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Idaho

  • Places
  • Grades 4-5
  • 877 words
  • Also written for younger readers

Fast facts

Capital
Boise

Facts from Wikipedia’s “Idaho” page (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Idaho is a state in the northwestern United States, and was the 43rd state to join the union.

Idaho became a state in 1890, and it is the 11th largest state in land area, and the 14th largest in total area (land and water). Despite this, the population of Idaho was only 1,839,106 in 2020, making it ranked the 38th largest state by population.

Idaho is bordered by Washington and Oregon on the west, Montana and Wyoming on the east, Utah and Nevada on the south and the country of Canada (British Columbia) on the north side. Idaho is known for its vast mountainous landscapes, and it is literally covered from north to south by the Rocky Mountains. Idaho is also home to the massive Snake River, which comes from the Grand Tetons in Wyoming and eventually flows to meld with the Columbia River in Washington state. This river dissects Hell’s Canyon, the deepest gorge in America, which lies the state’s Oregon border, and flows through south central Idaho. This river provides a fertile plain which is the base for most of the state’s agricultural industries, and the production of the potatoes for which Idaho is known. Idaho’s state nickname is the “Gem State”, despite also being known as the “Spud State”, because of a man named George M. Willing who claimed it was derived from a Shoshone term.

Idaho’s most prominent universities are Boise State University in its capital, Idaho State University in Pocatello, and the University of Idaho in Moscow.

Idaho’s state motto is Esto perpetua, which is Latin for “Let it be forever”.

Cities and towns

Population > 100,000 (city area)

  • Boise (state capital)
  • Meridian – Suburb of Boise
  • Nampa – Home of Northwest Nazarene University Population > 50,000 (city area)
  • Idaho Falls – The main offices of the Idaho National Laboratory are here
  • Caldwell – Home of the College of Idaho
  • Pocatello – Home of Idaho State University
  • Coeur d’Alene – Home of North Idaho College, major tourist hub
  • Twin Falls – Home of College of Southern Idaho Population > 30,000 (city area)
  • Rexburg – Home of Brigham Young University-Idaho
  • Post Falls
  • Lewiston – Home of Lewis-Clark State College
  • Eagle – Suburb of Boise Population > 10,000 (city area)
  • Ammon – Suburb of Idaho Falls
  • Blackfoot – Home of the Idaho Potato Museum
  • Burley
  • Chubbuck
  • Garden City – Suburb of Boise
  • Hayden
  • Jerome
  • Kuna – Suburb of Boise
  • Moscow – Home of the University of Idaho
  • Mountain Home – U.S. Air Force Base
  • Star

Smaller Towns and Cities

  • American Falls – First town to be entirely moved

  • Arco – First city to be lit by electricity from a nuclear power plant

  • Bonners Ferry – Northernmost major town in Idaho

  • Buhl – “Trout capital of the world”

  • Driggs – skiing

  • Eden

  • Emmett

  • Filer – Suburb of Twin Falls

  • Firth

  • Fruitland

  • Greenleaf

  • Hazelton

  • Homedale – town’s name was chosen from a hat

  • Island Park

  • Kellogg – skiing

  • Kimberly – Suburb of Twin Falls

  • Malad City

  • McCall – skiing

  • Melba, Idaho - South of Nampa, Idaho

  • Middleton

  • Montpelier bank robbed by the wild bunch

  • Mullan – mining for silver, lead, zinc

  • New Meadows - at the 45th parallel north

  • New Plymouth – first planned community in Idaho, third west of the Rocky Mountains

  • Notus

  • Oakley – pioneer town, home of many historic buildings

  • Orofino – Clearwater County seat, site of Dworshak Dam

  • Paris – Bear Lake County seat

  • Parma

  • Payette – Payette County seat

  • Plummer- CDA tribal headquarters

  • Preston- location of the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite and the annual International Bed Races

  • Rigby – Television birthplace

  • Rupert- Minidoka County seat

  • Salmon – Gateway to “River of No Return” (Salmon River)

  • Sandpoint – skiing (Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort) and Recreation Lake Pend Oreille

  • Shelley – Home of the Russet SPUD

  • Soda Springs – U.S.’s only captive geyser

  • St. Anthony – sand dunes and several lava tubes

  • St. Maries – Benewah County seat

  • Stanley, Idaho – center of the Sawtooth mountains

  • Sun Valley – Year-round resort with skiing

  • Wallace – Historic district and Shoshone County seat

  • Weiser – Washington County seat, home of the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest

  • Wilder

  • Worley – casino

History of Idaho

Idaho was formerly Idaho Territory, until July 27, 1890, when it became the 43rd state. In the 1930s, Idaho suffered a lot economically as a result of the Great Depression. Prices plummeted for Idaho’s major crops: in 1932, a bushel of potatoes was worth only ten cents compared to $1.51 in 1919, while Idaho farmers´ annual income of $686 in 1929 fell to just $250 by 1932.

Politics

Today, Idaho is a very conservative state. In the 2024 election, just two counties in Idaho voted for the Democrat, Kamala Harris. Idaho as a whole last voted Democratic in 1964, and that by a narrow margin of less than 2 percent. Both of Idaho’s senators (Jim Risch and Mike Crapo) are Republican.

Written for younger readers

Idaho, in simpler words

This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.

From Wikijunior: North America

The State of Idaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Montana to the east and northeast, Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, Washington and Oregon to the west, and the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. The state’s largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called “Idahoans.” Idaho was admitted to the Union on 3 July 1890 as the 43rd state.

Humans have been present in the Idaho area for many years. Native American tribes lived throughout much of the area. Idaho was claimed by both the United States and Great Britain until the United States legally claimed the land in 1846.

Idaho borders six states and one Canadian province. The states of Washington and Oregon are to the west, Nevada and Utah are to the south, and Montana and Wyoming are to the east. Idaho also shares a short border (48 miles (77 km)) with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north.

Idaho has a very rugged landscape with some of the largest natural areas in the United States. It is a Rocky Mountain state with many natural resources. The state has snow-capped mountain ranges, rapids, steep canyons and a large number of rivers.

  • The state motto is Esto Perpetua. It is Latin for “Let it be forever”.
  • The state bird is the Mountain Bluebird.
  • The state tree is the Western White Pine.

Where this page comes from

The article above is adapted from “Idaho” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.

Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.

Worksheets, answer keys and printable layouts elsewhere on K5Print are our own work and are not covered by this licence.