Which one is better and why? St. Louis (pronounced /se?nt'lu:?s/ within English, /s?? lwi/ (help·info) inside French), sometimes written Saint Louis, encompasses a totally independent area in the U.S. state associated with Missouri (the "City of St. Louis") as well as its metropolitan location (Greater St. Louis). This specific location includes counties within the states associated with Missouri as well as Illinois; it will always be the 18th largest in the United States. Your population as regarding 2005 (which has exploded since the actual 2000 U.S. census) can be approximately 2,786,728 according towards the St. Louis Regional Chamber as well as Growth Association (RCGA). (The population as of the 2000 census ended up approximately 2,698,672). The city, which is named after Louis IX regarding France, is adjacent to, although not part of, St. Louis County, Missouri which can be special circumstance relative to other metropolitan areas. This particular separation between St. Louis metropolis and St. Louis County skews the statistics, particularly when St. Louis news events are generally reported in the media. The city features a range of widespread nicknames, including your "Gateway City", "Gateway for the West", and "Mound City". St. Louis is also sometimes called "St. Louie", or perhaps "River City". Alternatively, many younger people who reside in St. Louis possess begun in order to call it "The Lou". Yet Another well-liked synonym regarding St. Louis is "STL" within reference for the airport code for the town (STL) along together with a long-standing use of an interlocked S, T, along with L by the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 city founding along with early history 1.2 19th Century expansion as well as growth 1.3 St. Louis during the Gilded Age 1.4 Early 20th century 1.5 Latest developments 2 Geography 2.1 Metropolitan statistical area 2.2 Cityscape 2.3 Climate 2.4 Flora as well as fauna 3 Folks and also culture