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Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville (varying pronunciations: /ˈlivɪl/ LOO-ee-vil, US: /ˈləvəl/ LOO-ə-vəl, locally /ˈlʊvəl/ LUUV-əl) is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States.[a][11] By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city, although by population density, it is the 265th most dense city.[b][12] Louisville is the historical county seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.

"Louisville" and "Gateway to the South" redirect here. For other uses, see Louisville (disambiguation) and Gateway to the South (disambiguation).

Louisville

1778[4]

1828[4]

341.44 sq mi (884.32 km2)

324.94 sq mi (841.59 km2)

16.50 sq mi (42.73 km2)

466 ft (142 m)

633,045

624,444

75th in North America
27th in the United States[a]
1st in Kentucky

1,900/sq mi (720/km2)

1,025,000 (US: 46th)

2,430.8/sq mi (938.5/km2)

1,365,557 (US: 43rd)

Louisvillian[8]

$90.836 billion (2022)

40201-40225, 40228-40229, 40231-40233, 40241-40243, 40245, 40250-40253, 40255-40259, 40261, 40266, 40268-40270, 40272, 40280-40283, 40285, 40287, 40289-40299

21-48000

21-48006

2404963[10]

Named after King Louis XVI of France, Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark, making it one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachians.[13] With the nearby Falls of the Ohio as the only major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site. It was the founding city of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which grew into a 6,000-mile (9,700 km) system across 13 states.


Today, the city is known as the home of boxer Muhammad Ali, the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the University of Louisville and its Cardinals, Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and Fortune 500 company Humana.[14][15] Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Louisville's main commercial airport, hosts UPS's worldwide hub.


Since 2003, Louisville's borders have been the same as those of Jefferson County, after a city-county merger.[16] The official name of this consolidated city-county government is the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government,[17] abbreviated to Louisville Metro.[18] Despite the merger and renaming, the term "Jefferson County" continues to be used in some contexts in reference to Louisville Metro, particularly including the incorporated cities outside the "balance" which make up Louisville proper. The city's total consolidated population as of the 2020 census was 782,969.[19] However, the balance total of 633,045[20] excludes other incorporated places and semiautonomous towns within the county and is the population listed in most sources and national rankings.


The Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Louisville-Jefferson County and 12 surrounding counties, seven in Kentucky and five in Southern Indiana. As of 2023, the MSA had a population of 1,365,557,[21] the 43rd largest in the nation.[c]

In popular culture[edit]

The survival-horror video game Project Zomboid is loosely set in the 1990s Louisville metropolitan area, with references to the cities of Louisville, West Point and Muldraugh, as well as some fictional locales. Louisville is also the setting of the 1985 zombie horror film The Return of the Living Dead.

Firsts[edit]

Important events occurring in the city include the second largest American exhibition to date (1883), which had the largest to-date installation of light bulbs by their recent inventor and then-former resident Thomas Edison, as well as the first free public library in the US to be staffed by and provide services exclusively for African Americans (1905).[163][164] Medical advances include the 1999 first human hand transplant in the US[165] and the first self-contained artificial heart transplant in 2001.[147]

List of cities and towns along the Ohio River

4 ships

USS Louisville

Bell, Rick (2007). . Louisville, Kentucky: Butler Books. ISBN 978-1-884532-82-5. Retrieved August 9, 2015.

The Great Flood of 1937: Rising Waters, Soaring Spirits

Domer, Dennis; Gregory A. Luhan; David Mohney (2004). The Louisville Guide. New York: . ISBN 978-1-56898-451-3.

Princeton Architectural Press

Greater Louisville Inc. (2006). Louisville Then and Now. Butler Books.  978-1-884532-68-9.

ISBN

Kleber, John E., ed. (2001). . Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2100-0. OCLC 247857447. Retrieved May 14, 2015.

The Encyclopedia of Louisville

Lee, Gary (August 20, 2006). . The Washington Post. Retrieved October 1, 2006.

"Louisville Old and New: Either Way, It's a Knockout"

Nold, Chip; Bob Bahr (1997). . Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-1-57380-043-3.

Insiders' Guide to Louisville, Kentucky & Southern Indiana

Sanders, David; Glen Conner (2000). . Kentucky Climate Center. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2014.

Fact Sheet—Ohio River Floods

Yater, George H. (1987). Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio: A History of Louisville and Jefferson County (2nd ed.). Louisville, Kentucky: . ISBN 978-0-9601072-3-0.

Filson Club, Incorporated

Official website

– Interactive map of Louisville Metro

LOJIC Online

Images of Louisville from the University of Louisville Digital Collections