Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2008 Census Bureau estimate, Iowa City had a total population of about 67,830, making it the fifth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa. Iowa City is located adjacent to the town of Coralville, and it surrounds the town of University Heights, with which it forms a contiguous urban area. Iowa City is the principal city of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses Johnson County and Washington County, and this metropolitan area has a population of about 149,450.
Iowa City was the second capital of the Iowa Territory, and it was also the first capital city of the State of Iowa. The Old Capitol building is a National Historic Landmark, and it is a tourist attraction in the center of the campus of the University of Iowa, as well as being an integral part of the university. The University of Iowa Art Museum and Plum Grove, the home of the first Governor of Iowa, are other tourist attractions. In 2008, Forbes Magazine named Iowa City the second-best small metropolitan area for doing business in the United States.
Iowa City was created by an act of Legislative Assembly of the Iowa Territory on January 21, 1839, fulfilling the desire of Governor Robert Lucas to move the capital out of Burlington and closer to the center of the territory. This act began,
