St. Louis is a independent city in Missouri,
situated close to where the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers meet. In 2020, the city itself
had a population of 301,578, and its
metropolitan region, which stretches into
Illinois, included more than 2.8 million
residents. This makes it the biggest
metropolitan area in Missouri and the
second largest in Illinois. The combined
statistical area of St. Louis ranks as the
20th largest in the United States.