Albany is the capital of the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Albany County. Roughly north of New York City, Albany developed on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. The population of the City of Albany was 97,856 according to the 2010 census. Albany constitutes the economic and cultural core of the Capital District of New York State, which comprises the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, including the nearby cities and suburbs of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs. With a 2013 Census-estimated population of 1.1 million the Capital District is the third-most populous metropolitan region in the state and 38th in the United States.

Fortune 500 companies with offices in Albany include American Express, J.P. Morgan and Chase, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, Verizon, Goldman Sachs, International Paper, and Key Bank. In the 21st century, the Capital District has emerged as a major anchor of Tech Valley, the moniker describing the technologically-focused region of eastern New York State.

This was the first European settlement in the state. It was settled by Dutch colonists who in 1614, built Fort Nassau for fur trading and Fort Orange in 1624. They formed successful relations with both the Mahican and the Mohawk peoples, two major Native American nations in the region. The fur trade attracted settlers who founded a village called Beverwijck near Fort Orange. In 1664 the English took over the Dutch settlements, renaming the city as Albany, in honor of the then Duke of Albany, the future James II of England and James VII of Scotland. The city was officially chartered in 1686 under English rule. It became the capital of New York State in 1797, following the United States gaining independence in the American Revolutionary War. Albany is one of the oldest surviving settlements of the original British thirteen colonies, and the longest continuously chartered city in the United States. Its charter is possibly the longest-running instrument of municipal government in the Western Hemisphere.

Answer the following questions:
1. What are some Fortune 500 companies with offices in Albany?
2. What state is it the capital of?
3. What river was it developed on the bank of?
4. Who was it first settled by?
5. When was this?
6. Were there any other european colonies in the state at the time?
7. When did it become the capital?
8. How does it rank in poulation with other cities in the U.S.?
9. And what about in it's state?
10. What is notable about the cities charter?
11. Is it possible it's the longest-running in the western hemisphere?
12. What is it's population according to the 2010 census?
13. What other districts encompass the Capital district of New York State?
14. When did the English take over rule from the Dutch of the city?

Numbered answers:
1. American Express and J.P. Morgan and Chase
2. the state of New York
3. on the bank of the Hudson River
4. by Dutch colonists
5. 1614
6. yes
7. in 1797
8. it is 38th in the United States.
9. it is the third-most populous
10. it is the longest continuously chartered city in the United States
11. yes
12. 97,856
13. the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area
14. In 1664