Pacific states - Definition and Overview

The Pacific States form one of the nine geographic divisions within the United States that are officially recognized by that country's census bureau.

There are five states in this division - Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington - and, as its name suggests, they all have coastlines on the Pacific Ocean (and are the only states that border that ocean). The division is one of two that are located within the United States Census Bureau's West region; the other such division is the Mountain States.

Despite being slotted within the same region by the Census Bureau, the Pacific and Mountain divisions are vastly different from one another in many vital respects, most notably in the arena of politics: While all but one of the Mountain states (the exception being New Mexico) are regarded as being solidly conservative "red states", all of the Pacific states except Alaska are clearly counted among the liberal "blue states." Indeed, the other division with which residents of the Pacific States are seen as most closely self-identifying is New England, where many of the Pacific States' seminal settlers actually hailed from (Portland, Oregon was named after Portland, Maine, and according to John Molloy, author of the 1980s-era bestseller Dress For Success, businessmen in San Francisco display virtually identical sartorial preferences as their counterparts in Boston).