Seattle, Washington
| Seattle | |
| City in the United States | |
| Nickname: ” The Emerald City “ | |
| Location | |
| State | Washington |
| County | King County |
| Coordinates | 47°34’NB, 122°19’WL |
| General | |
| Surface | 367,96 km² |
| – land | 217,19 km² |
| – water | 150,77 km² |
| Residents (April 1, 2020) |
737.015 (3393 inhabitants/km²) |
| – agglomeration | 3.579.550 |
| Politics | |
| Mayor | Bruce Harrell (D) |
| Website | seattle.gov |
| Photo’s | |
Seattle (pronunciation (info / explanation) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Washington, with an estimated population of 744,955 as of June 2018. The metropolitan area had about 3,579,550 residents one year later. It is the 22nd largest city and 15th metropolitan area in the United States by population. Seattle has an area of 237.2 km², of which about 3.5 percent is water.
According to simplyyellowpages, Seattle is located on an isthmus and is bordered to the west by Puget Sound and Elliott Bay and to the east by Lake Washington. These waters are connected by the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which is located just north of downtown. The town is located 155 kilometers south of the border with Canada as the crow flies. The site has been inhabited for over 4,000 years and is named after the Native American chief of Seattle. The first European to visit Seattle was George Vancouver in 1792. The Denny Party founded the city in 1852.
The Port of Seattle is the seventh largest port in the United States and the headquarters of Amazon.com and Starbucks, among others, are located in Seattle. The 1962 World ‘s Fair and the 1990 Goodwill Games were held there. The famous Space Needle was opened during this world exhibition.
The residents of Seattle are called Seattleites and a commonly used abbreviation for the city is SEA.
Demographics
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Seattle had a population of 652,405 on July 1, 2013, making it the 21st largest city in the United States. The city’s population density is 2615.5 inhabitants/km² and the metropolitan area of Seattle had an estimated 3,579,550 inhabitants in 2014, making it the 15th metropolitan area in the United States.
2010 census
In 2010, Seattle had a population of 608,660, of which 304,030 were men (49.95%) and 304,630 women (50.05%). Compared to other major US cities, Seattle has relatively few people under the age of 18 (15.4%) and a relatively normal number of people over 65 (10.8%). Half of the population was under 36.4 years old. Most major U.S. cities had more blacks than whites, but in Seattle, 69.5% of the population was white. In addition to whites, there were also quite a few Asians (13.8%) and Hispanics (6.6%) living in Seattle. About 78.2 percent of the population speaks mainly English at home, which was also very high compared to other American cities. In 2009 1.9 percent of the population of Seattle had Dutch nationality.
2009 community survey
In Seattle, 376,954 people were part of the workforce in 2009. 6.6 percent of these were unemployed. The median household income in Seattle was $87,707. This was more than the median household income in the United States, which was $60,528 in 2004. In Seattle, 6.8 percent of families lived below the poverty line in 2009. 8.0 percent of households had an average income of more than $200,000.
There were 304,164 homes in Seattle, of which 21,684 were vacant (7.1%). Most of these homes were built before 1960 and 29.8 percent of the homes were even built before 1939. Half of the homes in Seattle were worth more than $453,000 and 7 percent of the homes were even more expensive than $1 million. Of the 304,164 homes, 143,593 homes were let (47%).
Seattle residents were highly educated in 2009 compared to residents of other major cities. For example, 56 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the other major US cities, this ranged from 12.4 percent in Detroit to 48.5 percent in Washington. Also, on average, many people in Seattle had completed high school. In 2009 this was 92.5 percent.
Economy
Boeing Assembly Hall in Everett
Seattle is an important trading center within the United States. For example, the seventh largest port in the United States is located in Seattle. There are also many large companies that come out of Seattle. Seattle is home to four Fortune 500 companies , Starbucks, Amazon.com, Nordstrom and Expeditors International. The Seattle metropolitan area is home to eight Fortune 500 companies and ten companies from Forbes ‘ top 2000 most important companies in the world. These include Microsoft and Expedia Group. Amazon.com (7) and Starbucks (19) were on Forbes ‘ list of most innovative companies. Other major companies such as Bank of America, Boeing, Nintendo and Wells Fargo are also located in the Seattle metropolitan area. Seattle’s largest employer is Boeing, which has approximately 70,000 employees, followed by Microsoft with approximately 40,000 employees.
In 2007, there were 73,997 companies in the city of Seattle with a total of 467,048 employees. The metropolitan area of Seattle employs a total of 1.93 million people. The conurbation has a bmp of $218.77 billion. One of the most important sectors of the economy is aviation, partly because Boeing’s assembly hall is located in nearby Everett. In addition to this assembly hall, there are also 650 companies involved in aviation. Aviation employed approximately 84,400 people in 2009, generating a total revenue of $32 billion in Washington state.
Another important sector is information and communication technology. For example, within the metropolitan area of Seattle, the headquarters of Microsoft, Amazon.com and RealNetworks are located . There are a total of 109,000 ICT jobs in the Seattle metropolitan area and a turnover of $13.6 billion.
Cleantech is also an important sector. For example, in 2009 the Seattle metropolitan area employed 20,500 people in cleantech. Hydropower plays a major role in Seattle in cleantech. For example, the state’s hydroelectric power grid is the largest in the world and 73% of Washington’s electricity is generated by hydroelectric power plants.
