Seattle ( ) is a

seaport A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

city on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous ...

. It is the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. With a 2022 population of 749,256 it is the

most populous city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...

in both the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

of Washington and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

region of North America, and the 18th most populous city in the United States. The

Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierc ...

's population is 4.02 million, making it the 15th-largest in the United States. Its growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities. Seattle is situated on an

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthm ...

between

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

(an inlet of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

) and

Lake Washington Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west ...

. It is the northernmost major city in the United States, located about south of the

Canadian border Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. A major gateway for trade with

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

, the

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a government agency overseeing the seaport and airport of Seattle, Washington, United States. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to one of the largest airports and container t ...

is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling . The Seattle area has been inhabited by Native Americans (such as the

Duwamish Duwamish may refer to: * Duwamish tribe, a Native American tribe in Washington state * Duwamish River, in Washington state * Duwamish (fireboat), ''Duwamish'' (fireboat) See also * Elliott Bay, often called "Duwamish Bay" in the 19th century * Du ...

, who had at least 17 villages around Elliot Bay) for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers.

Arthur A. Denny Arthur Armstrong Denny (June 20, 1822 – January 9, 1899) was one of the founders of Seattle, Washington,, Special Collections, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS). Accessed online 8 March 2008. the acknowledged leader of the pioneer ...

and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the

Denny Party The Denny Party is a group of American pioneers credited with founding Seattle, Washington. They settled at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. History A wagon party headed by Arthur A. Denny left Cherry Grove, Illinois on April 10, 1851. The par ...

, arrived from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

via

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, on the schooner ''Exact'' at

Alki Point Alki Point is a point jutting into Puget Sound, the westernmost landform in the West Seattle district of Seattle, Washington. Alki is the peninsular neighborhood on Alki Point. Alki was the original settlement in what was to become the city of ...

on November 13, 1851. The settlement was moved to the eastern shore of

Elliott Bay Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is in the U.S. state of Washington, extending southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. Seattle was founded on this body of water in the 1850s ...

in 1852 and named "Seattle" in honor of Chief

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, a prominent 19th-century leader of the local

and

Suquamish The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American people, located in present-day Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish people. Today, most Suquamish people are enrolled in the federally recognized Suqu ...

tribes. Seattle currently has high populations of Native Americans alongside Americans with strong Asian, African, European, and Scandinavian ancestry, and hosts the fifth-largest LGBT community in the U.S. Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century, the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

during the Klondike Gold Rush. Growth after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

was partially due to the local

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed into a technology center from the 1980s onward, with companies like

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

becoming established in the region; Microsoft founder

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

is a Seattleite by birth. Internet retailer

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

was founded in Seattle in 1994, and major airline

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the nu ...

is based in

SeaTac, Washington SeaTac is a city in southern King County, Washington, United States. The city is an inner-ring suburb of Seattle and part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The name "SeaTac" is derived from the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, itself ...

, serving Seattle's international airport,

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , branded as SEA Airport and also referred to as Sea–Tac (), is the primary commercial airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is in the city of SeaTac, which ...

. The stream of new software,

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, which increased the city's population by almost 50,000 between 1990 and 2000. The culture of Seattle is heavily defined by its significant musical history. Between 1918 and 1951, nearly 24

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District to the Central District. The jazz scene nurtured the early careers of

Ernestine Anderson Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, and others. The city is also the origin of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

acts such as

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the Foo Fighters (album), epony ...

Heart The heart is a muscular organ found in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon diox ...

, and Jimi Hendrix, as well as the grunge subgenre of rock and its pioneering bands

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, ...

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

, and

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Ya ...

History

Founding

Archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be cond ...

s suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the

Duwamish people The Duwamish ( lut, Dxʷdəwʔabš, ) are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe in western Washington, and the indigenous people of metropolitan Seattle, where they have been living since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8000 BCE ...

occupied at least seventeen villages in the areas around

. The name for the modern city of Seattle in

Lushootseed Lushootseed (txʷəlšucid, dxʷləšúcid), also Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish or Skagit-Nisqually, is a language made up of a dialect continuum of several Salish tribes of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is one of the Coast Sali ...

, , meaning "little crossing over place" comes from the location of one of these villages which located at the present

King Street Station King Street Station is a train station in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is served by Amtrak's '' Cascades'', ''Coast Starlight'', and ''Empire Builder'', as well as Sounder commuter trains run by Sound Transit. The station also anchors ...

. The first European to visit the Seattle area was

George Vancouver Post-captain, Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his Vancouver Expedition, 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Un ...

, in May 1792 during his 1791–1795 expedition for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

to chart the

. In 1851, a large party of

American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nat ...

s led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the

Duwamish River In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

the Sounders made their first-ever home-field appearance in MLS Cup, once again against Toronto FC, and won the game 3–1 to earn their second MLS Cup title in front of a club-record attendance of 69,274. The stadium also hosted the second leg of the

2022 CONCACAF Champions League Final The 2022 CONCACAF Champions League Final was the final round of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League, the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 57th edition of the premier soccer club competition org ...

, played in front of 68,741 to break the tournament attendance record. The Sounders became the first MLS team to win a continental title since 2000 and the first to win the modern Champions League. Seattle's Major League Rugby team, the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in Tukwila, Washington. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby (MLR), the top-level rugby union competition in the United States that began play i ...

