PASCO

department (formed 1944) of central Peru, stretching from the Andes eastward to the Amazon Basin. It occupies an area of 8,438 sq mi (21,854 sq km). Western Pasco, a mountainous and rugged area, is drained by the headwaters of the Ro Huallaga. Eastern Pasco, which comprises the steep, rain-drenched eastern slopes of the Andes and the forested plains beyond, is drained by the Ro Pachitea. Western Pasco is one of the world's richest and most productive mining regions. Silver ores at Cerro de Pasco (q.v.), the departmental capital, were discovered in 1630. Copper has become more important than silver, and numerous other minerals, including lead, zinc, gold, vanadium, and bismuth, are also mined. Pop. (1984 est.) 249,700. city, seat (c. 1890) of Franklin county, southeastern Washington, U.S., situated at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers, opposite Kennewick and immediately southeast of Richland. Established in 1880, when the Northern Pacific Railway (now Burlington Northern Sante Fe) reached that point, it was probably named by railroad surveyors for Cerro de Pasco, Peru. The city is a busy river port, as well as a rail centre. The Ice Harbor Dam, 13 mi (21 km) up the Snake River, impounds Lake Sacajawea and is the first of four dams that permit navigation to Lewiston, Idaho, which lies 140 mi east. Pasco is the seat of Columbia Basin College (1955). Inc. 1891. Pop. (1990) city, 20,337; Richland-Kennewick-Pasco MSA, 150,033; (1994 est.) city, 23,226; Richland-Kennewick-Pasco MSA, 172,663.