Hartfor is the capital of the State of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state and 24 miles south of its "sister-city" Springfield, Massachusetts. 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.