, play in nearby Tukwila at

Starfire Sports Complex Starfire Sports is a multi-purpose stadium and sporting facility in Tukwila, Washington, United States. It is located on the banks of the Green River, just south of Seattle. The stadium is operated by the nonprofit corporation Starfire Sports and ...

, a small stadium that is also used by the Sounders for their

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

matches. The team began play in 2018 and won the league's inaugural championship. They successfully defended their title in the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

and finished as runners-up in the 2022 championship game. From 1967 to 2008, Seattle was home to the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conf ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA). A frequent playoff participant, the Sonics were the 1978–79 NBA champions, and also contended for the championship in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

. Following a team sale in 2006, a failed effort to replace the aging

KeyArena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ...

, and settlement of a lawsuit to hold the team to the final two years of its lease with the city, the SuperSonics relocated to

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...

and became the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

ahead of the 2008–09 season. An effort in 2013 to purchase the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

franchise and relocate it to Seattle as a resurrected Sonics squad was denied by the NBA board of governors. The

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

have also played their games at KeyArena (now

Climate Pledge Arena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ...

) since their foundation in 2000. The WNBA granted Seattle their expansion side following the popularity of the recently folded

Seattle Reign OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

, a women's professional basketball team that played from 1996 to 1998 in the rival American Basketball League. The Storm began as a sister team to the now-defunct

Sonics Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in fast-food restaurant chain * Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider and CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities *Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whi ...

of the NBA, but sold to separate Seattle-based ownership in 2006. Tied for the league record, the Storm have claimed the

WNBA championship The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

on four occasions, winning in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

. The team also won the first-ever

WNBA Commissioner's Cup The WNBA Commissioner's Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the WNBA Commissioner's Cup Presented By Coinbase, is an in-season competition of the Women's National Basketball Association that begins at the start of the regular season and continue ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. The

Seattle Thunderbirds The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. They play their games at home in a ...

hockey team has represented Seattle in the Canadian major-junior

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

since 1977. Originally playing in

Mercer Arena Mercer Arena (previously known as the Exposition Building, Civic Ice Arena and Seattle Center Arena) was a performing arts venue located at the corner of Mercer Street and Fourth Avenue North in Seattle, Washington. It was built in 1927 adjacent ...

and the

Seattle Center Coliseum Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ...

(which had hosted previous minor-league hockey teams), the Thunderbirds have been based at the

ShoWare Center The accesso ShoWare Center is a multi-purpose arena in Kent, Washington, United States. About the venue The construction of the arena began September 2005, with the venue opening in January 2009. The principal tenants are the Seattle Thunderbi ...

in the suburb of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

since 2007, and have won one WHL championship in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. In 1974, Seattle was awarded a conditional expansion franchise in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

; however, this opportunity did not come to fruition. In 2018, a new Seattle-based group successfully applied for an expansion team in the NHL, which was named the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...

and began play in 2021. The SuperSonics' former home arena, KeyArena (now

), underwent major renovations from 2018 to 2021 to accommodate the new NHL team. The NHL ownership group reached its goal of 10,000 deposits within 12 minutes of opening a ticket drive, which later increased to 25,000 in 75 minutes.

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

, a founding member of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...

, was founded in 2012, holding their home games in Seattle from 2014 to 2018 and again since 2022. The team name was chosen to honor the defunct women's basketball team of the same name. The club played at

in nearby Tukwila for the league's inaugural 2013 season before moving to

Seattle Center Seattle Center is an arts, educational, tourism and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington, United States. Spanning an area of 74 acres (30 ha), it was originally built for the 1962 World's Fair. Its landmark feature is the tall Space Need ...

's Memorial Stadium in 2014. Under new management, the team moved to Tacoma's

Cheney Stadium Cheney Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Tacoma, Washington, United States. Originally built for baseball, the stadium is currently home to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, as well as professional soccer club Tacoma Defi ...

in 2019, before moving to Seattle's Lumen Field in 2022. In 2020, OL Groupe, the

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

of French clubs

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, ...

and , became the team's majority owner and rebranded the club as OL Reign. The Seattle Reign name was restored in 2024. Seattle has also been home to various minor-league professional teams, of which currently

Ballard FC Ballard FC is an American soccer club based in Seattle, Washington, competing in the Northwest Division of USL League Two. They began play in the 2022 season. The club was founded in 2021 and is owned by former Seattle Sounders FC player Lamar N ...

and

West Seattle Junction FC West Seattle Junction FC is an American soccer club based in the West Seattle neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The club plays in the Northwest Division of USL League Two, a semi-professional summer league. Junction FC was announced ahead of ...

USL League 2 USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

in soccer remain. Representing the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, Ballard FC was founded in 2022 as an independent, semi-professional soccer team in the fourth-division

. The team is owned by a group led by former Sounders player

Lamar Neagle Lamar Neagle (born May 7, 1987) is an American professional soccer player who plays for the Tacoma Stars in the Major Arena Soccer League. He has spent most of his career with the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer over the course of s ...

and won the its first national title in 2023. Ballard FC's primary home is the 1,000-seat Interbay Soccer Stadium (also home to

Seattle Pacific University Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It became the ...

