Capital District - Definition and Overview

The Capital District (or Capital-Saratoga Area) is an unofficial term used to refer to a four-county area of eastern New York.

Its anchor cities are:

• Albany (the state capital)
• Saratoga Springs
• Schenectady
• Troy

It includes the extreme northern portion of the Hudson Valley.

Major universities in this area include:

• College of Saint Rose
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (locally known as RPI)
• Russell Sage College (junior college in Albany, graduate school in Troy)
• Skidmore College
• Union College
• University at Albany (part of the SUNY system)

Major attractions in this area include:

• Saratoga National Cemetery
• Saratoga National Historical Park (in Stillwater)
• Saratoga Performing Arts Center
• Saratoga Race Course (in Saratoga Springs)

Communities with at least 10,000 inhabitants

• Albany
• Cohoes
• Saratoga
• Schenectady
• Troy
• Watervliet

Communities with less than 10,000 inhabitants

• Ballston Spa
• Colonie
• Corinth
• Galway
• Mechanicville
• Ravena
• Rensselaer
• Schuylerville
• South Glens Falls
• Stillwater

Regions of New York
Adirondack Mountains | Capital District | Catskill Mountains | Central New York | Finger Lakes | Holland Purchase | Hudson Valley | Long Island | Mohawk Valley | New York City | New York Metro Area | Shawangunks | Southern Tier | Upstate New York | Western New York
Largest Cities and Towns
Albany | Amherst | Binghamton | Buffalo | Clay | Hempstead | Irondequoit | Mount Vernon | New Rochelle | New York City | Niagara Falls | Rochester | Schenectady | Syracuse | Troy | Utica | White Plains | Yonkers
Counties
Albany | Allegany | Bronx (The Bronx) | Broome | Cattaraugus | Cayuga | Chautauqua | Chemung | Chenango | Clinton | Columbia | Cortland | Delaware | Dutchess | Erie | Essex | Franklin | Fulton | Genesee | Greene | Hamilton | Herkimer | Jefferson | Kings (Brooklyn) | Lewis | Livingston | Madison | Monroe | Montgomery | Nassau | New York (Manhattan) | Niagara | Oneida | Onondaga | Ontario | Orange | Orleans | Oswego | Otsego | Putnam | Queens (Queens) | Rensselaer | Richmond (Staten Island) | Rockland | Saratoga | Schenectady | Schoharie | Schuyler | Seneca | St. Lawrence | Steuben | Suffolk | Sullivan | Tioga | Tompkins | Ulster | Warren | Washington | Wayne | Westchester | Wyoming | Yates