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Center for Contemporary Culture

Hartford is the capital city of the state of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County, and is the 2nd most populous city on the Connecticut River (after Springfield, Massachusetts, the city center of which sits just 24 miles (39 km) north of Hartford's city center.

In 2006, Hartford's population was 124,512, making it the state's third-largest city after the coastal cities of Bridgeport and New Haven. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford was the seventh largest city in New England (after, in order: Boston, Worcester, Providence, Springfield, Bridgeport, and New Haven, (the last of which Hartford often swaps position with in terms of largest population.)

As of the 2010 Census, Greater Hartford was the largest metropolitan area in Connecticut with a population of 1,188,841. Greater Hartford's close proximity to, and economic and cultural interconnectedness with the Springfield Metropolitan Area combine to make the Hartford-Springfield Metropolitan Area the 2nd most populous region in New England, with a population of approximately 1.9 million. Collectively, the Hartford-Springfield Metropolitan Region is nicknamed the Knowledge Corridor because it hosts 32 colleges and universities, including several of the United Sates' most prestigious, and approximately 120,000 university students. The two cities share Bradley International Airport, which lies equidistant between the two major cities' centers


Hartford is home to the nation's oldest public art museum (Wadsworth Atheneum), the oldest public park (Bushnell Park), the oldest continuously published newspaper (The Hartford Courant), the second-oldest secondary school (Hartford Public), the home of Mark Twain, and until its closure in 2009, the sixth-oldest opera company in the nation (Connecticut Opera).



Hartford Links
Hartford Links
To help you experience Hartford, take advantage of our compiled selection of Web sites designed to introduce you to living in Hartford and in the United States in general.