's and Ballard High School's soccer teams), but during that field's renovations in the 2024 season, Ballard will play out of Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center. Starting in 2024, Ballard FC's division will be joined by a new cross-town rival,

representing the neighborhood of

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an in ...

. Additionally, the short-lived

Seattle Sea Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons (formerly known as the Seattle Dragons) are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL and plays its home games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Originally founde ...

(originally the Dragons) of the minor American football league XFL played at Lumen Field in the league's inaugural season in 2020 prior to its suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sea Dragons returned alongside the XFL in

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

after the league's re-launch under new ownership. The team folded prior to the 2024 season during the XFL's merger with the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

to form the United Football League. Seattle also boasts two collegiate sports teams based at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

and

Seattle University Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate p ...

, both competing in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

for various sports. The University of Washington's athletic program, nicknamed the

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

, competes in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

, and Seattle University's athletic program, nicknamed the Redhawks, mostly competes in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of ...

. The Huskies teams use several facilities, including the 70,000-seat

Husky Stadium Husky Stadium (officially Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is an outdoor football stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. It h ...

for football and the

Hec Edmundson Pavilion Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion (formerly and still commonly referred to as Hec Edmundson Pavilion or simply Hec Ed) is an indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designe ...

for basketball and volleyball. The two schools have basketball and soccer teams that compete against each other in non-conference games and have formed a local rivalry due to their sporting success. The

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

was held in Seattle three times, once at the Kingdome (

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

) and twice at T-Mobile Field (

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

and

). The

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, ...

was also held in Seattle twice: the first in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

at the

and the second in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

at the Kingdome.

Lumen Field Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, ...

hosted

MLS Cup 2009 MLS Cup 2009 was the 14th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS). The soccer match took place on November 22, 2009, at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington, and was contested between the Los Angeles Galaxy a ...

, played between

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in ...

and the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

, as a neutral site in front of 46,011 spectators. Seattle will be one of eleven US host cities for the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three ...

, with matches played at Lumen Field and training facilities at

Longacres Longacres was a Thoroughbred horse racetrack in Renton, Washington, United States. Owned by the Gottstein/Alhadeff family and operated by the Washington Jockey Club for the vast majority of its existence, the racetrack was the home of Thor ...

in Renton, Washington.

Parks and recreation

Seattle's mild, temperate, marine climate allows year-round outdoor recreation, including walking, cycling, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, rock climbing, motor boating, sailing, team sports, and swimming. In town, many people walk around

Green Lake Green Lake may refer to: Canada * Green Lake (Cariboo), British Columbia * Green Lake (Whistler), British Columbia * Green Lake (Nova Scotia), Halifax Regional Municipality * Green Lake (Ontario), Renfrew County * Astrolabe Lake, formerly Green ...

, through the forests and along the bluffs and beaches of Discovery Park (the largest park in the city) in

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

, along the shores of

Myrtle Edwards Park Myrtle Edwards Park in Seattle, Washington is a public park along the Elliott Bay waterfront north of Belltown. It features a long bicycle and walking path and is a good place to see eagles, gulls, and crows. The park was originally named E ...

on the Downtown waterfront, along the shoreline of Lake Washington at Seward Park, along Alki Beach in West Seattle, or along the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Gas Works Park Gas Works Park is a park located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a public park on the site of the former Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant, located on the north shore of Lake Union at the south end of the Wallingford ne ...

features the preserved

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

of a

coal gasification Coal gasification is the process of producing syngas—a mixture consisting primarily of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and water vapour (H2O)—from coal and water, air and/or oxygen. Historically, coal ...

plant closed in 1956. Located across Lake Union from downtown, the park provides panoramic views of the Seattle skyline. Also popular are hikes and skiing in the nearby Cascade or Olympic Mountains and kayaking and sailing in the waters of Puget Sound, the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

, and the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...

Government and politics

Seattle is a

charter city In the United States, a charter city is a city in which the governing system is defined by the city's own charter document rather than solely by general law. In states where city charters are allowed by law, a city can adopt or modify its organ ...

, with a mayor–council form of government. From 1911 to 2013, Seattle's nine city councillors were elected at large, rather than by geographic subdivisions. For the 2015 election, this changed to a hybrid system of seven district members and two at-large members as a result of a ballot measure passed on November 5, 2013. The only other elected offices are the

city attorney A city attorney is a position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the municipality. Unlike a district attorney or public defender, who usually handles criminal cases, a city at ...

and Municipal Court judges. All city offices are officially

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

. Like some other parts of the United States, government and laws are also run by a series of ballot initiatives (allowing citizens to pass or reject laws), referendums (allowing citizens to approve or reject legislation already passed), and propositions (allowing specific government agencies to propose new laws or tax increases directly to the people). Seattle is widely considered one of the most socially liberal cities in the United States. In the 2012 U.S. general election, a majority of Seattleites voted to approve Referendum 74 and legalize gay marriage in Washington state. In the same election, an overwhelming majority of Seattleites also voted to approve the legalization of the recreational use of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternativel ...

in the state. Like much of the

(which has the lowest rate of

church attendance Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday); the Westminster Confession of Faith is held by the Reformed ...

in the United States and consistently reports the highest percentage of

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

), church attendance, religious belief, and political influence of religious leaders are much lower than in other parts of America. Seattle's political culture is very liberal and

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...

for the United States, with over 80% of the population voting for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. All precincts in Seattle voted for Democratic Party candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

in the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

. In partisan elections for the Washington State Legislature and

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...

