Flag of Spokane, Washington (2021–present), USA

Spokane (/spoʊˈkæn/ spoh-KAN; Spokane: sƛ̓x̌etkʷ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canadian border, 18.5 miles (30 km) west of the Washington–Idaho border, and 279 miles (449 km) east of Seattle via Interstate 90. It is the second-most populous city in Washington with a population of 228,989 at the 2020 census, while the Spokane metropolitan area has an estimated 605,000 residents. Spokane is the economic and cultural centre of the Inland Northwest. It is known as the birthplace of Father's Day, and locally by the nickname of "Lilac City". Officially, Spokane goes by the nickname of Hooptown USA, due to Spokane's annual hosting of the Spokane Hoopfest, the world's largest basketball tournament. The city and the wider Inland Northwest area are served by Spokane International Airport, 5 miles (8 km) west of Downtown Spokane, which is located near another airfield at Fairchild Air Force Base. The first people to live in the area, the Spokane tribe (their name meaning "children of the sun" in Salishan), lived off plentiful game. David Thompson explored the area with the westward expansion and establishment of the North West Company's Spokane House in 1810. This trading post was the first long-term European settlement in Washington. Completion of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1881 brought many settlers from America to the Spokane area. The same year it was officially incorporated as a city under the name of Spokane Falls (it was re-incorporated under its current name ten years later). In the late 19th century, gold and silver were discovered in the Inland Northwest. The local economy depended on mining, timber, and agriculture until the 1980s. Spokane hosted the first environmentally themed World's fair at Expo '74. Many of the downtown area's older Romanesque Revival-style buildings were designed by architect Kirtland Cutter after the Great Spokane Fire of 1889, which damaged much of the downtown commercial district. The city is also home to the Riverfront and Manito parks, the Smithsonian-affiliated Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the Davenport Hotel, and the Fox and Bing Crosby theatres. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, and the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist serves as that of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane. The Spokane Washington Temple in the east of the county serves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Gonzaga University was established in 1887 by the Jesuits, and the private Presbyterian Whitworth University was founded three years later and moved to north Spokane in 1914. In sports, the region's professional and semi-professional sports teams include the Spokane Indians in Minor League Baseball. The Spokane Chiefs in the Western Hockey League. The Spokane Velocity in USL League One with a women's first division team Spokane Zephyr FC in USL Super League. The Gonzaga Bulldogs collegiate basketball team competes at the Division I level. As of 2010, Spokane's major daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, had a daily circulation of over 76,000.