Gainesville is the county seat of, and the largest city in, Alachua County, Florida, and is both the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area and the largest city in North Central Florida. In 2019 the US Census Bureau estimated Gainesville's population at 133,997, a 7.6% increase from 2010, and the metropolitan statistical area's population at 332,317.
Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, the fifth-largest public university campus by enrollment in the United States.