An important industrial and commercial city and port in the northwestern United States. Puget Sound near the Pacific Ocean. The population is 488,000 (65,438+0.984), and the metropolitan area (including Wallis) is 65,438+0.6 million (65,438+0.980). A large trading port in the northwest of the United States, with huge port facilities, is a sea and air passage to Alaska and the Far East. Financial center. Established in 1852. Industry is developed. Boeing's headquarters factory is here, producing more than 50% of the world's jetliners. Other industries include steel, aluminum products, clothing, wood and wood processing, pulp, canned food, shipbuilding, automobile assembly and so on. Fishing fleet and yacht base. Beautiful scenery, with Mount Rainier National Park in the southeast and Olympic Mountain Park in the west. A famous tourist attraction. There is seattle-tacoma international airport in the southern suburbs. There are universities such as Washington University (established in 186 1).

This is not Venice, but blue lagoons and Wang Yang can be seen everywhere; This is not a casino, but you can dream of panning for gold; This is not the Champs Elysé es in Paris, but the romantic smell of coffee is not diminished; This is the most lively city in the northwest of the United States-Seattle.

When I think of Seattle, I really can't find a more suitable word to describe it except romance. The romantic image, once famous for the movie Sleepless in Seattle, is not regarded as a call for sightseeing, and there are no related products or image signs of movie posters in urban areas. But the taste of Seattle is still inseparable from the romantic taste, which is a natural presentation, without media packaging and deliberate business culture.

Tracing back to the history of Seattle, it is only a short period of 150 years, and most of the data records are from Pioneer Square. 185 1 A group of immigrants came to Seattle from new york and camped near Pioneer Square. These people are regarded as pioneers in Seattle. So many streets are based on them. Seattle is located in Puget Sound, Washington, with a coastline and lakeshore of 80 kilometers. It has a total area of 2 18 square kilometers and a population of 540,000, but it is within13 miles (182 kilometers) of the US-Canada border.

Indians who have lived in North America since ancient times have been living a self-sufficient tribal life by hunting and fishing in deep forests. They are indigenous people here, but their history is not recorded in the general history of the United States. The pioneers in Seattle, out of respect for this group of Duamish natives who have lived in Elliot Bay for a long time, directly named the new land of this immigrant land after Chief Schiers. Because of some oral misinformation, it finally became Seattle, which is the origin of Seattle's name.

The main attractions and the most popular urban sightseeing and entertainment attractions include Seattle Center and Space Needle Tower, Park Market, Pioneer Square, the famous Nordstorm Department Store, Starbucks Coffee and so on. For people in Seattle, drinking coffee is a natural thing in life, just like sunshine, air, flowers and water, it is a natural thing in daily life, so I won't elaborate. However, when you walk into Seattle, you will inevitably fall in love with espresso all over the street. From Starbucks coffee with international chain posture, Seattle gourmet coffee named after Seattle directly, from Torrefazione Italia invaded by Italy to Tully's Coffee favored by Japanese media, four famous brands took the lead in entering Seattle, a romantic coffee capital, occupying various streets, as well as important shopping malls, shopping centers or airports and stations, with different styles and characteristics. In addition, there are many personalized cafes hidden in unknown corners of various communities, or espresso bars that often appear in streets and alleys. In Seattle, you can see the word cafe every 100 meters on average, and there are countless cafes that make tourists stunned. As for the word Seattle, people can sit comfortably in cafes and meditate, walk down the street with umbrellas and twist their waists and hips at will. Seattle is such a deep style. How to define it is left to you to understand slowly.

history

Seattle canopy

build

The earliest and most important white immigrants in Seattle arrived here in 185 1 year 1 month1year. 1852 In April, they moved the residential area to Elliot Bay. The first city map was drawn on May 23rd, 1853. From 1865 to 1867, it is a town, and from 1869, it officially becomes a city.

Seattle's name comes from Cyert, the chief of a Duwamish and Sogwamish tribe.

milestone

Major events in Seattle include 1889 fire (the central business district was destroyed, but no one was killed), 1909 Alaska-Youkang-Pacific Expo (Washington University was established at the Expo site), 19 19 Seattle strike (the first strike in the United States), and In February, 200012000, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale occurred in Seattle, but the damage was limited.

economic history

Seattle has experienced periods of development and depression. As the headquarters city of a big company, some people even think that it will shrink in a recession. But in the meantime, it usually succeeds in rebuilding the infrastructure.

The first great development was the development of wood industry in the early city. /kloc-the gold rush at the end of 0/9 also brought a short-term small development to Seattle.

