (N).

Area:  83,557 sq mi (216,413 sq km)
Population: (2003) 1,293,953, a 28.5% increase since the 1990 census
Capital and largest city:  Boise 
Motto:  Esto Perpetua [It Is Perpetual]
State bird:  mountain bluebird
State flower,: syringa
State tree: white pine

Much of Idaho has an unspoiled beauty, with rugged slopes and towering peaks, a vast expanse of timberland, scenic lakes, wild rivers, cascades, and spectacular gorges. From the northern Panhandle, where Idaho is about 45 mi (72 km) wide, the state broadens south of the Bitterroot Range to 310 mi (499 km) in width. The state's climate ranges from hot summers in the arid southern basins to cold, snowy winters in the high wilderness areas of central and northern Idaho.

The capital and largest city is Boise. Other areas of special interest include Idaho Falls, Island Park, Glenns Ferry, and Mackay.

Manufacturing has recently supplanted agriculture as the most important sector of Idaho's economy. Cattle and dairy goods are among the leading agricultural products. Idaho's chief crops are potatoes (for which the state, easily the nation's largest producer, is famous), hay, wheat, peas, beans, and sugar beets. Electronic and computer equipment, processed foods, lumber, and chemicals are the major manufactured items.

The unspoiled quality of much of Idaho's land has nourished one of the youngest of Idaho's businesses: the tourist trade. Sun Valley, one of the nation's best-known year-round vacation spots, is an example of the development of resorts in Idaho. Mining, once the major source of income, and still economically important, produces phosphates, gold, silver, molybdenum, antimony, lead, zinc, and other minerals.

In addition to potatoes, Idaho is famous for fish. The most popular species of fish are trout, including rainbow, cutthroat, brown, brook, and lake trout, plus landlocked salmon - Kokanee, Coho, and Chinook. No Idaho fish list would be complete without steelhead, an ocean-going trout that symbolized all that is wild in Idaho. The state is inviting not only to anglers, but to campers and hunters, as well. Idaho has one of the largest elk herds in the nation.

For a list of Idaho's ski resorts, wineries, and golf courses, click one. Contact us regarding fishing.

Idaho is a partner of the Sister Cities program. The Sister Cities program is administered by Sister Cities International, a non-profit organization. The objective of the program is to facilitate transnational partnerships, cultural exchanges, and economic cooperation. The following Idaho cities maintain Sister City relationships:

Boise: Chita, Russia and Gernika, Spain

Coeur d' Alene: Cranbrook, Canada

Idaho Falls: Tokai-Mura, Japan

Ketchum: Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy and Tegernsee, Germany

Moscow: Villa Carlos Fonseca, Nicaragua

Pocatello: Iwamizawa, Japan and Kwaremenguel, Burkina Faso

Sun Valley: Kitzbuehl, Austria and Yamanouchi, Japan.