page_title: Utica, New York
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Utica, New York / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: November 1985 aerial view of the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys during Space Shuttle Challenger STS-61-A-33-0044. Utica can be seen center left while Albany is within the Hudson Valley, center right.
context_page_description: Utica is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York, its population was 62,235 in the 2010 U.S. census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, Utica is approximately 95 miles northwest of Albany, 55 mi east of Syracuse and 240 mi northwest of New York City. Utica and the nearby city of Rome anchor the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which comprises all of Oneida and Herkimer counties.
  Formerly a river settlement inhabited by the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy, Utica attracted European-American settlers from New England during and after the American Revolution. In the 19th century, immigrants strengthened its position as a layover city between Albany and Syracuse on the Erie and Chenango Canals and the New York Central Railroad. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the city's infrastructure contributed to its success as a manufacturing center and defined its role as a worldwide hub for the textile industry. Utica's 20th-century political corruption and organized crime gave it the nickname "Sin City."
context_section_description: According to the United States Census Bureau, Utica has a total area of 17.02 square miles (44.1 km²)—16.76 square miles (43.4 km²) of land and 0.26 square miles (0.67 km²) (1.52 percent) of water. The city is located at New York's geographic center, adjacent to the western border of Herkimer County, and at the southwestern base of the Adirondack Mountains. Utica and its suburbs are bound by the Allegheny Plateau in the south and the Adirondack Mountains in the north, and the city is 456 feet (139 m) above sea level. The city is 90 mi (145 km) northwest of Albany and 45 mi (72 km) east of Syracuse.
caption: November 1985 photo of the Mohawk Valley from Space Shuttle Challenger, with Utica center-left and Albany center-right
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