Greenville ( GREEN-vil; locally GREEN-vəl) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It is the sixth-most populous city in South Carolina with a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, while the Greenville metropolitan area has an estimated 997,000 residents and is the largest metropolitan area in the state. Greenville is the anchor city of Upstate South Carolina, an economic and cultural region in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with an estimated population of 1.63 million. Greenville was established in 1797 and incorporated in 1831. The city experienced early growth through the development of cotton mills and rail infrastructure, which positioned it as a key industrial hub in the Southeast. In recent decades, Greenville has shifted toward advanced manufacturing and automotive production. Numerous companies have offices within the city, such as Michelin, Prisma Health, Bon Secours, and Duke Energy. Its cultural institutions include the Peace Center and Greenville County Museum of Art, as well as the Falls Park on the Reedy adjacent to downtown Greenville. It is located approximately halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte along Interstate 85; its metro area also includes Interstates 185 and 385.