Charlottesville is an independent city located within the confines of Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife of King George III of England.
As of the 2005 census update, the city proper had a population of 40,437. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, though the two are separate legal entities. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Charlottesville with Albemarle County for statistical purposes, bringing the total population to 118,398. In 2004, Charlottesville was ranked the best place to live in the United States in the book Cities Ranked and Rated by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander. Sperling and Sander ranked the cities based on cost of living, climate, and quality of life. Charlottesville is best known as the home of the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson. The city is also known for Jeffersons' Monticello, his renowed mountain-top home which attracts tens of thousands of tourists every year.
The city is served by Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, Greyhound, and by Amtrak.
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