What is the capital of New York?

Albany is the capital of New York, located on the west bank of the Hudson River about 150 miles north of New York City and 290 miles east of Buffalo. Albany has been the capital of New York continuously since 1797 and is one of the oldest continuously chartered cities in the United States, with European settlement dating to Dutch traders in 1614 and a formal charter granted in 1686 under English rule.

The Dutch West India Company built Fort Nassau on Castle Island in the Hudson in 1614, soon replaced by Fort Orange on the mainland in 1624, the oldest permanent European settlement in what became New York State. The settlement was renamed Beverwijck in 1652 and Albany in 1664 when the English seized New Netherland and renamed New Amsterdam (Manhattan) and Beverwijck after the Duke of York and Albany, the future James II.

Albany became the legal capital of New York State in 1797, replacing New York City and Kingston. The New York State Capitol, an enormous structure in a mix of Romanesque and Renaissance Revival styles built between 1867 and 1899, dominates the city skyline. Surrounding state buildings include the Empire State Plaza completed in 1976, with its distinctive collection of modernist towers and the Egg performing arts center.

New York's state government includes the Governor (currently elected to four year terms), the State Legislature consisting of the Assembly (150 members) and Senate (63 members), and a court system topped by the New York Court of Appeals. Albany's population is about 99,000, with a metropolitan area of about 900,000 people including the surrounding cities of Schenectady and Troy (the Capital District). Major institutions include the State University of New York at Albany (about 17,000 students), Albany Medical Center, Albany Law School (the oldest independent law school in the United States, founded 1851), and the New York State Museum.

Albany sits at the head of navigation on the Hudson River, a strategic position that made it important for fur trade with the Iroquois in the colonial era and for trans-shipment of goods between ocean shipping and inland transport. The Erie Canal opened October 26, 1825 connected Albany to Buffalo and the Great Lakes, making the city a transportation hub for grain and manufactured goods. The Albany-Schenectady-Troy area was historically a major industrial center, with General Electric headquartered in Schenectady from 1892 (now relocated).

Albany was the host of the unsuccessful Albany Plan of Union proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 to unify the colonies for defense, an early precedent for later union.