2000 census population (rank): 563,374 (24); % change: 9.1; Male: 280,973 (49.9%); Female: 282,401 (50.1%); White: 394,889 (70.1%); Black: 47,541 (8.4%); American Indian and Alaska Native: 5,659 (1.0%); Asian: 73,910 (13.1%); Other race: 13,423 (2.4%); Two or more races: 25,148 (4.5%); Hispanic/Latino: 29,719 (5.3%). 2000 percent population 18 and over: 84.4%; 65 and over: 12.0%; Median age: 35.4.
Civilian Labor Force (PMSA) April 2006: 1,781,3001;
Unemployed: 72,9001,
Percent: 4.11;
Per capita personal income (MSA) 2004: $41,6341
Chamber of Commerce: Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 1301 5th Ave., Suite 2400, Seattle, WA 98101-2603
1. Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, Wash.
Seattle is the largest city in Washington and the seat of King County. A city of steep hills, Seattle lies in western Washington between two bodies of water—Puget Sound on the west and Lake Washington on the east. Its fine landlocked harbor has made Seattle one of the major ports in the United States.
Seattle was first settled by five pioneer families from Illinois at Alki Point at the south end of Elliott Bay in 1851. They moved in 1852 to the eastern shore of the bay and laid out a town in 1853. It was named Seattle after a friendly Suquamish Indian chief (Seattle is only an approximation of his name).
Seattle successfully withstood an Indian attack in 1856 and was incorporated as a city in 1869. A disastrous fire almost destroyed the entire business district in 1889. When the Great Northern Railway arrived in 1893, the city became a major rail terminus and it grew rapidly. It was a boom town during the Alaska gold rush of 1897 and continued to prosper as a major Pacific port of entry with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.
Seattle is the region's commercial and transportation hub and the center of manufacturing, trade, and finance. Its important diversified industries include aircraft, lumber and forest products, fishing, high technology, food processing, boat building, machinery, fabricated metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and apparel.
Mayor Greg Nickels easily won reelection in the November 2005 mayoral race.
