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The city is the largest in the state (when measured by city borders), with a population of 711,470 as of the 2000 census. According to recent U.S. census estimates, in Ohio only the metropolitan areas of Cleveland (2.15M) and Cincinnati (2.01M) are larger than the Columbus metropolitan area, which has a population of 1,612,694 (2000 census, 31st largest in the United States). When adding in related areas of Marion and Chillicothe for Combined Statistical Areas, Columbus ranks 24th in the country with 1.84M, behind #19 Cincinnati (2.05M) and #14 Cleveland-Akron (2.95M).
Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County. It also extends into Delaware and Fairfield counties.
See also: List of Mayors of Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the home of The Ohio State University, which has the distinction of being the first largest single campus in the United States with a 48,003 total enrollment according to the OSU Office of University Relations. Also located in Columbus and its metro area are the prestigious Ohio Wesleyan University, Capital University, Franklin University , the Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD), Otterbein College , DeVry University, Ohio Dominican University , and Columbus State Community College .
Columbus Public Schools dominate the K-12 primary school landscape, with each of the suburbs also having fairly large districts as well. CPS offers many alternative schools as well, such as Columbus Alternative High school, Fort Hayes and Ecole Kenwood. Notable private schools within Columbus include Columbus School for Girls, Bishop Watterson High School, DeSales High School, Worthington Christian High School , and the Columbus Academy .
As Columbus is the capital of the state of Ohio, there is a large government presence in the city. Including city, state, and jobs at the public Ohio State University, government jobs provide the largest single source of employment within Columbus, however it is by no means a majority.
Columbus is the headquarters for a number of businesses as well. Nationwide Insurance makes its home downtown in a large, multi-building complex that dominates the northern end of the downtown area. Limited BrandsLimited Brands (formerly known as The Limited, Inc. is a company founded in 1963 by Leslie H. Wexner (current chairman and CEO) in Columbus, Ohio, where its corporate headquarters is also currently located. Limited Brands is listed on the NYSE as LTD. (formerly known as The Limited, Inc.) is located on the east side of the city and is the parent company of the retail stores The Limited, ExpressExpress is an American clothing company owned by Limited Brands. Express was predominantly a women's clothing company. However in early 2000, the Structure (another Limited Brands company) was realigned into ExpressMen. See also External links ., Victoria's SecretVictoria's Secret is a retail-brand of lingerie and beauty products, owned and run by the Limited Brands company. Victoria's Secret had sales of more than US$2. 4 billion through their 1,014 retail stores in the United States in 2002. All stores of Limite, and Bath & Body WorksBath and Body Works is an American retail store owned by Limited Brands. It specializes in numerous fragrant lotions and bath items. Some of the other franchises currently in their network of businesses include the White Barn Candle company. In the past,, among others. Worthington Steel is primarily located on the north side of the metro area in the Worthington suburb. Two fast food chains have their homebase in the Columbus metro area as well, Wendy's and White CastleWhite Castle is a hamburger fast food chain in the United States. It is known for square sandwiches, commonly referred to as "slyders", which were originally priced at 5 cents. The typical White Castle restaurant architecture features a white exterior wit, with Wendy's still operating their first store downtown as both a museum and a working restaurant. Cardinal Health has its headquarters in the northwest suburb of Dublin. Huntington Bancshares also has its headquarters in the downtown area. Borden Chemical (formerly part of the Borden, Inc. corporation prior to its acquisition and subsequent divestiture) is located downtown as well. The Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories, makers of Ensure nutritional drink and Similac infant formula, is also headquartered in Columbus, with over 7,000 employees.
In addition to these companies, many companies have a major presence in the Columbus area. Honda has its North American auto plant in Marysville to the northwest of Columbus and produces all of the Honda Accords, Civics, motorcycles and many of Acura's models for the North American market. Bank One, which used to be headquartered in Columbus prior to the merger with First Chicago-NBD, still has a major presence in Columbus. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which announced a merger with Bank One in 2004, has a large mortgage servicing unit in the city. CompuServe still has its roots in Columbus, although it has been owned by AOL since 1998. Budweiser has a major brewery located on the north side of the city. McGraw-Hill Inc. has large offices within Columbus as well. UPS has a large distribution center on the west side of the city. Columbus is also home to the Chemical Abstracts Service, making it one of the world's leading centers for scientific information distribution.
Columbus also hosts many conventions in the Greater Columbus Convention Center, a pastel-colored building on the north edge of downtown that resembles jumbled blocks, or a train yard from overhead. The convention center was designed by famed architect Peter Eisenman, who also designed the renowned Wexner Center, also located in Columbus at the campus of The Ohio State University. Completed in 1993, the convention center spanned nearly 600,000 square feet (56,000 m²) at the time, and has recently been expanded.