Albany County is a county in the state of New York, United States. Its northern border is formed by the Mohawk River, at its confluence with the Hudson River, which is to the east. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 314,848. The county seat and largest city is Albany, which is also the state capital of New York. As originally established by the English government in the colonial era, Albany County had an indefinite amount of land, but has had an area of 530 square miles (1,400 km2) since March 3, 1888. The county is named for the Duke of York and of Albany, who became James II of England. The county is part of the Capital District region of the state.
New York State Capitol in Albany
View of the towns of Guilderland and New Scotland and the city of Albany from Thacher Park
Albany County office building on State Street in Albany
A bronze statue of the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns sculpted by Charles Calverley in 1888. This structure is located in the Washington Park neighborhood of Albany, New York.
The Mohawk River is a 149-mile-long (240 km) river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in Cohoes, New York, a few miles north of the state capital of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. A major waterway, in the early 19th century, the river's east-west valley provided the setting and water for development of the Erie Canal, as a key to developing New York. The largest tributary, the Schoharie Creek, accounts for over one quarter (26.83%) of the Mohawk River's watershed. Another main tributary is the West Canada Creek, which makes up for 16.33% of the Mohawk's watershed.
Cohoes Falls, near the eastern end of the Mohawk River in Cohoes, New York
Mohawk River at confluence of South Chuctanunda Creek
As the Laurentian Glacier retreated, it blocked the outflow of Glacial Lake Iroquois. Instead of flowing down the St Lawrence Valley it flowed down the Mohawk River.
The Mohawk Valley (center-right), runs east and west, cutting a natural path between the Catskill Mountains to the south and the Adirondack Mountains to the north.
