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Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimates the city's population (excluding included towns) at 795,458. It is by far Indiana's largest city and is the 13th largest city in the U.S.,the third largest city in the Midwest (behind Chicago and Detroit), and the second most populous state capital (behind Phoenix, Arizona).

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For much of its history, Indianapolis oriented itself around government and industry, particularly manufacturing. Today, Indianapolis has a much more diversified economy, contributing to the fields of education, healthcare, and finance. Tourism is also a vital part of the economy of Indianapolis, and the city plays host to numerous conventions and sporting events. Of these, perhaps most well known is the annual Indianapolis 500 race. Other major sporting events include the Allstate 400 and the Men's and Women's NCAA Basketball Tournaments.

Greater Indianapolis has seen moderate growth among U.S. cities[3], especially in nearby Hamilton, Hendricks, and Johnson counties.  The population of the combined statistical area is estimated at 2,014,267, making it the 23rd-largest CSA in the U.S.

Indianapolis History
 
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in 1898. Indianapolis was selected as the site of the new state capital in 1820. Jeremiah Sullivan, a judge of the Indiana Supreme Court, invented the name Indianapolis by joining Indiana with polis, the Greek word for city; literally, Indianapolis means "Indiana City". The city was founded on the White River under the incorrect assumption that the river would serve as a major transportation artery; however, the waterway was too sandy for trade. The capital moved from Corydon on January 10, 1825 and the state commissioned Alexander Ralston to design the new capital city. Ralston was an apprentice to the French architect Pierre L'Enfant, and he helped L'Enfant plan Washington, DC. Ralston's original plan for Indianapolis called for a city of only one square mile (3 km²). At the center of the city sat Governor's Circle, a large circular commons, which was to be the site of the governor's mansion. Meridian and Market Streets converge at the Circle and continue north and south and east and west, respectively. The governor's mansion was eventually demolished in 1857 and in its place stands a 284-foot (87 m) tall neoclassical limestone and bronze monument, the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. The surrounding street is now known as Monument Circle.

The city lies on the original east-west National Road. The first railroad to service Indianapolis, the Madison & Indianapolis, began operation on October 1, 1847, and subsequent railroad connections made expansive growth possible. Indianapolis was the home of the first Union Station, or common rail passenger terminal, in the United States. By the turn of the century, Indianapolis had become a large automobile manufacturer, rivaling the likes of Detroit. With roads leading out of the city in all directions, Indianapolis became a major hub of regional transport connecting to Chicago, Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis, befitting the capital of a state whose motto is "The Crossroads of America." This same network of roads would allow quick and easy access to suburban areas in future years.

City population grew rapidly throughout the first half of the 20th century. While rapid suburbanization began to take place in the second half of the century, race relations deteriorated. Even so, on the night that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, Indianapolis was the only major city in which rioting did not occur. Many credit the speech by Robert F. Kennedy, who was in town campaigning for President that night, for helping to calm the tensions. Racial tensions heightened in 1970 with the passage of Unigov, which further isolated the middle class from Indianapolis's growing African American community. Court-ordered school desegregation busing by Judge S. Hugh Dillon was also a controversial change.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Indianapolis suffered at the hands of urban decay and white flight. Major revitalization of the city's blighted areas, such as Fall Creek Place, and especially the downtown, began in the 1990s and led to an acceleration of growth on the fringes of the metropolitan Area. The opening of Circle Centre in downtown Indianapolis jumpstarted a major revitalization of the central business district.

Indianapolis's future appears bright as the city continues to invest heavily in improvement projects, such as an expansion to the Convention Center, upgrading of the I-465 beltway and an entirely new airport terminal for the Indianapolis International Airport, expected to open on November 11, 2008. Construction of the Indianapolis Colts' new home, Lucas Oil Stadium was completed in August 2008, and the proposed hotel and convention center expansion is expected to open within the next three years.

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