Jan 6, 2010 – ‘Home sweet homepage’ facebook photo contest winning photo of the Seattle skyline by Justin Kraemer

Seattle is a major seaport located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington state on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The encompassing Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan statistical area is the 15th largest in the United States, and the largest in the northwestern United States.  The major economic, cultural and educational center in the region, Seattle is the county seat of King County. As of 1 April 2009, the city had an estimated municipal population of 602,000.

The Seattle area has been inhabited for at least 4,000 years, but European settlement began only in the mid-19th century. The first permanent European settlers — Arthur A. Denny and those subsequently known as the Denny Party — arrived November 13, 1851. Early settlements in the area were called “New York-Alki” (“Alki” meaning “by and by” in the local Chinook Jargon) and “Duwamps”. In 1853, Doc Maynard suggested that the main settlement be renamed “Seattle”, an anglicized rendition of the name of Sealth, the chief of the two local tribes. From 1869 until 1882, Seattle was known as the “Queen City”. Seattle’s current official nickname is the “Emerald City”, the result of a contest held in the early 1980s; the reference is to the lush evergreen forests of the area. Seattle is also referred to informally as the “Gateway to Alaska”, “Rain City”, and “Jet City”, the last from the local influence of Boeing. Seattle residents are known as Seattleites.