, nearly all elections are won by Democrats. Although local elections are nonpartisan, most of the city's elected officials are known to be Democrats, the most notable exception being

Seattle City Attorney The Seattle City Attorney is a non-partisan elected official in Seattle, Washington whose job is to "prosecute people for misdemeanor offenses, defend the city against lawsuits, and gives legal advice to the city". Since 2022, the position has be ...

Ann Davison Ann Davison (5 June 1913 – 12 May 1992) was an author and sailor. At the age of 39, she was the first woman to single-handedly sail the Atlantic Ocean. She departed Plymouth, England in her 23-foot boat '' Felicity Ann'' on 18 May 1952. Ear ...

. In 1926, Seattle became the first major American city to elect a female mayor,

Bertha Knight Landes Bertha Ethel Knight Landes (October 19, 1868, – November 29, 1943) was the first female mayor of a major American city, serving as mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1926 to 1928. After years of civic activism, primarily with women's organiza ...

. It has also elected an openly gay mayor, Ed Murray, and a third-party socialist councillor,

Kshama Sawant Kshama Sawant (; born October 17, 1973) is an Indian-American politician and economist who has served on the Seattle City Council since 2014. She is a member of Socialist Alternative, the first and only member of the party to date to be elected ...

. For the first time in United States history, an openly gay black woman was elected to public office when

Sherry Harris Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

was elected as a Seattle city councillor in 1991. In 2015, the majority of the city council was female.

Bruce Harrell Bruce Allen Harrell (born October 10, 1958) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 57th and current mayor of Seattle, Washington. He served as a member of the Seattle City Council from District 2 from 2016 to 2020. Elected to the ...

was elected as mayor in the 2021 mayoral election, succeeding

Jenny Durkan Jenny Anne Durkan (born May 19, 1958) is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor, and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Seattle, Washington. She is the daughter of Martin Durkan. Durkan is a member of the Democratic Party. After ...

, and took office on January 1, 2022. The mayor's office also includes three

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

s, appointed to advise the mayor on policies. In 2023, the city council voted to ban caste discrimination as part of the city's anti-discrimination laws. The ban is the first in the United States. Seattle lies within four districts on the

King County Council The Metropolitan King County Council, the legislative body of King County, Washington, consists of nine members elected by district. The Council adopts laws, sets policy, and holds final approval over the budget. Its current name and structure i ...

: the 1st district includes the northeastern corner of the city; the 2nd district generally covers areas east of

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Calif ...

and south of Northeast 65th Street; the 4th district consists of the northwestern neighborhoods of Ballard, Fremont, Magnolia, and Queen Anne; and the 8th district includes Downtown Seattle, First Hill, SODO, and West Seattle. At the state level, Seattle is divided into six districts that each have one

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 ...

and two state representatives. Federally, Seattle is split between two congressional districts. Most of the city is in 7th congressional district, represented by Democrat

Pramila Jayapal Pramila Jayapal ( ; born September 21, 1965) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents most of Seattle, as well as some suburban areas of King County. Jayapal ...

, the first Indian-American woman elected to Congress. She succeeded 28-year incumbent and fellow Democrat

Jim McDermott James Adelbert McDermott (born December 28, 1936) is an American politician and psychiatrist who was the U.S. representative for from 1989 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The 7th District includes most of Seattle, Vashon Is ...

. Part of southeastern Seattle is in the 9th congressional district, represented by Democrat Adam Smith since 1997. The border between the two districts follows the Tukwila city limits around Boeing Field, Interstate 5, South Dearborn Street, 4th Avenue South, James Street, Madison Street, East Union Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and East Yesler Way.

Education

Of the city's population over the age of 25, 53.8% (vs. a national average of 27.4%) hold a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

or higher, and 91.9% (vs. 84.5% nationally) have a high school diploma or

equivalent Equivalence or Equivalent may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Album-equivalent unit, a measurement unit in the music industry *Equivalence class (music) *''Equivalent VIII'', or ''The Bricks'', a minimalist sculpture by Carl Andre *''Equivale ...

. A 2008 United States Census Bureau survey showed that Seattle had the highest percentage of college and university graduates of any major U.S. city. The city was listed as the most literate of the country's 69 largest cities in 2005 and 2006, the second most literate in 2007 and the most literate in 2008 in studies conducted by

Central Connecticut State University Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticu ...

Seattle Public Schools Seattle Public Schools is the largest public school district in the state of Washington. The school district serves almost all of Seattle. Additionally it includes sections of Boulevard Park and Tukwila. As of 2018, 113 schools are operated b ...

is the school district for the vast majority of the city. That school district desegregated without a court order but continue to struggle to achieve racial balance in a somewhat ethnically divided city (the south part of town having more ethnic minorities than the north). In 2007, Seattle's racial tie-breaking system was struck down by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

, but the ruling left the door open for desegregation formulae based on other indicators (e.g., income or socioeconomic class). A very small portion of the city is within the

Highline School District Highline Public Schools (HPS) is a public school district in King County, headquartered in Burien, Washington. As of October 2007, it served 17,331 students and had 997 teachers, and served the cities of Burien, much of Des Moines, Normandy Park ...

