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Working space for Akureyri Using another GA as a model

Infobox Settlement Columbia  is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With an estimated population of 99,174 in 2007, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the location of the University of Missouri. The college town is politically liberal and known by the nicknames "The Athens of Missouri," "College Town USA," and "CoMO." Over half of Columbians possesses a bachelor's degree and over a quarter hold graduate degrees, making it the thirteenth most highly educated municipality in the United States.

Columbia was settled in Pre-Columbian times by the mound building Mississippian culture of Native Americans. In 1818, a group of settlers incorporated under the Smithton Land Company purchased over 2,000 acres (8 km²) and established the village of Smithton near present-day downtown Columbia. In 1821, the settlers moved and re-named the settlement Columbia—a poetic name for the United States. The founding of the University of Missouri in 1839 established the city as a center of education and research. By 1851, two other institutions of higher education, Stephens College and Columbia College were established within the city.

Located among small tributary valleys of the Missouri River, Columbia is roughly equidistant from St. Louis and Kansas City. Greater St. Louis is 70 miles to the East, and the Kansas City Metropolitan Area is 100 miles to the West. Today, Columbia has a highly diversified economy, and is often ranked high for its business atmosphere. Never a strong center of industry and manufacturing, the city's economic base relies on the education, medical, technology and insurance industries. Studies consistently rank Columbia as a top city in which to live for educational facilities, health care, technological savvy, economic growth, cultural opportunities and cost of living. The city has been ranked as high as the second-best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine's annual list and is regularly in the top 100. Residents of Columbia are usually described as "Columbians."

Animal life
oddball section

Cityscape
Columbia's most commonly recognizable architectural attributes reside downtown and within the university campuses. Widely used icons of the city are the University of Missouri's Jesse Hall and the neo-gothic Memorial Union. The David R. Francis Quadrangle is an example of Thomas Jefferson's academic village concept. There are four National Historic Districts within the city: Downtown Columbia, East Campus Neighborhood, Francis Quadrangle, and North Ninth Street Historic District. The downtown skyline is relatively low and is dominated by the 10-story Tiger Hotel, and the 15-story Paquin Tower.

Downtown Columbia is an area of approximately one square mile surrounded by the University of Missouri on the south, Columbia College on the north, and Stephens College to the east. The area serves as Columbia's financial and business district and is the topic of a large initiative to draw tourism, which includes plans to capitalize on the area's historic architecture, and bohemian characteristics. The city's historic residential core lies in a ring around down, extending especially to the west along Broadway, and south into the East Campus neighborhoods. Columbia can be divided into roughly 36 neighborhoods and subdivisions. The city's most dense commercial areas are primarily located along Interstate 70, U.S. Route 63, Stadium Blvd., Grindstone Blvd, and the downtown area.

Demographics
In 2000, the city had a day time population of 106,487. As of the census of 2000, there were 84,531 people, 33,689 households, and 17,282 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,592.8 people per square mile (615.0/km²). There were 35,916 housing units at an average density of 676.8/sq mi (261.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.54% White, 10.85% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 4.30% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.81% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. 2.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 33,689 households out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.2% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.7% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city, the population was spread out with 19.7% under the age of 18, 26.7% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 16.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,729, and the median income for a family was $52,288. Males had a median income of $34,710 versus $26,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,507. About 9.4% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
The economy of Columbia is historically dominated by Education, Healthcare and the Insurance industry. Jobs in Government are also common, either in Columbia or a half-hour away in Jefferson City. Commutes into the city are also common and in 2000 the city had a day time population of 106,487. The Columbia Regional Airport and the Missouri River Port of Rocheport connect the region with trade and transportation. The University of Missouri is by far the city's largest employer..

The economy of the metro area is slightly larger than that of the Bahamas. With a Gross Metropolitan Product of $5.84 billion, Columbia's economy makes up nearly 3.0% of the Gross State Product of Missouri. Insurance corporations headquartered in Columbia include Shelter Insurance, and Columbia Insurance Group. Other organizations include the MFA Incorporated, Missouri State High School Activities Association and MFA oil. Companies such as Datastorm Technologies, Inc., Slackers CDs and Games and Carfax were founded in Columbia.

Culture
The Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts and Jesse Auditorium are Columbia's largest fine arts venues. The Ragtag Cinema host the well-known True/False Film Festival annually. In 2008, filmmaker Todd Sklar completed Box Elder, which was filmed entirely in and around Columbia and the University of Missouri. The University of Missouri's Museum of Art and Archaeology displays 14,000 works of art and archaeological objects in five galleries for no charge to the public. The "We Always Swing" Jazz Series and the Roots 'n Blues 'n Barbecue Festival bring some of the country's finest Jazz and Blues to Columbia and Central Missouri.

Columbia has a flourishing and progressive music scene thanks in large part to many acts that come out of the University. The indie band White Rabbits was formed while the members were students at the University of Missouri before moving to Brooklyn to record and gain a higher profile. Musical artists from Columbia have been compiled by Painfully Midwestern Records with the ComoMusic Anthology series, and the "Das Kompilation" release. Although the hip genre continues to give Columbia some music recognition, it is their progressive psychedelic-heavy metal music scene that has garnered some attention lately. There are also local punk and hip-hop scenes that are gaining momentum locally. Country music singer-songwriter Brett James is also a native of Columbia. The song "Whiskey Bottle," by Uncle Tupelo, is rumored to be about the city of Columbia as it makes specific reference to a sign which used be displayed on a Columbia tackle shop sign which read, "Liquor, Guns, and Ammo." The sign is now displayed at the downtown location of Shakespeare's pizzeria.

