Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.5square miles (48km2), of which, 16.7square miles (43km2) of it is land and 1.8square miles (4.7km2) of it (9.77%) is water. The city of Olympia is located at the southern end of Puget Sound on Budd Inlet. The Deschutes River estuary was dammed in 1951 to create Capitol Lake. Much of the lower area of downtown Olympia sits on reclaimed land. The cities of Lacey and Tumwater border Olympia. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 42,514 at the 2000 census. Olympia is a major cultural center of the Puget Sound region.