Painted Horse -Louisville, Kentucky

4th Street Live - Louisville, Kentucky

Downtown Louisville, Kentucky

Downtown Louisville, Kentucky

Downtown Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is Kentucky's largest city and the 16th largest city of the United States. The City of Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France. The Official Seal of the City of Louisville, no longer used following the formation of a consolidated city-county government in 2003, reflected its history and heritage in the fleur-de-lis representing French aid given during the Revolutionary War, and the thirteen stars signify the original colonies. It was designed by legendary Austrian typographer Victor Hammer. The new seal of the consolidated government retains the fleur-de-lis, but has only two stars, one representing the city and the other the county.

As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 256,231. However, in 2003, the city and Jefferson County merged into a single government named Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government (official long form) and Louisville Metro (official short form). The resulting city now has approximately 700,000 residents (16th largest in the U.S.) The Louisville metropolitan area (not to be confused with Louisville Metro) is the largest in Kentucky, and the metropolitan population of 1.5 million includes the southern Indiana counties of Clark, Floyd, Washington and Harrison.

Louisville sits on the Kentucky-Indiana border at the only natural obstacle in the Ohio River, the Falls of the Ohio. Louisville is most famous as the home of the Kentucky Derby (capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival), the most widely watched event in American horse racing. Louisville has an airport called Louisville International Airport which is often called by its older name of Standiford Field.

Pronunciation
Most long-time residents pronounce the city's name as Loo-uh-vul. The proper phonetic pronunciation however is Loo-ee-vil (referring to King Louis XVI). The proper pronunciation is often utilized by political leaders and the media.

Local Economy
Louisville is home to several major corporations: Brown-Forman, Humana Inc., Yum! (owners of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's, and A & W Restaurants; formerly Tricon Global Restaurants, successor to KFC Corporation), Papa John's Pizza, and Hillerich & Bradsby (known for "Louisville Slugger" baseball bats). There are also two major Ford plants in Louisville, a major R. J. Reynolds cigarette factory, and UPS's domestic air hub.

The local newspaper is The Courier-Journal.

Education
Louisville is home to the University of Louisville, Spalding University, Bellarmine University, and Jefferson Community College. The public school system includes duPont Manual Magnet High School and Louisville Male High School. There are a variety of special schools in the system, including a small, centrally-located K-12 school, the Brown School.

Sports
College basketball is very popular in greater Louisville; Louisville and the nearby University of Kentucky in Lexington have won a combined nine national titles (two at U of L and seven at UK), and four of the 25 winningest NCAA Division I teams are located in or near the city. Loyalties in the immediate Louisville area are fairly evenly divided between U of L and UK, with substantial numbers of Indiana and Purdue fans on the Indiana side of the river.

Famous Louisvillians
Famous Louisvillians include Muhammad Ali, Ned Beatty, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Lance Burton, George Rogers Clark, William Conrad, Tom Cruise, Bob Edwards, Lionel Hampton, Telma Hopkins, Paul Hornung, Victor Mature, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (Majority Whip), Pee Wee Reese, Don Rosa, Diane Sawyer, Phil Simms, U.S. President Zachary Taylor, Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Unitas, Gus Van Sant, Jack Warden and 60 Minutes tobacco informant Jeffrey Weigand.

Geography
Louisville is located at 38°13'44" North, 85°44'58" West (38.228870, -85.749534)1. Note: All geographic data applies to the former City of Louisville as it existed prior to the creation of Louisville Metro on January 6, 2003. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 172.6 km² (66.7 mi²). 160.9 km² (62.1 mi²) of it is land and 11.7 km² (4.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 6.80% water.

Demographics
Note: All demographics apply to the former City of Louisville as it existed prior to the creation of Louisville Metro on January 6, 2003. For demographics of Louisville Metro, see Jefferson County, Kentucky.
As of the census of 2000, there are 256,231 people, 111,414 households, and 61,389 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,592.6/km² (4,124.9/mi²). There are 121,275 housing units at an average density of 753.8/km² (1,952.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 62.94% European American, 33.01% African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.45% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.67% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. 1.86% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 111,414 households out of which 25.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.6% are married couples living together, 19.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 44.9% are non-families. 37.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.22 and the average family size is 2.97.

The age distribution is: 23.7% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $28,843, and the median income for a family is $36,696. Males have a median income of $30,608 versus $24,439 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,193. 21.6% of the population and 17.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 33.5% are under the age of 18 and 13.2% are 65 or older.

 

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