<Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> City of Columbus </Td> </Tr> <P> Columbus (/ kəˈlʌmbəs / kə - LUM - bəs) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Ohio . It is the 14th - largest city in the United States, with a population of 860,090 as of 2016 estimates . This makes Columbus the third-most populous state capital in the United States, and the second - largest city in the Midwestern United States, after Chicago . It is the core city of the Columbus, Ohio, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses ten counties . With a population of 2,021,632, it is Ohio's third - largest metropolitan area . </P> <P> Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County . The city proper has also expanded and annexed portions of adjoining Delaware County and Fairfield County . Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816 . </P> <P> The city has a diverse economy based on education, government, insurance, banking, defense, aviation, food, clothes, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology . Columbus is home to the Battelle Memorial Institute, the world's largest private research and development foundation; Chemical Abstracts Service, the world's largest clearinghouse of chemical information; NetJets, the world's largest fractional ownership jet aircraft fleet; and The Ohio State University, one of the largest universities in the United States . As of 2013, the city has the headquarters of five corporations in the U.S. Fortune 500: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, American Electric Power, L Brands, Big Lots, and Cardinal Health . The food service corporations Wendy's, Donatos Pizza, Bob Evans, Max & Erma's and White Castle and the nationally known companies Red Roof Inn, Rogue Fitness, and Safelite are also based in the metropolitan area . </P>

When did columbus became ohio's state capital