Another sector, in which many people work, is the tourism sector. In total, 53,000 people work in this sector.
Tourism
Space Needle (184 m)
Tourism is a major source of income in Seattle. In total, there are approximately 53,000 jobs in Seattle within the tourism industry. In 2012, 10.2 million people vacationed in Seattle. In total, they spent $5.9 billion, of which $479 million was tax. Compared to 2003, tourism has grown when 8.5 million tourists vacationed in the city and spent $3.77 billion.
In total, there are nearly 35,000 hotel rooms in King County. Seattle’s largest hotel is the Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Towers with a total of 1,258 hotel rooms. Other major hotels include the 891-room Westing Seattle Hotel and the 450-room Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
Sights
- Chittenden Locks
- Experience Music Project
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- Museum of Flight
- Museum of History and Industry
- Olympic Sculpture Park
- Pacific Science Center
- Pike Place Market
- Pioneer Square
- Seattle Aquarium
- Seattle Art Museum
- Seattle Asian Art Museum
- Seattle Great Wheel
- Seattle Underground
- Seattle Waterfront
- Space Needle
- Starbucks Pike Place Market
- Woodland Park Zoo
Education
Central Library
There are approximately 200 elementary, middle and high schools in Seattle, of which about 105 are private schools. These schools have a total of 71,520 students. Of these, 49,870 students attend a public school and 21,650 students attend a private school. Seattle is also home to 16 colleges and eight universities, the largest of which is the University of Washington with 43,485 students. There are approximately 59,000 students at these eight universities. In addition, they also provide nearly 13,000 jobs.
The Seattle Public Library has 28 branches in Seattle, the largest of which is the Central Library. The Central Library is housed in a futuristic building and has a collection of more than 1.2 million books. The city spends more than $50 million annually on libraries. The first library opened in April 1869, but the Seattle Library Association has been in existence since August 7, 1868. Seattle is a UNESCO City of Literature.
Healthcare
Seattle ‘s birth rate was 12.9 in 2011. That same year, the death rate was 7.0. Compared to 1980, both the birth and death rates have fallen, but the death rate has fallen the most. The birth rate was then 13.2 and the death rate at 11.5. The infant mortality rate has also fallen sharply. This was 7.0 in 1995 and 3.9 in 2011. Life expectancy in Seattle is quite high, being 77.5 years for men and 81.9 years for women. In fact, Seattle has the fifth-highest life expectancy of any major US city.
There are a total of 33 hospitals in Seattle. The University of Seattle Medical Center ranked first among Seattle’s best hospitals on a list by US News & World Report.
Security
Police
Police on horseback
The Seattle Police Department has been in existence since December 2, 1886, but the area has had a marshal before this since 1861. The police currently consists of 1,870.75 FTEs, of which 868 FTEs are police officers, 548.75 are civilian officers, 195 FTEs are detectives, 147 FTEs are sergeants, 44 FTEs are police trainees, 43 FTEs are lieutenants, 18 FTEs are captains and 7 fte from the board. This includes the 29 employees of the SWAT, parking attendants and the 15 employees of the dog team. Seattle is divided into five police districts, namely North, West, East, South and Southwest. Seattle also has a water police. The police headquarters is located in the West precinct.
Criminal activity in Seattle has declined sharply in recent years. For example, more than 70,000 crimes were committed in 1988, compared to about 35,000 in 2012. Car thefts have declined most in recent years. In 2000, for example, almost 1500 cars were stolen per 100,000 inhabitants. This had decreased by 63% in 2009 to less than 550. Since 2000, the number of murders and rapes has also decreased by almost 50%. The number of robberies and burglaries has increased since 2000. Currently, most crimes are committed in and around Downtown. Many crimes are also committed around the University District.
More than 800,000 calls were made to the emergency center in 2009 and the average arrival time in the event of an emergency was 6.5 minutes.
Fire Department
The Seattle Fire Department has been in existence since October 17, 1889 and currently has 33 stations. The fire service’s equipment consists of 33 fire engines and the number of employees is 1,065, of which 84 are volunteers. In addition to extinguishing fires, the fire service also provides medical assistance. This is ensured by the “Medic One Program”, started in 1970. In 2012, the fire service provided a total of 69,082 medical aids, of which 49,696 were CPR. The fire brigade went to a total of 12,651 fires in the year 2012. Compared to 1995, the number of resuscitations has increased considerably, but other forms of medical assistance have remained more or less the same. In 1995, for example, the fire service provided medical assistance a total of 50,528 times, of which 32,084 were resuscitations. The number of fires has decreased compared to 1995. In 1995 the fire brigade went to 14,737 fires.
Town twinning
- Kobe (since 1957)
- Mountains (since 1967)
- Tashkent (since 1973)
- Beer Sheva (since 1977)
- Mazatlan (sinds 1979)
- Nantes (since 1980)
- Christchurch (since 1981)
- Mombasa (since 1981)
- Chongqing (sinds 1983)
- Limbe (since 1984)
- Galway (sinds 1986)
- Reykjavik (since 1986)
- Daejeon (since 1989)
- Cebu City (sinds 1991)
- Kaohsiung (since 1991)
- Pécs (since 1991)
- Perugia (since 1991)
- Surabaya (since 1992)
- Gdynia (since 1993)
- Hai Phong (sinds 1996)
- Sihanoukville (since 1999)