The shipbuilding industry in the early 20th century also brought prosperity to Seattle. After World War II, Seattle's economy benefited from Boeing's prosperity brought by the development of commercial aviation industry. The depression of the aviation industry in the late 1960s and early 1970s forced many people to leave Seattle. Two local real estate developers posted slogans: "Please turn off the lights for those who leave Seattle last."

Seattle was the headquarters of Boeing until 200 1. In 200 1 year, Boeing Company indicated that it intended to move its headquarters and future Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) production line out of Washington State. Many cities are competing to become Boeing's headquarters and new production center with low taxes. Finally, Boeing's headquarters moved to Chicago, but the Boeing 787 production line remained in the Greater Seattle area. Seattle is still home to Boeing commercial aircraft, some Boeing factories and Boeing employees' credit union.

The recent development mainly comes from Microsoft and other software, Internet and communication companies, such as Amazon, RealNetworks and AT&T Wireless. Even the local Starbucks headquarters has invested in many Internet and software companies. This new development ended at the beginning of 200 1, but many of these companies are still quite strong.

Residents and culture

Human population

According to the census in 2000, there are 563,374 residents in Seattle. There are about 3.7 million people in Puget Sound metropolitan area, of which about 73.4% are white, which is the highest proportion of white people in the northern cities of the United States. 4.7% people say that they are descendants of many nationalities, which is also one of the highest cities in the United States. There are 13.7 1% Asians, 8.44% Africans, 1. 1% Native Americans, 0.5% Pacific natives and 6.84% non-whites.

In the past ten years, many legal and illegal immigrants have come to Seattle. From 1990 to 2000, the floating population increased by 40%. Although only 5.28% of the population was Hispanic in the 2000 census, the Hispanic population is the fastest growing among all the population in Washington State. It is estimated that it increased by 10% from 2000 to 2002.

It is estimated that about 1.25% people are homeless, of which 14% are teenagers.

In 2005, men's bodybuilding magazine named Seattle the most bodybuilding city in America.

landmark

The Space Needle Tower held a fireworks display on New Year's Day. The most special landmark in Seattle is the Space Needle Tower, which was built by 1962 for the 2 1 century Expo. The Expo site around it was changed to Seattle Center, which is still the venue for many important folk and artistic activities.

Other famous landmarks include Smith Tower, Park Market and Seattle Music Experience Hall (EMP Experience Music Project), New Seattle Central Library and Bank of America Building, which is the fourth tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi River in the United States and the 12 tallest skyscraper in the United States.

Annual cultural activities and exhibitions

The most famous cultural activities in Seattle include the 24-day Seattle International Film Festival, the Northwest Life Festival held on Memorial Day weekend, the summer maritime Expo, the Seattle Bite and the Bumbershoot held on Labor Day weekend. Usually thousands of people attend these festivals. Marijuana Festival and Independence Day Parade always attract many people.

Dozens of downtown Seattle hold one or more street festivals every year, and many people hold parades or competitions every year. The largest street art festival includes hundreds of stalls, artists and many performance stages, with hundreds of people attending, and the smallest is only a dozen stalls and artists, which is similar to a large-scale market.

Other important events include running dances organized by many Indians, a Greek festival and national festivals held by many different nationalities.

Like many other big cities, there are many other small-scale activities in Seattle, such as book fairs, special film festivals and two-day bicycle races from Seattle to Portland for about 8,000 people every year.

performing arts

Seattle is the center of the performing arts. The Seattle Symphony Orchestra has a history of hundreds of years, and it is one of the symphony orchestras that have released the most records in the world. The Seattle Opera House and the Northwest Pacific Ballet are also famous. Seattle Opera House is especially famous for wilhelm richard wagner's performance, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School is one of the three most famous ballet schools in the United States.

There are about 20 theaters in Seattle.

Seattle is also very diverse and very active in pop music and modern music.

Museums and art collections

Henry Art Museum, the most famous building in Seattle around 1893, is the first museum in Washington State. Opening of Seattle Art Museum 1933. Frye Art Museum, Center for Contemporary Art and seattle asian art museum also have art collections.

Museum of History &; The Museum of Industry and Bourcq Natural History and Culture, the Klondike Gold Rush Museum, the Wooden House Museum and the Northwest Coast Guard Museum collect regional history. Wooden Boat Center, Northwest Harbor Marine Heritage Center, Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum and Flight Museum, Odyssey Maritime Exploration Center and Puget Sound Vehicle Transportation Service Center mainly collect industrial technology. Nordic Heritage Museum and Rockwell Asia Museum mainly collect national traditions.

Other cultural facilities

Woodland Park Zoo was established in 1889. It is one of the oldest zoos on the west coast of the United States and a pioneer in inventing nature zoos. 1977 Seattle Aquarium opens.

