Hartford is the capital of the State of Connecticut. Its 2006 population of 124,512 ranks Hartford as the state's third-largest city, after New Haven and Bridgeport, which is the largest. Greater Hartford is also the largest metro area in Connecticut and 45th largest in the country (2006 census estimate) with a metropolitan population of 1,188,841.

Hartford's neighborhoods are a diverse and historic lot. Downtown Hartford is the location of the central business district. Parkville is named for the confluence of the north and the south branches of the Park River; it is home to Real Art Ways. Frog Hollow is home to Pope Park and the prestigious Trinity College which is in close proximity of the downtown area of Hartford. Asylum Hill is a mixed residential and business area housing the headquarters of several insurance companies and the Mark Twain House. The West End is home to the Governor's residence, the University of Hartford and abuts the Hartford Golf Club. Sheldon Charter Oak was the location of the Charter Oak and its successor monument and also the former Colt headquarters including Armsmear. The North East neighborhood is home to Keney Park. The South End features "Little Italy". South Green hosts Hartford Hospital. The South Meadows is the site of Hartford-Brainard Airport and Hartford's industrial community. The North Meadows has retail strips and car dealerships and is the location of the Dodge Music Center. Other neighborhoods in Hartford: Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, Blue Hills, Clay Arsenal, Southwest, and Upper Albany.

Greater Hartford is an international center of the insurance industry, with companies such as Travelers, Aetna, and The Hartford based in the city. The area is also home to CIGNA, Colt Firearms, and large corporations like United Technologies (the corporate parent of Pratt & Whitney, Otis, Sikorsky, Carrier Corporation, Hamilton Sundstrand, UTC Fire & Security and UTC Fuel Cells).

Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Hartford was a major manufacturing and publishing city. Among these was the pioneer automobile maker Pope. As in many northern industrial cities, many factories have been closed, relocated, or reduced.

Hartford has long been important to insurance companies and is often called the "insurance capital of the world," although recent insurance mergers reduced employment at insurance companies in Hartford. MetLife and Lincoln Financial have cut their Hartford workforces and MassMutual has relocated its Hartford operations to Enfield, Connecticut to be closer to its headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts. Recently, Hartford has shown continuing viability as an insurance mecca. St. Paul Travelers has announced it will bring 600 jobs to the area (500 of them in downtown Hartford); Aetna is moving more than 3,500 employees to the city from Middletown, Connecticut.

Billing itself as "New England's rising star", Hartford has generated renewed interest with both local and national developers who are investing heavily in the city through a variety of projects, in different stages. These investments include commercial and residential projects such as Hartford 21 and a new science center, an extensive system of riverfront trails and parks, neighborhood improvements to Park Street and Parkville, the renovation of the historic Colt building to National Park standards, and significant development in the central business district.

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