Albany

The oldest city in New York, the City of Albany is the economic and cultural core of New York State's Capital District. The Capital District is a metropolitan area including the nearby cities and suburbs of Colonie, Schenectady, Saratoga Springs and Troy. With an estimated 1.3 million residents, the Capital District is one of the most populous metropolitan areas and is the fastest-growing region in Upstate New York.

The area that ultimately became Albany was originally inhabited by Algonquian-speaking Mohicans. The area was settled by Dutch colonists, who built Fort Nassau in 1614 for fur trading and Fort Orange in 1624. In 1664, the English took over the Dutch settlements, renaming the city "Albany" in honor of the Scottish title of the Duke of York (later James II of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland): the Duke of Albany. The city was officially chartered in 1686 under English rule. It became the capital of New York in 1797 after the formation of the United States.