Twenty interesting facts about Idaho

  1. The state of Idaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America.
  2. Total Area: 14th among states, 216,456 sq km (83,574 sq mi).
  3. The Cataldo mission is the oldest building in the state. 
  4. The state's largest city and capital is Boise.
  5. The entire town of American Falls was moved in the 1920s when the original American Falls Dam was constructed. 
  6. Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890 as the 43rd state. 
  7. Seven Devils’ Peaks has Heaven’s Gate Lookout where you can see into four states. 
  8. Residents are called "Idahoans."
  9. Bruneau Dunes State Park has the tallest single structured sand dune in North America. 
  10. Idaho is landlocked, surrounded by the states of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and the Canadian Province of British Columbia.
  11. Treasure Valley, around Nampa, is known as Idaho’s Banana Belt. 
  12. Central Idaho is home to one of North America's oldest ski resorts, Sun Valley, where the world's first chairlift was installed.
  13. Idaho, especially the city of Grace, is most famous for their certified seed potatoes. 
  14. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2009 the population for Idaho was estimated to be 1,545,801.
  15. The town of Arco became the first community in the world electrified by nuclear power, when a local plant began production in 1951.
  16. The state motto is Esto Perpetua (Latin for "Let it be forever").
  17. Idaho is the leading producer of potatoes in the nation, accounting for nearly one-third of the national production.
  18. Idaho is one of only two places in the world where star garnets can be found (the other is the Himalaya Mountains, in India), and is the only place six pointed star garnets have been found.
  19. Hells Canyon, the deepest gorge in the United States, has a maximum depth of 2400 m (about 7900 ft).
  20. Idaho's nickname is the Gem State because nearly every known gem has been found there.