Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the county seat and largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 269,666, and in 2015 the estimated population was 285,342. Three major interstate highways (Interstate 85, Interstate 40 and Interstate 73) in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina were built to intersect at this city.In 1808, "Greensborough" (the spelling before 1895) was planned around a central courthouse square to succeed Guilford Court House as the county seat. The county courts were thus placed closer to the geographical center of the county, a location more easily reached at the time by the majority of the county's citizens, who depended on horse and foot for travel.In 2003, the previous Greensboro – Winston-Salem – High Point metropolitan statistical area (MSA) was re-defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. This region was separated into the Greensboro–High Point MSA and the Winston-Salem MSA. The 2010 population for the Greensboro–High Point MSA was 723,801. The combined statistical area (CSA) of Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, popularly referred to as the Piedmont Triad, had a population of 1,599,477.