. The public school system is supplemented by a moderate number of private schools: Five of the private high schools are

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, one is

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

, and six are

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

University of Washington Quad, Spring 2007

Seattle is home to the

, as well as the institution's professional and continuing education unit, the

University of Washington Educational Outreach University of Washington Continuum College, formerly Educational Outreach is the continuing education and professional development unit of the University of Washington (UW), in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1912, UW Continuum College was orig ...

. The 2017 ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the University of Washington at No. 11 in the world. The UW receives more federal research and development funding than any public institution. Over the last 10 years, it has also produced more Peace Corps volunteers than any other U.S. university. Seattle also has a number of smaller private universities including

and

, the former a Jesuit Catholic institution, the latter a Free Methodist institution. The

Seattle Colleges District The Seattle Colleges District (previously Seattle Community Colleges District), also known simply as Seattle Colleges, is a group of colleges located in Seattle, Washington. It consists of three colleges— North Seattle College, Seattle Centra ...

operates three colleges:

North Seattle College North Seattle College (NSC or North Seattle) is a public college in the northwest United States, located in Seattle, Washington. It is one of three colleges comprising the Seattle Colleges District and part of the Washington Community and Te ...

Seattle Central College Seattle Central College is a public college in Seattle, Washington. With North Seattle College and South Seattle College, it is one of the three colleges that comprise the Seattle Colleges District. The college has a substantial international ...

, and

South Seattle College South Seattle College (SSC, formerly South Seattle Community College) is a public community college in West Seattle, Seattle, West Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Founded in 1970, it is one of three colleges which make up the Seattle Coll ...

. Universities aimed at the working adult are the City University and

Antioch University Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. Founded in 1852 as Antioch College, its first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. It changed its ...

. Seminaries include

Western Seminary Western Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary with campuses in Portland, Oregon; San Jose, California; and Sacramento, California. Western Seminary also has online-only degrees and programs and provides non-credit cla ...

and a number of arts colleges, such as

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of ...

Pratt Fine Arts Center Pratt Fine Arts Center is a non-profit arts education and resource center in the Squire Park area of Seattle's Central District. The center employs 155 teaching artists and conducts more than 600 classes annually. Pratt was founded in 1976 by ...

. In 2001, ''Time'' magazine selected Seattle Central Community College as community college of the year, saying that the school "pushes diverse students to work together in small teams".

Media

, Seattle has one major daily newspaper, ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington s ...

''. The ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'', known as the ''P-I'', published a daily newspaper from 1863 to March 17, 2009, before switching to a strictly on-line publication. There is also the ''

Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce The ''Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce'' is a daily (six days per week) newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Specializing in business, construction, real estate, and legal news and public notices, it began publication in 1895 as the ''Bull ...

'', and the University of Washington publishes '' The Daily'', a student-run publication, when school is in session. The most prominent weeklies are the ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976. The newspape ...

'' and ''

The Stranger The Stranger or Stranger may refer to: Film * ''The Stranger'' (1910 film), a short drama film * ''The Stranger'' (1918 film), a film starring Oliver Hardy * ''The Stranger'' (1920 film), a film starring Hoot Gibson * ''The Stranger'' (1924 ...

''; both consider themselves "alternative" papers. The weekly LGBT newspaper is the ''

Seattle Gay News The ''Seattle Gay News'' is a weekly newspaper aimed at the Seattle and Puget Sound area LGBT community in the U.S. state of Washington. History ''Seattle Gay News'' was founded in 1974 by Jim Tully and Jim Anderson. As of 2022, the SGN is dis ...

''. ''

Real Change ''Real Change'' is a weekly progressive street newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, USA written by professional staff and sold by self-employed vendors, many of whom are homeless. The paper provides them with an alternative to panhandling and ...

'' is a weekly

street newspaper Street newspapers (or street papers) are newspapers or magazines sold by homeless or poor individuals and produced mainly to support these populations. Most such newspapers primarily provide coverage about homelessness and poverty-related issu ...

that is sold mainly by

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

persons as an alternative to panhandling. There are also several ethnic newspapers, including '' The Facts'', ''

Northwest Asian Weekly The ''Northwest Asian Weekly'' is a weekly Asian American newspaper based in Seattle, Washington's International District. Distributed for free, it was founded in 1982 by Assunta Ng, founder of the ''Seattle Chinese Post''. It has a circulation ...

'' and the ''

International Examiner The ''International Examiner'' is a free biweekly Asian American newspaper based in Seattle, Washington's International District. It was founded in 1974 by Gerald Yuasa and Lawrence Imamura to serve what the founders thought were the business i ...

'' as well as numerous neighborhood newspapers. Seattle is also well served by television and radio, with all major U.S. networks represented, along with at least five other English-language stations and two Spanish-language stations. Seattle cable viewers also receive

CBUT CBUT-DT (channel 2) is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBUFT-DT (channel 26). Both stations share ...

2 ( CBC) from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, British Columbia.

Non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that does not, in some sense, involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis. For example, advertising-free community ...

radio stations include

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

affiliates

KUOW-FM KUOW-FM (94.9 MHz) is a National Public Radio member station in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest of the three full-fledged NPR member stations in the Seattle and Tacoma media market, with two Tacoma-based stations, KNKX and KVTI being t ...

