Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. With a population of 556,000 it is Oregon's largest city, and the third largest in the Pacific Northwest, after Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. Approximately 2 million live in the surrounding metropolitan area (MSA), the 24th-largest in the U.S.

Portland was incorporated in 1851 and is the seat of Multnomah County. The city and region are notable for strong land-use planning and investment in public transit, supported by Metro, a distinctive regional-government scheme. Portland lies in the Marine West Coast climate region marked by warm summers and rainy but temperate winters, ideal for roses. Indeed, for more than a century Portland has been known as "The City of Roses", and has many rose gardens, most famously the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. Portland is also known for its large number of microbreweries, as the home of the Trail Blazers NBA basketball team, and is one of only two U.S. cities containing an extinct volcano.

The city is composed of five "quadrants": Northwest, Southwest, North, Northeast, and Southeast. The city annexed most of its current area after its incorporation in 1851. The urban service area is the territory that the City of Portland serves today and plans to serve in the future via annexation. Portland's annexation plans are limited as Portland and Gresham have already annexed most unincorporated areas of Multnomah County in between them. However, residents of unincorporated areas near Portland can apply for annexation for free.