<P> Nashville is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County . It is located on the Cumberland River in the north central part of the state . The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, private prison, banking and transportation industries, and is home to numerous colleges and universities . </P> <P> Since 1963, Nashville has had a consolidated city - county government, which includes six smaller municipalities in a two - tier system . The city is governed by a mayor, a vice-mayor, and a 40 - member Metropolitan Council; 35 of the members are elected from single - member districts, while the other five are elected at - large . Reflecting the city's position in state government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for Middle Tennessee . According to 2016 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the total consolidated city - county population stood at 684,410 . The "balance" population, which excludes semi-independent municipalities within Nashville, was 660,388 . The 2015 population of the entire 13 - county Nashville metropolitan area was 1,830,345, making it the largest metropolitan statistical area in Tennessee . The 2015 population of the Nashville - Davidson--Murfreesboro--Columbia combined statistical area, a larger trade area, was 1,951,644 . </P> <P> The town of Nashville was founded by James Robertson, John Donelson, and a party of Overmountain Men in 1779, near the original Cumberland settlement of Fort Nashborough . It was named for Francis Nash, the American Revolutionary War hero . Nashville quickly grew because of its strategic location, accessibility as a port on the Cumberland River, a tributary of the Ohio River; and its later status as a major railroad center . By 1800, the city had 345 residents, including 136 African American slaves and 14 free blacks . In 1806, Nashville was incorporated as a city and became the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee . In 1843, the city was named the permanent capital of the state of Tennessee . </P> <P> By 1860, when the first rumblings of secession began to be heard across the South, antebellum Nashville was a prosperous city . The city's significance as a shipping port made it a desirable prize as a means of controlling important river and railroad transportation routes . In February 1862, Nashville became the first state capital to fall to Union troops . The state was occupied by Union troops for the duration of the war . The Battle of Nashville (December 15--16, 1864) was a significant Union victory and perhaps the most decisive tactical victory gained by either side in the war; it was also the war's final major military action, which afterward became almost entirely a war of attrition consisting largely of guerrilla raids and small skirmishes, with the Confederate forces in the Deep South almost constantly in retreat . </P>

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