Wenatchee is located in North Central Washington and is the largest city and county seat of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2000 was 27,856. In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau's estimated population within city limits was 29,968. Located at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers near the eastern foothills of the Cascade Range, Wenatchee lies on the western side of the Columbia River, across from the city of East Wenatchee. The Columbia River forms the boundary between Chelan and Douglas County. Wenatchee is the principal city of the 'Wenatchee–East Wenatchee, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area', which encompasses all of Chelan and Douglas counties (total population around 100,000). However, the 'Wenatchee Area' generally refers to the land between Rocky Reach and Rock Island Dam on both banks of the Columbia, which includes East Wenatchee, Rock Island, and Malaga.The city was named for the nearby Wenatchi Indian tribe. The name is a Salish word that means "river which comes (or whose source is) from canyons" or "robe of the rainbow." Awenatchela means "people at the source (of a river)." The city of Wenatchee shares its name with the Wenatchee River, Lake Wenatchee and the Wenatchee National Forest.

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