What is the capital of Ohio?

Columbus is the capital of Ohio, located in central Ohio at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, about 100 miles northeast of Cincinnati and 130 miles southwest of Cleveland. Columbus has been the capital of Ohio since 1816, when the state legislature chose the site for a planned capital city in a central location. Ohio became the 17th state on March 1, 1803 (the first state from the Northwest Territory established by the Northwest Ordinance of July 13, 1787). Earlier capitals were Chillicothe (1803 to 1810 and 1812 to 1816) and Zanesville (1810 to 1812).

Columbus was named in honor of Christopher Columbus and was incorporated as a city in 1834. The Ohio Statehouse, completed in 1861 in the Greek Revival style, sits in the center of downtown Columbus. The building's distinctive low cylindrical roof was originally intended to receive a dome that was never built.

Columbus's population is about 905,000 (city), making it the 14th largest U.S. city, with a metropolitan area of about 2.2 million people. Unlike many older industrial cities in Ohio, Columbus has continued to grow, partly due to government employment, the very large Ohio State University, and a diversified economy. The Ohio State University, founded 1870, has its main campus in Columbus and enrolls about 60,000 students, one of the largest universities in the United States. Other major employers in Columbus include Nationwide Insurance, JPMorgan Chase, Cardinal Health, L Brands, and major federal facilities including Fort Hayes.

Ohio state government includes the Governor, the bicameral General Assembly (33 senators and 99 representatives), and the Ohio Supreme Court. Ohio is a politically pivotal state. It has voted for the winner of nearly every presidential election since 1900 and has produced eight presidents (William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding), more than any state except Virginia.

The Ohio River forms the southern border of the state and was the dividing line between free and slave territory under the Northwest Ordinance, making Ohio a critical destination for the Underground Railroad before the Civil War. Ohio's economy historically rested on heavy industry (steel in Youngstown, rubber in Akron, glass in Toledo, machinery in Dayton, automobiles across the state), agriculture (corn, soybeans, dairy), and the Ohio River trade. Industrial decline in the late twentieth century affected the state significantly, although Columbus has weathered the transition better than other Ohio cities.