Coeur d'Alene

Coeur d'Alene (/ˌkɔːr dəˈleɪn/ KOR də-LAYN; French: Cœur d'Alêne, lit. 'Heart of Awl' French pronunciation: [kœʁ da.lɛn]) is a city in and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the most populous city in North Idaho with a population of 54,628 at the 2020 census, and now an estimated 58,555 as of 2026. Coeur d'Alene is currently growing at a rate of 1.04% annually and its population has increased by 6.55% since the most recent census, while the Coeur d'Alene metropolitan statistical area has an estimated 188,000 people. Coeur d'Alene is located about 30 miles (50 km) east of Spokane, Washington, with which it forms the bi-state Spokane–Coeur d'Alene combined statistical area. The city is situated on the north shore of the 25-mile (40 km) long Lake Coeur d'Alene and to the west of the Coeur d'Alene Mountains. Locally, Coeur d'Alene is known as the "Lake City", or simply called by its initials, "CDA".

The city is named after the Coeur d'Alene people, a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans who live along the rivers and lakes of the region, in a territory of 4,000,000 acres (16,000 km) from eastern Washington to Montana. Historically, the native peoples were hunter-gatherers who located their villages and camps near food gathering or processing sites and followed the seasonal cycles, practicing subsistence hunting, fishing, and foraging.