Bellevue (/ˈbɛlvjuː/ BEL-vyoo) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. Its population was 122,363 at the 2010 census and 148,164 in a 2019 census estimate. The city’s name is derived from the French term belle vue (“beautiful view”).

Bellevue was first settled by European Americans in 1869 by William Meydenbauer and Aaron Mercer, who claimed homestead tracts several miles apart. Both moved away within a few years, and permanent residents did not arrive until 1879. By 1882, a community, consisting mostly of logging homesteaders, had established itself. Once the land had been logged, it was gradually cleared, largely by Japanese immigrant labor in the early 20th century, to support small-scale farming on leased land plots.