Sports
The University of Missouri's sports teams the Missouri Tigers play a significant role in the sports culture of Columbia. Faurot Field, capacity 70,000, is host to both home football games and concerts. The Hearnes Center and Mizzou Arena are two other large sport and event venues. Taylor Stadium is host to the University's baseball team, the Mid-Missouri Mavericks and regional host for the 2007 NCAA Baseball Championship. Columbia College has several men and women collegiate sports teams as well. In 2007 Columbia hosted the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics volleyball national championship which the Lady Cougars participated in.

Columbia also hosts the Show-Me State Games, a non-profit program of the Missouri Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Health. They are the largest state games in the United States. The games consist of 26,000–28,000 Missouri amateur athletes (35,000 total athletes ) of all ages and ability levels who compete in the Olympic-style sports festival every year during July and August. It recently made ESPN's list of "101 Things All Sports Fans Must Experience Before They Die".

Situated halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City, Columbians will often have allegiances to the professional sports teams housed there such as: the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals. St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, and St. Louis Blues.

The NRA Bianchi Cup is held every year in Columbia. It is among the most lucrative of all the shooting sports championships.

Media
The city has two daily newspapers, the Columbia Missourian in the morning and the Columbia Daily Tribune in the afternoon. The Missourian is directed by professional editors and staffed by Missouri School of Journalism students who do the reporting, design, copy editing, information graphics, photography and multimedia. The Missourian is associated with the Spanish-English bilingual publication "Adelante!" and the youth oriented "Vox magazine." With a daily circulation of nearly 20,000, the Tribune is the most widely read newspaper in central Missouri. The University of Missouri has the independent but official student newspaper, The Maneater, which is printed bi-weekly.

The city has 14 radio stations and 4 television channels.

Government and politics
The City of Columbia's current government was established by a home rule charter adopted by voters on November 11, 1974, which established a Council-manager government that invested power in the City Council. The City Council is made up of seven members - six elected by each of Columbia's six wards, plus an at-large council member, the Mayor, who is elected by all city voters. All members of the council, none of whom receive a salary for their work, are elected to staggered three-year terms. The Mayor, in addition to being a voting member of the City Council, is recognized as the head of city government for ceremonial purposes. Chief executive authority is invested in a city manager, who oversees the day-to-day operations of government.

Columbia is the county seat of Boone County, and the county's headquarters and municipal court are located there. The City is located in the ninth U.S. Congressional district. The nineteenth Missouri State Senate district covers all of Boone County. There are five Missouri House of Representatives districts (9, 21, 23, 24, 25) in the city. Columbia is home to a plethora of attorneys and serves as a legal hub and testing grounds for many new laws and grassroot efforts.

The population generally supports progressive causes such as the extensive city recycling programs and the decriminalization of the drug cannabis both for medical and recreational use at the municipal level (though the scope of latter of the two cannabis ordinances has since been restricted). The city is also one of only four in the state to offer medical benefits to same-sex partners of city employees. The new health plan also extends health benefits to unmarried heterosexual domestic partners of city employees. On October 10, 2006, the City Council approved an ordinance to prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars. The ordinance was passed with protest, and several amendments to the ordinance reflect this.

Transportation
Columbia Transit operates a bus system focusing around downtown, and has been in service since 1965. Currently, 1.2 million passengers board annually along the system's eight fixed routes and two University Shuttle routes. The system constantly experiences growth in service and technology. A $3.5 million project to renovate and expand the Wabash Station, a rail depot built in 1910 and converted into the city's transit center in the mid-1980s, was completed in summer 2007. Recent budget shortfalls have lead to slightly reduced Saturday service and new Saturday routes, as well as the elimination of under used routes and a 100% increase in basic fares. Now $1.00, the fare was $.50 for nearly 20 years, and was one of the lowest among similar cities in the region. In 2007, a Transit Master Plan was created to address the future transit needs of the city and county with a comprehensive plan to add infrastructure with three key phases. The five to ten year plan intends to add service along the south west, south east and north east sections of Columbia and develop alternative transportation models for Boone County. 2009 Federal Stimulus money granted to the city will go towards purchasing five replacement buses that have until recently not been approved for funding. There is a possibility natural gas buses could be purchased, as this has been something the Council has considered for years.

The city's current mayor, Darwin Hindman, is largely in favor of a non-motorized transportation system, and can often be seen riding his bicycle around the city. Columbia is also known for its M.K.T. Spur of the Katy Trail State Park, which allows foot and bike traffic across the city, and, conceivably, the state. It consists of a soft gravel surface, excellent for running and biking. Columbia also is preparing to embark on construction of several new bike paths and street bike lanes thanks to a $25 million grant from the federal government. The city is also served by Northwest Airlines at Columbia Regional Airport, the only commercial airport in Mid-Missouri. I-70, US 63, and US 40 are the main freeways used for travel to and from Columbia. Within the city, there are three state highways Route 763, Route 163, and Route 740.

Health systems
Health Care is a large sector of Columbia's economy with nearly one-in-six people working in a health-care related profession and a physician density that is about 3 times the United States average. Columbia's hospitals and supporting facilities are a large referral center for the state, and medical related trips to Columbia are common. There are three hospital systems within the city and six hospitals with a total of 1,105 beds. University of Missouri Health Care operates four hospitals: Columbia Regional Hospital, University of Missouri Hospital, Ellis Fischel Cancer Center and University of Missouri Children's Hospital. Boone Hospital Center is administered by BJC Healthcare and operates several clinics and outpatient locations. Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital is administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

There is also a large amount of medically-related industry in Columbia. The University of Missouri School of Medicine uses university owned facilities as teaching hospitals. The University of Missouri Research Reactor Center is the largest research reactor in the U.S. and produces radioisotopes used in nuclear medicine. The center serves as the sole supplier of the active ingredients in two U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved radiopharmaceuticals and produces Fluorine-18 used in PET imaging with its cyclotron.