Sangamon County is a county located near the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 196,343. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, the state capital.
Sangamon County is included in the Springfield, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Springfield is the capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's seventh-most populous city, the second-most populous outside of the Chicago metropolitan area (after Rockford), and the most populous in Central Illinois. Approximately 208,000 residents live in the Springfield metropolitan area, which consists of all of Sangamon and Menard counties. The city lies in a plain near the Sangamon River north of Lake Springfield. Springfield is the county seat of Sangamon County and is located along historic Route 66.
Springfield was settled by European-Americans in the late 1810s, around the time Illinois became a state. The most famous historic resident was Abraham Lincoln, who lived in Springfield from 1837 until 1861, when he became President of the United States. Major tourist attractions include multiple sites connected with Lincoln, such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Lincoln Home, the Old State Capitol, the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, and the Lincoln Tomb. Largely on the efforts of Lincoln and other area lawmakers, as well as its central location, Springfield was made the state capital in 1839.