| King County, Washington | |
 |
|
 Location in the state of Washington |
|
 Washington's location in the U.S. |
|
| Seat | Seattle |
|---|---|
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
2,307 sq mi (5,975 km²) 2,126 sq mi (5,506 km²) 180 sq mi (466 km²), 7.82% |
| PopulationEst. - (2009) - Density |
1,909,300 816/sq mi (315/km²) |
| Founded | December 22, 1852 |
| Named for | William Rufus King (1852-2005) Martin Luther King, Jr. (2005-Present) |
| Time zone | Pacific: UTC-8/-7 |
| County flag |  |
King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2000 census was 1,737,034, and in 2009 was an estimated 1,909,300.[1] By population, King is the largest county in Washington, and the 14th largest in the United States.
The county seat is Seattle, which is the state's largest city. About two-thirds of the county's population lives in the city's suburbs. King County ranks among the 100 highest-income counties in the United States.
Contents |
The county was formed out of territory within Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the Oregon Territory legislature, and was named after Alabama resident William R. King, Vice President under President Franklin Pierce. Seattle was made the county seat on January 11, 1853.[2][3]
King County originally extended to the Olympic Peninsula. According to historian Bill Speidel, when peninsular prohibitionists threatened to shut down Seattle's saloons, Doc Maynard engineered a peninsular independence movement; King County lost what is now Kitsap County, but preserved its entertainment industry.[4]
On February 24, 1986, the King County Council passed Council Motion 6461, "setting forth the historical basis for the 'renaming' of King County in honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," another resident of Alabama.[5] Because only the state can charter counties, this change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5332 into law.
Due primarily to the advocacy of council member Larry Gossett, the County Council voted on February 27, 2006 to change the county's logo from a royal crown to an image of King's face.[6] On March 12, 2007, the new logo was unveiled.[7]
The King County Executive, currently Dow Constantine, heads the county's executive branch. The King County Prosecutor, Dan Satterberg, Elections Director, Sheriff, and the King County Assessor are also elected executive positions. Judicial power is vested in the King County Superior Court and the King County District Court. Seattle houses the King County Courthouse.
King County is represented in the United States Congress through the Washington 7th Congressional District and parts of the 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 9th districts. In the state legislature, King contains the entirety of the 5th, 11th, 33rd, 34th, 36th, 37th, 41st, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th legislative districts as well as parts of the 1st, 25th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, and 39th districts.
|
|
|
| Year | Democrat | Republican |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 70.30% 648,230 | 28.17% 259,716 |
| 2004 | 64.95% 580,378 | 33.69% 301,043 |
| 2000 | 60.02% 476,700 | 34.40% 273,171 |
| 1996 | 56.38% 417,846 | 31.41% 232,811 |
| 1992 | 50.23% 391,050 | 27.36% 212,986 |
| 1988 | 53.88% 349,663 | 44.78% 290,574 |
| 1984 | 46.71% 298,620 | 52.09% 332,987 |
| 1980 | 39.16% 235,046 | 45.42% 272,567 |
King County, which includes Seattle, is a major center for liberal politics and is a bastion for the Democratic Party. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama defeated John McCain in the county by 40%, a larger margin than any previous election. King County has also been the deciding factor for the Democrats in a few recent close statewide elections. In 2000, it was King County that pushed Maria Cantwell's total over that of incumbent Republican Slade Gorton, winning her a seat in the United States Senate. In 2004, King County gave a lead to Democrat Christine Gregoire in the second recount in the state's razor-thin governor's race, pushing her ahead of Republican Dino Rossi, who led by 261 votes after the initial count.[citation needed] Dino Rossi resided in the county at the time of the election in Sammamish.
The suburbs east and south of Seattle have historically tended to be moderate. In the 2005 County Executive race, Republican David Irons beat Democrat Ron Sims outside of Seattle (which voted 74% for Sims), but in 2004, John Kerry received landslide victories in much of the Bellevue and Redmond areas. Generally the suburbs are becoming more liberal on the state and county levels.
In 2004, voters passed a referendum reducing the size of the County Council from 13 members to 9. This resulted in all council seats ending up on the 2005 ballot.
Some residents of eastern King County have long desired to secede and form their own county. This movement was most vocal in the mid-1990s (see Cedar County, Washington).[8][9] It has recently been revived as Cascade County.[10] According to a map published by the Seattle Times,[11] four different geographic borders are being considered. Additional plans (see Skykomish County, Washington) also exist or have existed.
King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,307 square miles (5,974 km²). It is the 11th largest county in Washington (of 39) by area. 2,126 square miles (5,506 km²) of it is land and 180 square miles (467 km²) of it is water. 7.82% of the total area is water. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at 2426 meters (7,959 feet) above sea level.
King County borders Snohomish County to the north, Kitsap County to the west, Kittitas County to the east, and Pierce County to the south. It also shares a small border with Chelan County to the northeast. King County includes Vashon Island and Maury Island in Puget Sound.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1860 | 302 |
|
|
| 1870 | 2,120 | 602.0% | |
| 1880 | 6,910 | 225.9% | |
| 1890 | 63,989 | 826.0% | |
| 1900 | 110,053 | 72.0% | |
| 1910 | 284,638 | 158.6% | |
| 1920 | 389,273 | 36.8% | |
| 1930 | 463,517 | 19.1% | |
| 1940 | 504,980 | 8.9% | |
| 1950 | 732,992 | 45.2% | |
| 1960 | 935,014 | 27.6% | |
| 1970 | 1,156,633 | 23.7% | |
| 1980 | 1,269,749 | 9.8% | |
| 1990 | 1,507,319 | 18.7% | |
| 2000 | 1,737,034 | 15.2% | |
| Est. 2008 | 1,875,519 | 8.0% | |
As of the census[12] of 2000, there were 1,737,034 people, 710,916 households, and 420,151 families residing in the county. The population density was 817 people per square mile (315/km²). There were 742,237 housing units at an average density of 349 per square mile (135/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 75.73% White, 5.40% Black or African American, 0.92% Native American, 10.81% Asian, 0.52% Pacific Islander, 2.56% from other races, and 4.06% from two or more races. 5.48% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 13.2% were of German, 9.1% English, 8.3% Irish and 5.5% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000. 81.7% spoke English, 4.2% Spanish, 2.3% Chinese (incl. all variations), 1.5% Vietnamese, 1.3% Tagalog and 1.0% Korean as their first language.
There were 710,916 households out of which 28.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.40% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.90% were non-families. 30.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the county, the population was spread out with 22.50% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 34.70% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 10.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.30 males.
The center of population of Washington in the year 2000 was located in the city of Enumclaw, in King County.[13]
The median income for a household in the county was $53,157, and the median income for a family was $66,035 (these figures had risen to $64,915 and $82,879 respectively as of a 2007 estimate).[14] Males had a median income of $45,802 versus $34,321 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,521. About 5.30% of families and 8.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.40% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.
See also Cities in King County.
|
This list may contain communities located entirely within incorporated cities, towns, or CDPs, which should be removed.
|
|
|
|
 |
Snohomish County | Chelan County | |
|
| Kitsap County |  |
|||
 King County, Washington  |
||||
 |
||||
| Pierce County | Kittitas County |
|
|
||||||||||||||
King County [1] is the largest county in Washington State, by both area and population. It stretches from Puget Sound to the Cascade Range, encompassing the major cities of Seattle and Bellevue and their sprawling suburbs, as well as wide stretches of rural farmland and uninhabited mountain terrain.
The rest of the county is described by its location relative to Seattle and Lake Washington.
Largely upscale suburbia, heavily residential.
Better known as the Eastside, this is the fastest growing region in the county.
Most visitors will only see the Sea-Tac Airport, in the city of SeaTac. (The airport's name came first.) Continuing south merges into Pierce County, soon reaching Tacoma.
The rural, sparsely distributed towns of the far east county are the one respite from the sprawl.
The major interstates are I-5, running north-south through Seattle to Snohomish County and Pierce County, and I-90, running east from Seattle through Bellevue and Issaquah to Snoqualmie Pass and Kittitas County. The notoriously congested I-405 splits off from I-5 at Tukwila in the south and Lynnwood in the north, serving Bellevue and the other cities of the Eastside. SR-167 is an alternate route from Tacoma to the south county, while SR-18 is a high speed bypass from north of Tacoma to I-90 east of Issaquah.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, (IATA: SEA), called "SeaTac" by locals, connects Seattle to all regions of the world, with especially frequent transpacific routes. Competition is fierce and fares are low on service to the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California.
Metro Transit [4] (electric or diesel city buses) actually works pretty well. The web trip planner [5] is straightforward and accurate, as long as your bus is on time.
Buses in downtown Seattle are free between 6AM and 7PM in the downtown core of Seattle. Just get on and get off. To read the details refer to Metro Free Bus info [6].
Sound Transit (diesel and hybrid buses, trains) is more expensive, but has many convenient express routes [7] that travel South (to Tacoma), East (Redmond, Bellevue), and North (Bothell, Lynnwood). Unlike Metro, it serves the adjoining counties as well.
Outside of the immediate Seattle-Bellevue area, many routes operate only during weekday rush hours. Check your schedules in advance, and beware of holiday service cutbacks. The number of the route also tells you which area of the county it serves:
Sound Transit [8] Link Light Rail service connects Tukwila and Seattle, with an extension to the airport opening in December.
Sounder commuter rail service, operating weekday rush hours only, connects Seattle to Tacoma via Kent and Tukwila.
All but essential for reaching the outermost suburbs and mountains. In addition to the interstates, major routes include SR-520, linking Seattle's University District to Bellevue and Redmond; SR-18, a major freeway in the south county from Federal Way to Issaquah; and SR-509, the alternate route from the airport to Burien and Seattle.
Traffic congestion is a major problem in the Puget Sound area on all freeways and major roads. Avoid traveling during rush hour if you can, particularly along I-5 and across the Lake Washington bridges.
| This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow! |
Category: Outline articles
|
|
Wikis
Search
