Louisville, Kentucky
The metropolis of Louisville, Kentucky, is the most populous city in the state of Kentucky and the 28th most populated city in the United States. On the edge of the Indiana state boundary sits Louisville, which serves as both the historical and, as of 2003, the formal seat of Jefferson County.
George Rogers Clark established Louisville in 1778, making it one of the oldest communities west of the Appalachians. It was named after King Louis XVI of France, who ruled at the time. The adjacent Falls of the Ohio were the sole significant barrier to river trade between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico; hence, the community developed first as a portage point. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was established in this city, which went on to become a network that stretched across 13 states and included a total distance of 6,000 miles (9,700 kilometres).
Today, the city is famous for a number of things, including the boxer Muhammad Ali, the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the University of Louisville and its baseball team, Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and three of the state of Kentucky's six Fortune 500 companies, Humana, Kindred Healthcare, and Yum! Brands. The primary commercial airport in Louisville, Muhammad Ali International Airport, also serves as the location of the international hub for UPS.
As a result of a city-county merger that took place in 2003, the geographic boundaries of Louisville have been precisely the same as those of Jefferson County since that year. The merged city-county government in Louisville and Jefferson County is known by its formal name, the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, which is sometimes shortened to Louisville Metro. In spite of the merger and the change in name, the term "Jefferson County" is still used in certain instances in relation to the Louisville Metropolitan Area. This is especially the case with regard to the incorporated cities that are located beyond the "balance" and which make up Louisville proper. 782,969 people were counted at the citywide consolidation for the city's population during the census in the year 2020. However, the balance total of 633,045 does not include the population of any additional incorporated settlements or semiautonomous towns located inside the county. This is the population that is included in the majority of publications and rankings conducted on a national scale.
The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky-Indiana consists of Louisville-Jefferson County and 12 adjacent counties, seven of which are located in the state of Kentucky, and five of which are located in Southern Indiana. The metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has a population of 1,395,634 residents as of the year 2019, placing it 43rd in the country.