Columbus, Ohio / United States
Columbus is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a population of 898,553 as of 2019 estimates, it is the 14th-most populous city in the United States, the second-most populous city in the Midwest after Chicago, Illinois, and the third-most populous state capital after Phoenix, Arizona and Austin, Texas. It is the core city of the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses ten counties. With a population of 2,106,541, it is Ohio's second-largest metropolitan area. Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County. The municipality has also annexed portions of adjoining Delaware and Fairfield counties. Columbus originated as numerous Native American settlements on the banks of the Scioto River. Franklinton, now a city neighborhood, was the first white settlement, laid out in 1797. The city was founded in 1812, at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. It was named for explorer Christopher Columbus. The city assumed the function of state capital in 1816 and county seat in 1824. The city has a diverse economy based on education, government, insurance, banking, defense, aviation, food, clothes, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology. The metropolitan area is home to the Battelle Memorial Institute, the world's largest private research and development foundation; Chemical Abstracts Service, the world's largest clearinghouse of chemical information and Ohio State University, one of the largest universities in the United States. As of 2018, the city has the headquarters of four corporations in the U.S. Fortune 500: American Electric Power, L Brands, Nationwide, and Big Lots.