Seattle Guide

Seattle is a city of the US state of Washington. Seattle is also know by its nicknames "Rainy City," "the Gateway to Alaska," "Queen City," and "Jet City." But, its official nickname is "Emerald City." Seattle is widely regarded as the birthplace of Grunge music. Seattle area has a heavy consumption of coffee. Seattle is built on the Seattle Fault, which is a major source of earthquake activity. The last major earthquake in Seattle was in the year 2001. According to the researchers at Central Connecticut State University, Seattle is the most literate city in the United States as of the year 2005.

Economy: Seattle is a major commercial, financial, transportation, and industrial hub of its region. Seattle has been a center for aircraft building and ship building since World War II. Some of the companies which have a major presence in Seattle are Boeing, which has a large manufacturing facility there, and Microsoft, which is located in nearby Redmond. Seattle also has large banking, insurance, biomedical, food processing, and lumber industries. Seattle is now trying to give a major thrust to its biotechnology industry.

Climate: The climate of Seattle is moderated due to its proximity to the sea. The skies of Seattle are cloudy for most of the year. Seattle is called "the Rainy City" due to the fact that it experiences only 55 days of sunshine in a year. Though the annual rainfall Seattle receives is not too much, it is only 35 in (890 mm), it is cloudy for an average of 226 days per year. Most of this rain falls as drizzle or light rain. The best time to visit Seattle would be between June and September when there are warm, sunny days and long dry periods. The weather in spring and fall is also delightful. Seattle is likely to see snowfall during January and February. The highest temperature recorded was in July, which was 100o F, and the coldest temperature was in January, which was 0o F.

STATE	Washington
COUNTRY	United States of America
LOCATION	Seattle is located between Puget Sound and Lake Washington. It is located about 108 miles south of the United States-Canadian border.
GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES	Latitude 47.37 N, Longitude 122.21 W
AREA	369.2 square km
POPULATION	582,174 (2006)
PERCAPITA INCOME	$30,306
RAINFALL	944.6 mm annually

Government Type: Seattle has adopted a Mayor-Council form of government, unlike some of its neighbors, which have a Council-Manager form. There are nine City Council members. The Mayor and the City Council members are elected at large, rather than on the basis of districts. The only other elected official is the city attorney. The Mayor of Seattle is the head of the Executive department. The Seattle City Council is the legislative arm of the city. The City Attorney heads the Law Department of the city.

Major Political Parties: Democratic Party, Republican Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party.