Spokane is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, and is the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest, a region consisting of Eastern Washington, Idaho, & Montana. It is located on the Spokane River in Eastern Washington approximately 20 miles (32 km) from the Washington-Idaho border, and 275 miles (443 km) east of Seattle.

The city was settled in 1871 as "Spokan Falls" (without an 'e' at the end), drawing on the Native American tribe known as the Spokane, which means "Children of the Sun.” The city's name is often mispronounced "Spo-CAIN", while the correct pronunciation is "Spo-CAN". Spokane's official nickname is the 'Lilac City', named after the flowers that have flourished since their introduction to the area in the early 20th century.

With a population of 204,400 Spokane is the second largest city in Washington, and the third largest in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, behind Seattle and Portland. Spokane is also the principal city of the Spokane Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is coterminous with Spokane County and has a population of 459,000. However, combine with Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and Kootenai County, Idaho the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area consists of about 600,000 people.