Media world

The most important newspapers in Seattle are the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post, which share their advertising and business departments. Important weekly magazines include Seattle Weekly and Stranger, both of which are free. The former is an unofficial newspaper in Seattle, which often reports the dark side that the official newspapers in China or Seattle can't. The latter reports non-mainstream news about homosexuality for some alternative readers.

There are also many TV stations and radio stations in Seattle.

sports

Team project alliance home court

Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball Sevco Stadium

Seattle Seahawk Football American Football League Quest Stadium

Seattle Audio Football NFL Group 1 (Men)

American Football Western Union (Women's) Quest Stadium

Seattle Storm Basketball American Women's Basketball Association Ke Arianna

Seattle supersonics Basketball Team and American Basketball Association.

Seattle Thunderbird hockey team of American Western Hockey League.

The first modern professional team in Seattle was seattle supersonics (basketball). 1969, Seattle pilots joined the baseball team. The names of both teams are related to the local aircraft industry. A year later, the pilot moved to Milwaukee. The football team Seattle Seahawks was founded in 1976, and the baseball team Seattle Mariners was founded in 1977.

The first team to win the national championship for Seattle was the ice hockey team Seattle Mets. They won the American championship with 19 17.

In addition, Washington University, seattle university and Seattle Pacific University also have teams (such as football and basketball).

education

The average educational level of Seattle residents is higher than that of the United States. 36% of the population has a master's degree or above, and 93% of the population graduated from institutions of higher learning. In addition to schools, adult training classes and home schools in Seattle are also very strong.

Like public schools in most other big cities in the United States, public schools in Seattle are often controversial. Although schools in Seattle abolished racial segregation without a court decision, it is not easy to achieve racial equality in every school in an apartheid city. Although some schools have better grades than others, their parents' education and school practices are different from those in the areas where they live.

Besides public schools, there are some private schools in Seattle: four Catholic schools, one Protestant school and six secular schools.

The most important university in Seattle is the University of Washington, which has more than 40,000 students and is the largest university in the northwest of the United States. In addition, there are seattle university (a Jesuit university) and Seattle Pacific University (a Protestant university) in the city. In addition, there are some small colleges and universities in art, business and psychology in Seattle.

Government and politics

The mayor of Seattle and the members of nine other city committees are elected every year, as are city lawyers. None of these positions are part-time.

Seattle provides more infrastructure such as drinking water, waste water and electricity than many other American cities, and the charges and management are also handled by the cities themselves. But garbage and recycling are handled by private companies.

Like most other cities and counties in the United States, legal institutions deal with most crimes. The city court in Seattle mainly deals with trivial matters such as fines for wrong parking. Seattle has its own prison. In 2004, there were 24 murders in this city, the lowest year since 1965. Since 1994, the crime rate has dropped by 42%, and there are about 7 crimes per 1000 residents. The crime rate of car theft has increased by 44%.

Seattle's politics is more left than the American average, but there are also some conservative urban areas. In most elections, the US Democratic Party and the Green Party won.

Official nicknames, city flowers, aphorisms and city songs

Starting from 1869, Seattle's nickname is "City of Queens". 198 1, the city officially chose a new nickname. 1982 announced that the winner was "Yucheng". It depicts the abundant rain around Seattle. Another title of Seattle, "City of Airplanes", is not an official nickname.

Dahlia has been the city flower of Seattle since 19 13. The city song of Seattle since 1909 is "Seattle, an unparalleled city", and its motto since 1942 is "Flower Market". Forty-eight years later, it was added because of the goodwill games.

sister city

Barsjo, Palestine and Israel

Cebu, Philippines

Christchurch New Zealand

Irish golf.

Haiphong, Vietnam

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Limbe, Cameroon

Mombasa, Kenya

Page, Hungary

Reykjavik, Iceland

Surabaya, Indonesia

Bergen, Norway

Chongqing, China

Datian, Korea

Gdynia, Poland

Izmir, Turkey

Kobe Japan

Mazatlan.

Nantes France

Perugia, Italy

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

infrastructure

traffic

The main means of transportation in Seattle is cars. Its downtown and some urban areas also reflect the development of railways and highways in the past. There is no subway in Seattle, but there is a huge and very convenient bus and ferry network.

The extension is currently only about a mile and a half to about ten miles; Between West Seattle and Ballard; After four successful elections, the Seattle Monorail failed in the fifth re-election from June 5438 to February 2005, and the dream of building a monorail in Seattle officially ended.

However, in 2009, Sound Transit in Greater Seattle will start running the light rail between Sea-Tac International Airport and downtown Seattle. At present, the Gulf Transportation Bureau, established by voters, has several bus rapid transit lines and commuter trains connecting Everett, Seattle and Tacoma.

airport

Seattle's commercial airport is located in seattle-tacoma international airport, West Taco, providing flights to North America, Europe and the Far East. West Tower Airport is the hub port of Alaska Airlines, the supply station of Horizon Airlines and the key city of Northwest Airlines.

