SEATTLE (se-at'el), the chief city of Washington, U.S.A., situated on a neck of land between Elliott bay (Puget sound) and the freshwater Lake Washington; 125 nautical miles from the Pacific ocean, 14o m. S. of the Canadian border, 965 m. by water N. of San Francisco, and 2,200 m. by rail from Chicago; a port of entry, headquarters of the Washington customs district, the county seat of King county, the largest city of the Pacific North west, and the largest city of its age in the world. It is on Federal highways Ic) and 99 and the Pacific Coast air-mail route; is served by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific, the Great Northern, the Northern and the Union Pacific railways, has through train service over the Burlington Route and the Southern Pacific Lines, and has connection through both boat and train service at Vancouver, B.C., with the Canadian Pacific railway; and is the terminus or a port of call for numerous lines of steamers with sailings across the Pacific ocean, to Alaska and California, and through the Panama Canal to eastern American and European ports. It is the centre of interurban trolley and motor-coach lines, and of the "mosquito fleet" of steamers serving the 2,000 m. of Puget Sound shores. The population (193o) was 365,583 (103.7 males to ioo females), of whom 72,975 were for eign-born whites and 8,448 Japanese. The population was esti mated at 380,000 in 1934.
Seattle is situated on a series of hills above its fine harbour (reaching a maximum of Soo ft. above sea-level), in surroundings of great natural beauty. To the west, across Puget Sound, rises the jagged sierra of the Olympics. The eastern boundary of the city is Lake Washington (27 m. long), backed by the Cascade range. To the south rises snow-capped Mount Rainier. Within the city are Union and Green lakes, the latter bordered by a pub lic park. The area of the city includes 68.5 sq.m. of land and 36 sq.m. of water.
The outer (salt water) harbour measures 5 m. across from West Point on the north to Alki Point on the south, and includes the East, West and Duwamish Waterways, extending inland on the south side of the bay; Smith Cove, on the north side; and Shilshole bay, the western outlet of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, north of West Point. The ship canal (8 m. long, with a minimum depth of 3o ft.) connects Puget Sound with the fresh water harbour, Lake Washington, passing through Lake Union.
The locks near the west end of the canal, which overcome the difference of 26 ft. between sea and lake levels, accommodate ships 76o ft. long. Elliott Bay proper, where the greater part of the shipping is concentrated, lying between Magnolia Bluff on the north and Duwamish Head on the south, has an entrance width of 2.5 m., a shore line of 9.7 m., and a surface area of 3,80o ac., and is very deep and free from natural obstructions or dangers throughout its entire extent. Harbour development and administration of public terminal facilities are in the hands of a public corporation called "the Port of Seattle," created in 1911 by the people of Seattle and King county, and administered by a board of elected commissioners. Under its jurisdiction harbour facilities were developed by 1928 to a value of $15,000,000, and included terminal wharves, transit sheds, waterside warehouses, cold-storage plants, grain elevators and tanks for vegetable and fuel oils.
Along the water front the hills have been graded down to give a comparatively level area for the business district. This is built up with many large and substantial hotels, public buildings (some of them grouped around a civic centre), the fine public library (1905), and high business buildings (one of them 42 stories high), most of which have been erected since the World War. Beyond this narrow strip rises a succession of heights, crowned with residential districts commanding fine views, and reached by cable railways or by electric lines ascending by wind ing routes. There are 35 m. of boulevard (skirting the sound and the three lakes and following the high ridges), 152 parks and 35 playgrounds, with an aggregate area of 2,559 acres. The 582 ac. campus of the University of Washington, lying between. Lakes Union and Washington, with a shore line on both, and the fine grounds of Ft. Lawton (6o5 ac., given to the Federal Government by the city) are practically additions to the city's park system. The climate is moderate, favourable to industry and to health, and encouraging outdoor recreation the year round. The extremes of temperature on record are 3° and 96° F. The average annual precipitation is 34 in., distributed through all 12 months, but two-thirds falling in the winter months October to March. The average wind velocity is 7.4 m per hour (compared with 17 m. in New York city). The death rate in 1935 was 12.0.