Cincinnati, city in the hilly southwest corner of Ohio, the seat of Hamilton County. Cincinnati is the third largest city in the state, after Columbus and Cleveland. It is the transportation, industrial, commercial, and cultural center for a region extending over southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. The city's strategic location on the westward-flowing Ohio River made it a focal point for migration in the 19th century, and it was often referred to as “The Gateway to the West.” It became for a time the largest city beyond the East Coast and was dubbed by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as “The Queen City,” a title still the city's favorite unofficial designation.
Cincinnati is located on the north bank of the Ohio River near where it is joined by the Miami, Little Miami, and Licking rivers. The downtown of this picturesque city is built in a basin, with residential neighborhoods spread out on hills above. Its mean elevation is 208 m (683 ft). The city has a continental climate that is influenced by cold air masses from the north and warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, producing changeable weather. The average high temperature in January is 3° C (37° F) and the average low is -7° C (20° F); average high in July is 30° C (86° F) and the average low is 18° C (65° F). Each year the city averages 1050 mm (41.3 in) in precipitation, with somewhat more falling from March through July than during other months.
