Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 124,261, making it the fourth largest city in the state. Stamford is part of the New York metropolitan area.

Stamford was the ninth-safest city in the United States in 2006 and for the past six years has ranked in the top 11 safest cities with populations of 100,000 or more, according to the FBI. It is considerably more affluent than national average and strongly politically Democratic. In 2006, blank">CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Stamford 46th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States.

In recent years, many large corporations including _Xerox, MeadWestvaco, International Paper, GE Capital and Clairol have moved offices outside of the city due to the high rental cost. However, Royal Bank of Scotland has announced plans for a new global Headquarters in the city by 2008. The trading floor at the UBS building, in downtown Stamford, holds the Guinness World Record as the largest column-less trading floor in the world. The city recently received nationwide publicity in several ways: It was the opening setting for the Civil War comics series and is becoming an increasingly frequent filming location after the state passed a tax-incentive program for the movie industry. Gosier, Chris, "Hollywood stars shine on Stamford and Norwalk", news article in The Advocate of Stamford, December 31, 2006, pp A3, A7

Stamford is a sister city of Sparti, Greece, Jiangdu, China, Settefrati, Italy, and Afula, Israel .