Seattle is the most populous city in the northwestern U.S. state of Washington. It is named after Chief Sealth of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The encompassing Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan statistical area is the 15th largest in the USA.  A coastal city and major seaport, it is located in the western part of the state on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 96 miles (154 km) south of the Canada. A major economic, cultural and educational center in the region, Seattle has been inhabited for at least 4,000 years but European settlement began only in the mid-19th century. From 1869 until 1982, Seattle was known as the "Queen City". Seattle's current official nickname is the "Emerald City", the result of a contest held in the early 1980s, in reference to the lush evergreen trees in the surrounding area. Seattle is also referred to informally as the "Gateway to Alaska", "Rain City", and "Jet City", the latter from the local influence of Boeing.  Seattle residents are known as Seattleites.

Seattle is the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and grunge music, including Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. Seattle has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption and coffee companies founded or based in Seattle include Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Tully's. 

Researchers at Central Connecticut State University ranked Seattle the most literate city of America's sixty-nine largest cities in 2005 and 2006.  Additionally, survey data by the United States Census Bureau indicated that Seattle was the most educated city in the U.S., with 52.4 percent of residents aged 25 and older having a bachelor's degree.

Anchorage (pop. 359,180) is the largest city in Alaska, which became the 49th state of the U.S.A. on January 3, 1959.  Anchorage is located in South Central Alaska. It lies slightly farther north than Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Reykjavik and St. Petersburg. The Chugach Mountains on the east form a boundary to development, but not to the city limits, which encompass part of the wild alpine territory of Chugach State Park.

Unlike every other large town in Alaska south of the Brooks Range, neither fishing nor mining was the direct impetus for settlement. The area within tens of miles of Anchorage is barren of significant economic metal minerals and there is no fishing fleet operating out of Anchorage. The city grew from its happenstance choice as the site, in 1914, of a railroad construction port for the Alaska Railroad. Anchorage was incorporated in 1920. The city's economy in the 1920s centered around the railroad. Between the 1930s and the 1950s, the city experienced massive growth as air transportation and the military became increasingly important. Merrill Field opened in 1930, and Anchorage International Airport opened in 1951. Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson were constructed in the 1940s.

Mount McKinley National Park, whose name had been subject to local criticism from the onset, and Denali National Monument were incorporated and established into Denali National Park and Preserve by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, December 2, 1980. At this time the Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain back to "Denali," even though the U.S. Board of Geographic Names maintains "McKinley". Alaskans tend to use "Denali" and rely on context to distinguish between the park and the mountain. The size of the national park is over 6 million acres, of which 4.7 million acres are federally owned.

Denali habitat is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga. The preserve is also home to tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, rock, and snow at the highest elevations. Today, the park hosts more than 400,000 visitors who enjoy wildlife viewing, mountaineering, and backpacking. Wintertime recreation includes dog-sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling where allowed.

Seward (pop. 3,016) is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The city was named after William H. Seward, early member of the United States Republican Party and U.S. Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln. As Secretary of State, he fought for the U.S. purchase of Alaska, which he finally negotiated to acquire from Russia.

Seward is the 7th most lucrative fisheries port in the United States per value. In 2004, 49.7 million dollars worth of fish and shellfish passed through Seward. Another major industry in Seward is tourism. Seward is also an Alaska Railroad terminus which has a maintained dock for cruise vessels and it controls a shipping terminal for coal from Usibelli. The Railroad and Aurora Energy Services employ dozens of people in the local area.