Albany (, ) is the capital city of the US state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. At roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, a few miles south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The 2008 population estimate was 93,539 and the 2009 metro population estimate was 857,592. Albany has close ties with the nearby cities of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs, forming a region called the Capital District. The bulk of this area is made up of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA); this MSA is the fourth largest urban area in New York and the 56th largest MSA in the country.