Seattle is the biggest city in the northwest of the United States. It is located in the state of Washington in King county. The coastal port city lies between Puget Sound and Lake Washington. To the east it is bounded by the Cascade Mountains and to the west by the Olympic Mountains. Seattle is located about 100 miles south of the Canadian border.
The city has a population of 592,800, and the metro population is about four million. The port is an important trade center, especially for the trading with Asia. The most important industries are aviation, the iron and steel industry and wood-processing. The town’s landmark is the 1962 built Space Needle.
Seattle is also known by the name “Emerald City,” because of all the green trees in the surrounding area (actually Emerald was a contest held in the early 1980’s). Also it has the nickname “Rain City,” even though the precipitation amount is less than in most American cities. The name originates from all the cloudy and rainy days Seattle has during the year.
Seattle has the reputation for heavy coffee consumption. Companies like Starbucks, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Tully’s were founded in Seattle. Other companies sitting in Seattle being known are Microsoft, Nordstrom, Amazon, Nintendo of America, Eddie Bauer, and Costco. Also, the University of Washington has its main campus in Seattle.
In 2005 and 2006, Seattle was ranked the most literate city in America’s 69 largest cities and second most literate in 2007. For the year 2002, Seattle was known to be the most educated city in the United States with almost 50 percent or residents older than 25 having at least bachelor degrees.