Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the only City of Literature in North America, as awarded by UNESCO in 2008. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of about 67,862. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the 2015 population at 74,220, making it the state's fifth-largest city. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa. Iowa City is the principal city of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses Johnson County and Washington County and has a population of over 164,000.

Iowa City was the second capital of the Iowa Territory and the first capital city of the State of Iowa. The Old Capitol building is a National Historic Landmark in the center of the University of Iowa campus. The University of Iowa Art Museum and Plum Grove, the home of the first Governor of Iowa, are also 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:

"An Act to locate the Seat of Government of the Territory of Iowa...so soon as the place shall be selected, and the consent of the United States obtained, the commissioners shall proceed to lay out a town to be called "Iowa City".

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