Columbia Missouri
About Columbia
Columbia (pron.: /kÉËlÊmbiÉ/) is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri.[3] With a population of 110,438 as of the 2011 according to the United States Census,[6] it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 175,831 residents.[7] The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the location of the University of Missouri. The college town is politically liberal[8] and is known by the nicknames "The Athens of Missouri,"[9] "College Town USA,"[10] and "CoMO."[11] Over half of Columbians possess a bachelor's degree[12] and over a quarter hold graduate degrees,[13] making it the thirteenth most highly educated municipality in the United States.[13] The City is also experiencing a construction boom, with large apartment buildings under construction in downtown, and the city is expanding to the south at a rapid pace.
Columbia was settled in pre-Columbian times by the mound-building Mississippian culture of Native Americans. In 1818, a group of settlers incorporated under the Smithton Land Company purchased over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and established the village of Smithton near present-day downtown Columbia. In 1821, the settlers moved and renamed the settlement Columbiaâa poetic name for the United States.[14] The founding of the University of Missouri in 1839 established the city as a center of education and research. Two other institutions of higher education, Stephens College in 1833 and Columbia College in 1851, were also established within the city.
