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Seattle Facts

Fact Sheet

Seattle Facts

NAME
Seattle is a derivative of the Indian name “Sealth.” Sealth was a chief of the Suquamish tribe at the time the first white settlers arrived in 1851.

SETTLED
November 13, 1851 by the Denny Party, who had made their way from Portland, Oregon to what is now Alki Point in West Seattle.

GEOGRAPHY
Seattle is located at latitude 47.39’N, longitude 122.17’W, on the eastern shore of Puget Sound, approximately 90 air miles east of the Pacific coastline and 113 miles south of the U.S.-Canadian border (49th Parallel).

Seattle-83.9 sq. miles
Metro area-4,424.9 sq. miles
King County-2,126.1 sq. miles

Seattle has 147.52 miles of fresh water shoreline and 53.38 miles of salt water shoreline for a total of 200.90 miles of shoreline.
Source: Seattle Comptroller’s Office

Puget Sound has 500 square miles of water, 1,400 miles of shoreline and some 300 islands. The average depth is 205 feet with a maximum depth of 930 feet. The average water temperature is 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

POPULATION
City of Seattle *2010 - 612,000; *2007 - 586,200; 2003 - 569,101
King County    *2010 - 1,933,400; *2007 - 1,861,300; 2003 - 1,737,034
Washington state *2010 - 6,733,300; *2007 - 6,488,000; 2003 - 6,098,300

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
*Estimations by Washington State’s Office of Financial Management

DEMOGRAPHICS-Seattle
White-68%
African American-8.2%
Native American-1.2%
Asian-14.4%
Pacific Islander-0.3%
Hispanic/Latino (of any race)-6.3%
Other race/ethnic group-3.2%
Two or more races-3.9%

DEMOGRAPHICS-Washington State
White-81.2%
African-American-3.3%
Native American-1.4%
Asian-6.6%
Pacific Islander-0.5%
Hispanic/Latino (of any race)-8.8%
Other race/ethnic group-3.7%
Two or more races-3.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey

CLIMATE
Average Temperatures (Fahrenheit)

Jan.-44.9°/35.0°
Feb.-49.0°/36.6°
March-52.2°/38.2°
April-57.5°/41.3°
May-64.2°/46.5°
June-69.4°/51.4°
July-75.2°/54.7°
Aug.-74.8°/54.9°
Sep.-69.4°/51.4°
Oct.-59.3°/45.4°
Nov.-50.4°/39.5°
Dec.-45.5°/36.0°

Source: Official readings of the Western Regional Climate Center taken at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from 1948-2007.

Annual precipitation
Seattle, WA-37.04”
Boston, MA-42.53”
Houston, TX-47.84”
Miami, FL-58.53”
New York, NY-49.69”
Washington, DC-41.80”

Climate records*
Seattle, WA
Highest temperature-103°-July 29, 2009
Lowest temperature-0°-January 31, 1950
Most rainfall/year-55.14”-1950
Most rainfall/month-15.63”-November 2006
Most rainfall/day-5.02”-October 20, 2003

*Source: Official readings of the Western Regional Climate Center taken at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from 1931-2006. Annual precipitation readings from the National Climatic Data Center 1971-2000.

VISITOR STATISTICS
Total Number of Seattle/King Co. Visitors
2009-8.80 Million
2008-9.34 Million
2007-9.49 Million
2006-9.41 Million
2005-9.10 Million
2004-8.73 Million
2003-8.50 Million

Total Seattle/King Co. Visitor Expenditures
2009-6.90 Billion USD
2008-5.14 Billion USD
2007-5.16 Billion USD
2006-4.75 Billion USD
2005-4.33 Billion USD
2004-3.97 Billion USD
2003-3.77 Billion USD

Source: King County Visitor Impact Study by Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau and CIC Research, Inc; and Dean Runyan Associates for Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau

ACCOMMODATIONS
Hotel rooms available in Downtown Seattle: 12,750
Hotel rooms in close proximity to the Washington State Convention Center: 8,998
Hotel rooms available in King County: 34,223,

Source: Smith Travel Research, Inc. and Seattle Convention and Visitor Bureau data

LARGEST HOTELS-NUMBER OF GUESTROOMS
Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Towers-1,258
Westin Seattle Hotel-891
Fairmont Olympic Hotel-450
Renaissance Seattle Hotel-553
Grand Hyatt Seattle-425

TRANSPORTATION
TAXI COMPANIES AND DISPATCH NUMBERS
Farwest Taxi-(206) 622-1717
Orange Cab-(206) 522-8800
STITA Taxi-(206) 246-9999
Yellow Cab-(206) 622-6500

BUS/RAIL/WATER TRANSPORTATION
King County Metro Transit-(206) 553-3000
Greyhound-Interstate bus-(800) 231-2222
Amtrak-(800) 872-7245
Washington State Ferries-(888) 808-7977
Victoria Clipper-(800) 888-2535
Sound Transit Link light rail-(800) 201-4900

MAJOR AIR TRANSPORTATION
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Location: 15 miles south of downtown Seattle
Serves: 27 airlines, 31.2 million passengers a year and 91 non-stop destinations, 75 domestic and 16 international.

Information: (206) 431-4444 or www.portseattle.org/seatac

Air miles to Major Cities from Seattle: Atlanta - 2,796; Chicago - 2,114; Denver - 1,350; Houston - 2,367; Los Angeles - 1,261; New York - 2,952; Portland - 175; San Francisco - 843; Vancouver, B.C. - 120; Tokyo - 4,785; Hong Kong - 6,639; London 4,792.

CRUISE INDUSTRY
Bell Street Cruise Terminal at Pier 66 and Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91
Locations: Seattle’s central and northern waterfront areas.
Serves: 6 major cruise lines including Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean.

Information: (206) 615-3900 or www.portseattle.org/seaport/cruise

TAXES
Sales tax-9.5%
Hotel tax-15.6%
Car rental tax-19.2%

EDUCATION
37.4% of people in Seattle hold a college degree according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
University of Washington
Seattle University
Seattle Pacific University
Art Institute of Seattle
Cornish College of the Arts

COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGES
Seattle Central Community College
South Seattle Community College
North Seattle Community College

SISTER CITIES
Beer Sheva, Israel, est. 1977
Bergen, Norway, est. 1967
Cebu, Philippines, est. 1991
Chongqing, China, est. 1983
Christchurch, New Zealand; est. 1981
Daejon, Korea, est. 1989
Galway, Ireland, est. 1986
Gdynia, Poland, est. 1993
Haiphong, Vietnam, est. 1996
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, est. 1991
Kobe, Japan, est. 1957
Limbe, Cameroon, est. 1984
Mazatlán, Mexico, est. 1979
Mombasa, Kenya, est. 1981
Nantes, France, est. 1980
Pécs, Hungary, est. 1991
Perugia, Italy, est. 1991
Reykjavic, Iceland, est. 1986
Sihanoukville, Cambodia, est. 1999
Surabaya, Indonesia; est. 1992
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, est. 1973

# # #

Contacts:
David Blandford – (206) 461-5806/dblandford@visitseattle.org
Heather Bryant – (206) 461-5805/hbryant@visitseattle.org

Updated: 10/10

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