Located between Washington and California on the northwest coast of the contiguous United States, Oregon is the ninth largest state with 98,400 square miles. The eastern two thirds of the state is predominantly rural and most of the state's population resides along the narrow Interstate 5 corridor that extends from Portland southward through fertile valleys between the Coast and Cascade mountain ranges. Crater Lake, in Klamath County to the south, is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,958 feet. Hell's Canyon, in Wallowa County to the northeast, is the deepest gorge in North America at 7,900 feet.
The population of Oregon is 3,790,060, according to the 2006 U.S. Bureau of the Census Population Estimates Program. The capital is Salem and the largest city is Portland. Oregon has 36 counties; the largest is Harney, located in the southeastern region of the state with over 10,000 square miles. Multnomah County, near Portland, is the smallest county with just over 450 square miles but contains the largest population. Residents are predominantly white (80.0%), with a significant Hispanic/Latino population (11.0%). Asian (3.6%), African-American (2.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.4%) comprise the remaining population, with 2.5% reporting more than one ethnicity. Oregon ranks 16th in the United States in American Indian/Alaska Native population, two of the largest Oregon tribal organizations are the Klamath and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla.