Seattle

is known as one of the major coastal port cities in the US and is the heart of King County, in the state of Washington. With an estimated population of 634,535 residence as of 2013, Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Being home to many major companies such as Amazon.com, Starbucks, Nordstrom, and Microsoft,  makes it one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. The Seattle metropolitan area has around 4 million inhabitants and is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the nation. The city is situated on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the US/Canadian boarder. A major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the 8th largest port in the United States and 9th largest in North America in terms of container handling