Portland, Oregon

Portland is the largest city in Oregon, a few dozen miles from the west (Pacific) coast of the United States. It is situated just south of the Columbia River, where the Willamette River, which flows north through the city, joins it. It is the 26th largest city in the United States, with a population of 529,121 (according to the 2000 Census).

The city is nicknamed "The City of Roses", and hosts a Rose Festival each Spring. Informally, residents of Portland also call it "PDX", from the IATA airport code of Portland International Airport. Other nicknames are "Stumptown" and "Puddletown".

Francis Pettygrove and Asa Lovejoy, co-founders of Portland, named the city in 1845 when Pettygrove won a coin toss with his partner. Pettygrove named it for his hometown of Portland, Maine; had Lovejoy won, he intended to name it after his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts.

Portland is home to Forest Park, one of the world's largest parks contained within a city (about 20 square kilometers, or 2000 hectares), and Mill Ends Park, one of the smallest parks anywhere (being a one-foot diameter circle, its "acreage" is only about 0.3 square metres). Portland is the home of the Portland Trailblazers National Basketball Association team and the Portland Fire WNBA team.

The Portland metropolitan area includes also the neighboring cities of Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, Oregon City, and Tigard (all in Oregon), as well as Vancouver (in Washington). Portland itself is in Multnomah County.

Other notable current and former Portlanders:

Notable Portland institutions include:

Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)
OMSI - The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
The American Advertising Museum