The most populated city of Utah and the capital, Salt Lake City´s name is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 181,698 in 2008, Salt Lake City is the 125th largest city in the United States. The Salt Lake City Metropolitan area includes Summit, Tooele and Salt Lake counties and has a total estimated population of 1,115,692 in 2008. Salt Lake City is situated in a larger urban area called Wasatch Front and is part of the Salt lake City Ogden Clearfield CSA. It was founded in 1847 as Great Salt Lake City by Mormon Pioneers led by their prophet Bringham Young who fled violence in the Midwestern United States.

Salt Lake City is still to this day home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also called the Mormon Church. This city was nicknamed Crossroads of the West when mining booms and the construction of the first continental railroad took place. Since then Salt Lake City has developed a strong outdoor recreation tourist industry based on skiing. Salt Lake City is the industrial banking center of the nation an was host to the 2002 Winter Olympics.