In addition, there is an ordinary civil airport in Seattle-Boeing Airport. In fact, Boeing Airport is under the jurisdiction of Jinxian County Government.

Street layout

In addition to the downtown business district, Seattle forms a square format in the east-west and north-south directions, and the streets of the downtown business district follow the direction of the coast. The intersection of the two directions often creates an unusual angle, which often confuses people who are not familiar with Seattle.

highway

The main highway running through the north and south of Seattle is Interstate 5, while the main highways entering and leaving the neighboring city of Bellevue are Interstate 90 and SR-520. Among them, Seattle is the starting point of Interstate 90 on the west coast, and you can go straight to Boston by going east.

Medical centers and hospitals

Health cooperation organization is the pioneer of health management in the United States. Washington University is one of the top medical research centers in the United States. Seattle itself was a pioneer in establishing ambulance service in the United States.

Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center are pediatric medical centers in Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Harbor Medical Center is a county public hospital. It is the only first-class trauma hospital in these four states and the only first-class medical center for adults and children in Washington State. A first-class medical center means that emergency doctors, nurses, surgeons and other medical personnel must be stationed in the emergency center and can reach the injured who need first aid within five minutes. It shares the same number of doctors with the University of Washington Medical Center.

tool

In Seattle, water and electricity are provided by public facilities. Private Puget Sound Energy Company provides natural gas, Seattle Steam Company provides steam, Quest provides telephone service, and Comcast provides cable TV.

economy

company

In 2004, there were five Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Seattle: Washington Mutual Bank (65 65,438+003), Safeco Corporation (65 65,438+003), Nordstrom(286), AMAZON(342) and clothing retailers in Naudts.

Although 200 1 Boeing moved its headquarters to Chicago, it is still the most important employer in Seattle and even Washington State besides the military. Greater Seattle is also its main commercial airliner production center. Boeing 737 and 757 are assembled in Renton, and Boeing 747, 767, 777 and Future 787 are assembled in Everett.

In some cities near Seattle, there are also the headquarters of other big companies, such as Costco (ranked 29th), Microsoft (ranked 46th) and at&T Wireless (column 120), which was headquartered in Redmond in 2004. Huihao (ranked 95th), a forestry product company, is located in Federal Road, and Pasa (ranked 250th), a tractor manufacturer, is located in Bellevue.

Seattle intends to gain new development by attracting bioengineering enterprises, and this plan has won public support.

Geography and climate

geography

Seattle is located between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, with the Olympic Mountain in the west, Lake Washington in the east, Lake Sam Mamich, Ithaca Heights and Tiger Mountain in the east, and the Cascade Mountains at the end.

Seattle is built on hilly terrain, and some of the highest places in the city are near the city center. Through different topographic reconstruction projects, great changes have taken place in the terrain near the city center.

The rivers, forests, lakes and fields near Seattle are very rich. Today, a canal near downtown Seattle connects Lake Washington with Puget Sound. Seattle has many opportunities for sailing, skiing, cycling, camping and hiking all year round.

The Seattle fault is an active geological fault, which directly passes through the downtown area of Seattle and constantly causes earthquakes. Since 150 years of historical records, Seattle has received four major earthquakes:1872,65438+February, 14, 7.3 on the Richter scale, 65438+April, 0949, 13 (7. 1).

The geographical location of Seattle is 47 37' 35 "north latitude and 122 19' 59" west longitude. According to the US Census Bureau, the area of Seattle is 369.2 square kilometers, of which 2 17.2 square kilometers is land and 152 square kilometers is water. That is to say, 4 1. 16% of the area is water surface.

climate

Seattle has a mild climate and moderate temperature due to ocean factors. The mountains in the west protect the storm. The annual rainfall is 890-970 mm, so it is called Rain City, which is less than some cities on the east coast of the United States (such as new york 1200mm), but it is cloudy for 226 days on average every year, more than new york (132 days). Because Seattle is behind the Olympic Mountains, most of the rainfall is light rain or Mao Mao rain. The climate and temperature in Seattle are similar to those in Vancouver, a big Canadian city nearby.

The average annual rainfall in the Olympic National Park to the west of130km is 3,600mm, and the average annual rainfall in Washington Olympic Park to the south is1320mm ... It snows occasionally in Seattle, but it rarely snows for a long time. Sunny climate generally lasts from mid-July to mid-September, which starts later and ends earlier than Portland in the south.

In the year of El Nino, the precipitation in Seattle will decrease, which will not only make the surrounding ski resorts encounter difficulties in winter, but also cause water shortage in summer.