While the population of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest is scarce overall, they are mostly concentrated in the
South End and
Central District areas of Seattle, and in inner Tacoma.
[67] The black community of Seattle developed during and after World War II when wartime industries and the
U.S. Armed Forces employed and recruited tens of thousands of African Americans from the
Southeastern United States. They moved west in the second wave of the
Great Migration left a high influence in West Coast
rock music and
R&B and
soul in the 1960s, including Seattle native
Jimi Hendrix, a pioneer in hard rock, who was of African American and
Cherokee Indian descent.
American Indians lived on Indian reservations or jurisdictory lands such as the
Colville Indian Reservation,
Makah,
Muckleshoot Indian Reservation,
Quinault (tribe),
Salish people,
Spokane Indian Reservation, and
Yakama Indian Reservation. The westernmost and Pacific coasts have primarily American Indian communities, such as the
Chinook,
Lummi, and
Salish. But
Urban Indian communities formed by the
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs
relocation programs in Seattle since the end of World War II brought a
variety of Native American peoples to this diverse metropolis. The city
was named for
Chief Seattle in the very early 1850s when European Americans settled the sound.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are mostly concentrated in the Seattle−Tacoma metropolitan area of the state. Seattle,
Bellevue, and
Redmond, which are all located within King County, have sizable Chinese communities (including
Taiwanese), as well as significant
Indian and
Japanese communities. The
Chinatown-International District in Seattle has a historical Chinese population dating back to the 1860s, who mainly emigrated from
Guangdong Province in southern China, and is home to a diverse East and Southeast Asian community.
Koreans are heavily concentrated in the suburban cities of
Federal Way and
Auburn to the south and in
Lynnwood to the north. Tacoma is home to thousands of
Cambodians, and has one of the largest Cambodian-American communities in the United States, along with
Long Beach, California and
Lowell, Massachusetts.
[68] The
Vietnamese and
Filipino populations of Washington are mostly concentrated within the Seattle metropolitan area.
[69] Washington state has the second highest percentage of Pacific Islander people in the mainland U.S. (behind
Utah); the Seattle-Tacoma area is home to over 15,000 people of
Samoan ancestry, who mainly reside in southeast Seattle, Tacoma, Federal Way, and in
SeaTac.
[70][71]
The most numerous (ethnic, not racial, group) are Latinos at 11%, as
Mexican Americans formed a large ethnic group in the
Chehalis Valley, farming areas of
Yakima Valley and
Eastern Washington.
In the late 20th century, large-scale Mexican immigration and other
Latinos settled in the southern suburbs of Seattle with limited
concentrations in King,
Pierce and
Snohomish Counties during the region's real estate construction booms in the 1980s and 1990s.
Additionally, Washington has a large
Ethiopian community, with many
Eritrean residents as well.
[72] Over 30,000
Somali immigrants also reside in the Seattle area.
[citation needed]
Cities and towns
|
Largest cities or towns in Washington
Source:[73]
|
|
Rank |
|
County |
Pop. |
|
Seattle
Spokane |
1 |
Seattle |
King |
684,451 |
Tacoma
Vancouver |
| 2 |
Spokane |
Spokane |
213,272 |
| 3 |
Tacoma |
Pierce |
207,948 |
| 4 |
Vancouver |
Clark |
172,860 |
| 5 |
Bellevue |
King |
139,820 |
| 6 |
Kent |
King |
126,952 |
| 7 |
Everett |
Snohomish |
108,010 |
| 8 |
Renton |
King |
100,242 |
| 9 |
Federal Way |
King |
95,171 |
| 10 |
Spokane Valley |
Spokane |
94,919 |
The
Tri-Cities, which consists of the four neighboring cities of
Kennewick,
Pasco,
Richland, and
West Richland, has a combined population of 211,110 in official 2014 estimates which would be ranked above Tacoma.
[74]
Languages
Top 10 Non-English Languages Spoken in Washington
| Spanish |
7.79% |
| Chinese (including Cantonese and Mandarin) |
1.19% |
| Vietnamese |
0.94% |
| Tagalog |
0.84% |
| Korean |
0.83% |
| Russian |
0.80% |
| German |
0.55% |
| Japanese |
0.39% |
| French |
0.33% |
| Ukrainian |
0.27% |
In 2010, 82.51% (5,060,313) of Washington residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a
primary language, while 7.79% (477,566) spoke Spanish, 1.19% (72,552) Chinese (which includes
Cantonese and
Mandarin), 0.94% (57,895) Vietnamese, 0.84% (51,301)
Tagalog, 0.83% (50,757) Korean, 0.80% (49,282) Russian, and German was spoken as a
main language
by 0.55% (33,744) of the population over the age of five. In total,
17.49% (1,073,002) of Washington's population age 5 and older spoke a
mother language other than English.
[75]
Religion
Major religious affiliations of the people of Washington are:
[76]
The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2010 were the
Roman Catholic Church with 784,332;
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) with 282,356;
[77] and the
Assemblies of God with 125,005.
[78]
Aquarian Tabernacle Church is the largest
Wiccan church in the country.
[79]
As with many other
Western states, the percentage of Washington's population identifying themselves as "
non-religious"
is higher than the national average. The percentage of non-religious
people in Washington is one of the highest in the United States.
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