94.9 and

KNKX KNKX (88.5 MHz) is a public radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States. A member of National Public Radio (NPR), it airs a jazz and news format for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by Pacific Public Med ...

88.5 (Tacoma), as well as classical music station

KING-FM KING-FM (98.1 MHz; "Classical King FM") is a non-commercial classical music radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Classic Radio, a nonprofit organization. The studios and offices are on Mercer St in Seattle. KING-FM holds perio ...

98.1. Other non-commercial stations include

KEXP-FM KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the non- ...

90.3 (affiliated with the UW),

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popul ...

KBCS-FM 91.3 (affiliated with

Bellevue College Bellevue College (BC) is a public college in Bellevue, Washington, United States. It is the largest of the 34 institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system and the third-largest institution of higher educati ...

), and

high school radio High school radio are radio stations located at high schools and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision. The oldest extant high school AM radio station is AM 1450 KBPS in Portland, Oregon. Portland radio station KBPS, first li ...

KNHC-FM KNHC (89.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a List of broadcast station classes#FM, Class C1 high school radio station based in Seattle, Seattle, Washington. It is the world's oldest, still remaining, dance music station. C89.5 offers a hybrid of current ...

89.5, which broadcasts an electronic dance music

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

, is owned by the public school system and operated by students of Nathan Hale High School. Many Seattle radio stations are available through

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitte ...

, with KEXP in particular being a pioneer of Internet radio. Seattle also has numerous commercial radio stations. In a March 2012 report by the consumer research firm

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging ...

, the top FM stations were

KRWM KRWM (106.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Bremerton, Washington, serving the Seattle/Puget Sound region. It is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and airs an adult contemporary radio format. The station switches to all-Christmas mu ...

(

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

format),

KIRO-FM KIRO-FM (97.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, and serving the Seattle-Tacoma radio market. It airs a news/talk radio format and is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International, a broadcasting compa ...

(

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

), and

KISW KISW (99.9 FM) – branded 99.9 KISW, The Rock of Seattle – is a commercial mainstream rock radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the Seattle metropolitan area; live shows include ''The Men ...

(

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge ...

) while the top AM stations were KOMO (

all news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

KJR (AM) KJR (950 kHz) is an all-sports AM radio station owned by iHeartMedia in Seattle, Washington. KJR is the Puget Sound region's home of Fox Sports Radio and CBS Sports Radio, mostly carrying their national programming, while co-owned 93.3 KJR-FM ...

(

all sports All Sports is the first greatest hits album by Australian rock and pop band The Sports, released in December 1982. The album peaked at number 35 on the Australian Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Austral ...

KIRO (AM) KIRO (710 kHz "Seattle Sports") is a commercial AM radio station in Seattle, Washington, owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International. The station airs a sports radio format and is an ESPN Radio Network affiliate. The station's s ...

(all sports).

Infrastructure

Health systems

The University of Washington is consistently ranked among the country's leading institutions in medical research, earning special merits for programs in neurology and neurosurgery. Seattle has seen local developments of modern paramedic services with the establishment of

Medic One The Seattle & King County Emergency Medical Services System is a fire-based two-tier response system providing prehospital basic and advanced life support services. There are six paramedic provider programs in the system. The Seattle Fire Departm ...

in 1970. In 1974, a ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

'' story on the success of the then four-year-old Medic One paramedic system called Seattle "the best place in the world to have a heart attack". Three of Seattle's largest medical centers are located on First Hill.

Harborview Medical Center Harborview Medical Center is a public hospital located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is managed by UW Medicine. Overview Harborview Medical Center is the designated Disaster Control Hospital for Seat ...

, the public county hospital, is the only Level I trauma hospital in a region that includes Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho.

Virginia Mason Medical Center Virginia Mason Medical Center is an integrated hospital, training and research facility located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It was the founding location, in 1920, of the private, non-profit Virginia Mason health organization; in January 2021, the ...

and

Swedish Medical Center Swedish Health Services, formerly Swedish Medical Center, is the largest nonprofit health provider in the Seattle metropolitan area. It operates five hospital campuses (in the Seattle neighborhoods of First Hill, Cherry Hill and Ballard, and th ...

's two largest campuses are also located in this part of Seattle, including the

Virginia Mason Hospital Virginia Mason Hospital is a 336-bed teaching hospital in Seattle, Washington, part of the Virginia Mason Medical Center. The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). F ...

. This concentration of hospitals resulted in the neighborhood's nickname "Pill Hill". Located in the Laurelhurst neighborhood,

Seattle Children's Seattle Children's, formerly Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, formerly Children's Orthopedic Hospital, is a children's hospital in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The hospital specializes in the care of in ...

, formerly Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, is the pediatric referral center for Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. The

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, formerly known as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and also known as Fred Hutch or The Hutch, is a cancer research institute established in 1975 in Seattle, Washington. History The center grew out ...

has a campus in the Eastlake neighborhood. The University District is home to the

University of Washington Medical Center The University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) is a hospital in the University District of Seattle, Washington. It is one of the teaching hospitals affiliated with the University of Washington School of Medicine.And is located in the Warr ...

which, along with Harborview, is operated by the University of Washington. Seattle is also served by a

Veterans Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

hospital on

Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...

