King County, Washington

King County is located in the of. The population in the 2000 census was 1,737,034 and in 2006 was an estimated 1,835,300. By population, King is the largest county in Washington, and the 12th largest in the United States. As of 2006, the county had a population comparable to that of the state of.

The county seat is, which is the state's largest city. About two-thirds of the county's population lives in the city's s. King County ranks among the 100 in the United States.

History
The county was formed out of territory within on, , by the  legislature, and was named after  resident , vice president under president. Seattle was made the county seat on,.

King County originally extended to the. According to historian, when peninsular prohibitionists threatened to shut down Seattle's saloons, engineered a peninsular independence movement; King County lost what is now , but preserved its entertainment industry. .



On February 24, 1986, the passed Council Motion 6461, "setting forth the historical basis for the 'renaming' of King County in honor of Reverend Dr. ". While the only historical connection between Dr. King and the Seattle area is a visit by King in 1961, the county's original namesake, William R. King, never visited the region at all. Because only the state can charter counties, this change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Washington Governor signed Senate Bill 5332 into law. Due primarily to the advocacy of councilmember, the County Council voted on , to change the county's logo from a royal crown to an image of King's face. This change was estimated to cost $522,255. On March 12, 2007, the new logo was unveiled.

Government
The, currently , heads the county's executive branch. The is the legislative branch of government. The, currently until a replacement is elected for the late , and the , currently , are also elected executive positions. Judicial power is vested in the and the. houses the.

King County is represented in the 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, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 36th, 37th, 41st, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th legislative districts as well as parts of the 1st, 25th, 30th, 31st, and 39th districts.

Politics
Western King County, which includes Seattle, is a major center for liberal politics and is a for the. In the, defeated  in the county by 32%, a larger margin than  had in the. 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 's total over that of incumbent, winning her a seat in the. In 2004, King County gave a lead to Democrat in the second recount in the state's, pushing her ahead of suburban Republican , who led by 42 votes after the initial count. Both candidates were from King County--Rossi from, and Gregoire from.

The suburbs east and south of Seattle historically have tended to vote Republican. In the 2005 County Executive race, Republican David Irons beat Democrat Ron Sims outside of Seattle (which voted 74% for Sims). However, in recent years, the, as it is called, has seen a significant shift toward the Democrats. In 2004, John Kerry received landslide victories in much of the Bellevue and Redmond area. Generally, the suburbs are more friendly to the Republicans 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.

As of January 2006, all five council districts representing Seattle and its inner suburbs are controlled by Democrats, while all four outer suburban/rural districts are controlled by Republicans.

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 ). It has recently been revived as Cascade County. According to a map published by the , four different geographic borders are being considered. Additional plans (see ) also exist or have existed.

Council members

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Geography
King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island. According to the, the county has a total area of 5,974 (2,307 ). It is the 11th largest county in Washington (of 39) by area. 5,506 km² (2,126 sq mi) of it is land and 467 km² (180 sq mi) of it is water. 7.82% of the total area is water. The highest point in the county is at 2426 meters (7,959 feet) above sea level.

King County borders to the north,  to the west,  to the east, and  to the south. It also shares a small border with to the northeast. King County includes and  in.

Geographic features

 * , the highest point in King County
 * , the highest point in King County
 * , the highest point in King County
 * , the highest point in King County
 * , the highest point in King County
 * , the highest point in King County
 * , the highest point in King County
 * , the highest point in King County



Adjacent counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 1,737,034 people, 710,916 households, and 420,151 families residing in the county. The was 315/km² (817/sq mi). There were 742,237 housing units at an average density of 135/km² (349/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 75.73%, 5.40% or , 0.92% , 10.81% , 0.52% , 2.56% from , and 4.06% from two or more races. 5.48% of the population were or  of any race. 13.2% were of, 9.1% , 8.3% and 5.5%  ancestry according to Census 2000. 81.7% spoke, 4.2% , 1.8% or , 1.5% , 1.3%  and 1.0%  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 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 of Washington in the year 2000 was located in the city of , in King County.

The median income for a household in the county was $53,157, and the median income for a family was $66,035. Males had a median income of $45,802 versus $34,321 for females. The for the county was $29,521. About 5.30% of families and 8.40% of the population were below the, including 9.40% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.

Census-recognized communities
See also Cities in King County.


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Other communities
This list may contain communities located entirely within incorporated, s, or , which should be removed.