, a third campus of Swedish in Ballard, and

UW Medical Center - Northwest UW Medical Center - Northwest (formerly Northwest Hospital & Medical Center) is a 281-bed hospital in Seattle, Washington. It was built in 1960 and became part of the UW Medicine system in 2010.Kyung M. Songhttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/loc ...

near

Northgate Station Northgate or North Gate may refer to: Historical structures * Northgate, Chester, part of the city wall, in Cheshire, England * St Michael at the North Gate, a church in Oxford, England Places * Northgate, Gauteng, South Africa Australia * Nor ...

Transportation

Link trains at University St station in 2010

King_Street_Station_from_CenturyLink_Field_(18065470218)

The first streetcars appeared in 1889 and were instrumental in the creation of a relatively well-defined downtown and strong neighborhoods at the end of their lines. The advent of the automobile began the dismantling of rail in Seattle. Tacoma–Seattle railway service ended in 1929 and the Everett–Seattle service came to an end in 1939, replaced by automobiles running on the recently developed highway system. Rails on city streets were paved over or removed, and the opening of the Seattle trolleybus system brought the end of streetcars in Seattle in 1941. This left an extensive network of privately owned buses (later public) as the only mass transit within the city and throughout the region.

King County Metro King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

provides frequent stop bus service within the city and surrounding county, as well as the

South Lake Union Streetcar The South Lake Union Streetcar, officially the South Lake Union Line, is a streetcar route in Seattle, Washington, United States, forming part of the Seattle Streetcar system. It travels and connects Downtown Seattle to the South Lake Union ...

line and the

First Hill Streetcar The First Hill Streetcar, officially the First Hill Line, is a streetcar route in Seattle, Washington, United States, forming part of the modern Seattle Streetcar system. It travels between several neighborhoods in central Seattle, including ...

line. Seattle is one of the few cities in North America whose bus fleet includes electric trolleybuses.

Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It operates the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacom ...

provides an express bus service within the metropolitan area, two

Sounder commuter rail Sounder commuter rail is a commuter rail service operated by BNSF on behalf of Sound Transit. Service operates Monday through Friday during peak hours from Seattle, Washington, north to Everett and south to Lakewood. In , the system had a ride ...

lines between the suburbs and downtown, and its 1 Line light rail line between Northgate and Angle Lake.

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals ...

, which manages the largest network of ferries in the United States and third largest in the world, connects Seattle to Bainbridge and Vashon Islands in Puget Sound and to Bremerton and Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula.

in Pioneer Square serves

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

intercity trains and Sounder commuter trains, and is located adjacent to the International District/Chinatown light rail station. According to the 2007 American Community Survey, 18.6% of Seattle residents used one of the three public transit systems that serve the city, giving it the highest transit ridership of all major cities without heavy or light rail prior to the completion of Sound Transit's 1 Line. The city has also been described by

Bert Sperling Bertrand T. Sperling (born 1950 in Brooklyn, New York) is an author and researcher. His books and studies on quality of life in America have made him "an internationally recognized expert on cities." Work Studies Sperling is commissioned to ...

as the fourth most walkable U.S. city and by

Walk Score Walk Score, a subsidiary of Redfin, provides walkability analysis and apartment search tools. Its flagship product is a large-scale, public access walkability index that assigns a numerical walkability score to any address in the United States, U ...

as the sixth most walkable of the fifty largest U.S. cities.

, locally known as Sea-Tac Airport and located just south in the neighboring city of SeaTac, is operated by the Port of Seattle and provides commercial air service to destinations throughout the world. Closer to downtown,

Boeing Field Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport , is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA (King County International Airp ...

is used for general aviation, cargo flights, and testing/delivery of Boeing airliners. A secondary passenger airport,

Paine Field Paine Field , also known as Snohomish County Airport, is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in unincorporated Snohomish County, Washington, between th ...

, opened in 2019 and is located in Everett, north of Seattle. It is predominantly used by Boeing and their large assembly plant located nearby. The main mode of transportation, however, is the street system, which is laid out in a

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are a ...

grid pattern In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...

, except in the central business district where early city leaders Arthur Denny and

Carson Boren Carson Dobbins Boren (December 12, 1824 – August 19, 1912) was an early founder of Seattle, Washington (see Denny Party). His sister Mary Ann was married to Arthur Denny, and his sister Louisa to David Denny. Boren was the first King County ...

insisted on orienting the plats relative to the shoreline rather than to true North. Only two roads,

and

State Route 99 International * European route E99 Australia * Springbrook Road, Queensland Canada * British Columbia Highway 99 * Ontario Highway 99 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 99 China * G99 Expressway India * National Highway 99 (India) I ...

(both limited-access highways) run uninterrupted through the city from north to south. From 1953 to 2019, State Route 99 ran through downtown Seattle on the

Alaskan Way Viaduct The Alaskan Way Viaduct ("the viaduct" for short) was an elevated freeway in Seattle, Washington, United States, that carried a section of State Route 99 (SR 99). The double-decked freeway ran north–south along the city's waterfront for , e ...

, an elevated freeway on the waterfront. However, due to damage sustained during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake the viaduct was replaced by a tunnel. The

Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel The State Route 99 tunnel, also known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, is a bored highway tunnel in the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. The , double-decker tunnel carries a section of State Route 99 (SR 99) under ...

was originally scheduled to be completed in December 2015 at a cost of US$4.25 billion. The world's largest

tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...

, named "

Bertha Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy". The name occurs as a theonym, s ...

", was commissioned for the project, measuring in diameter. The tunnel's opening was delayed to February 2019 due to issues with the tunnel boring machine, which included a two-year halt in excavation. Seattle has the 8th worst traffic congestion of all American cities, and is 10th among all North American cities according to

Inrix INRIX is a private company headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, US. It provides location-based data and software-as-a-service analytics — such as real-time and historical traffic conditions, road safety, and parking availability — to automa ...

. The city has started moving away from the automobile and towards mass transit. From 2004 to 2009, the annual number of unlinked public transportation trips increased by approximately 21%. In 2006, voters in King County passed the Transit Now proposition, which increased bus service hours on high ridership routes and paid for five

limited-stop In public transit, particularly bus, tram, or train transportation, a limited-stop (or sometimes referred to as semi-fast) service is a trip pattern that stops less frequently than a local service. Many limited-stop or semi-fast services are a com ...

bus lines called

RapidRide RapidRide is a network of limited-stop bus routes with some bus rapid transit features in King County, Washington, operated by King County Metro. The network consists of six routes totaling 64 miles that carried riders on approximately 64,860 tr ...

. After rejecting a roads and transit measure in 2007, Seattle-area voters passed a transit only measure in 2008 to increase ST Express bus service, extend the

Link light rail Link light rail is a light rail rapid transit system serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit providers, and consists of two non-connected lines: ...

system, and expand and improve

service. A light rail line (now the 1 Line) from downtown heading south to Sea-Tac Airport began service on December 19, 2009, giving the city its first rapid transit line with intermediate stations within the city limits. An extension north to the

opened on March 19, 2016, followed by the Northgate extension in October 2021. Further extensions are planned to reach

Lynnwood Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located north of Seattle and south of Everett, near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405. It is the four ...

to the north,

Federal Way Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-larges ...

to the south, and Bellevue and Redmond to the east by 2025. Voters in the Puget Sound region approved an additional tax increase in November 2016 to expand light rail to West Seattle and Ballard as well as Tacoma, Everett, and Issaquah.

Utilities

Water and electric power are municipal services, provided by

Seattle Public Utilities Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is a public utility agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, which provides water, sewer, drainage and garbage services for 1.3 million people in King County, Washington. The agency was established in 199 ...

and

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park and parts of unincorporated King County, Burien, No ...

, respectively. Other utility companies serving Seattle include

Puget Sound Energy Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is an energy utility company based in the U.S. state of Washington that provides electrical power and natural gas to the Puget Sound region. The utility serves electricity to more than 1.1 million customers in Island, K ...

(natural gas, electricity),

Seattle Steam Company CenTrio, formerly known as the Seattle Steam Company, is a district heating public utility that provides steam (generated by burning natural gas, diesel oil, and recycled wood) to over 175 businesses in downtown Seattle and on First and Capi ...

(steam),

Waste Management, Inc Waste Management, Inc., doing business as WM, is a waste management, comprehensive waste, and environmental services company operating in North America. Founded in 1968, the company is headquartered in the Bank of America Tower in Houston, Tex ...

and

Recology Recology, formerly known as Norcal Waste Systems, is a waste management company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company collects and processes municipal solid waste, reclaiming reusable materials. The company also operates transfer ...

CleanScapes (curbside recycling, composting, and solid waste removal),

CenturyLink Lumen Technologies, Inc. (formerly CenturyLink) is an American telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, that offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice, and managed services. The company is ...

Frontier Communications Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. (known as Citizens Utilities Company until May 2000 and Citizens Communications Company until July 31, 2008) is an American telecommunications company. The company previously served primarily rural areas and s ...

Wave Broadband WaveDivision Holdings, LLC, doing business as Wave Broadband, is an American provider of residential, business, and enterprise class cable TV, broadband Internet, and telephone services to around 455,000 customers in Washington, Oregon, and ...

, and

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

(telecommunications and television). About 90% of Seattle's

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

is produced using

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...

. Less than 2% of electricity is produced using fossil fuels.

International relations

Seattle has the following

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

: *

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. A ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

* Chongqing, China * Christchurch, New Zealand * Daejeon, South Korea * Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland * Gdynia, Poland * Haiphong, Vietnam * Kaohsiung,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

* Kobe, Japan * Limbe, Cameroon, Limbe, Cameroon * Mombasa, Kenya * Nantes, France * Pécs, Hungary * Perugia, Italy * Reykjavík, Iceland * Sihanoukville (city), Sihanoukville, Cambodia * Surabaya, Indonesia * Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

*
Historylink.org
history of Seattle and Washington

* [http://cdm15015.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15015coll4 Seattle Historic Photograph Collection from the Seattle Public Library]
Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project

Seattle, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
{{Authority control Seattle, Cities in Washington (state) Cities in King County, Washington 1853 establishments in Oregon Territory Cities in the Seattle metropolitan area County seats in Washington (state) Isthmuses of the United States Populated places established in 1853 Populated places on Puget Sound Port settlements in Washington (state) Washington placenames of Native American origin

History

Founding

Parks and recreation

Government and politics

Education

Media

Infrastructure

Health systems

Transportation

Utilities

International relations

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links